Click here for our Evanston Store Hours
Due to the rise in COVID cases, by law newer restrictions need to be put in place at our shop. Customer traffic is now limited to 15 customers in the main retail area.
Face covering & use of hand sanitizer is required when entering the shop.
The museum area will now be used as a waiting area, and limited to 8 people. We ask that people please not come in with large groups, and please limit their stays to under an hour, so others can have the opportunity to also do their shopping. We will also soon install an excellent outdoor heater, to make it much more comfortable for those who wish to wait outside. Thank you all for your continued support and understanding, during these difficult times.
Together, we'll get through this!
Location: South Pacific
Pearls are objects produced within the soft mantle of a mollusk. Like the shell of the mollusk, a pearl is composed of a microcrystalline calcium carbonate that is deposited in thin concentric layers.
Pearls can occur spontaneously in nature, but the bulk of the world’s pearls are obtained through farming, or culturing, pearls from freshwater mollusks. Wild pearls, or pearls occurring without human intervention, are incredibly rare.
“Seeding” a pearl means inserting a bead of a predetermined shape and size into the tissue of a mollusk in order to control the shape of the pearl. The most valuable shape in the gem trade is a perfectly spherical pearl. A baroque pearl, meaning misshapen, is seeded from the natural contours of the mollusk’s mantle. In contrast to a round pearl, baroque pearls are valued for their individuality.
Other qualities that affect the value of a pearl are color and luster. Pearls will naturally occur in white, pale pink, and black. In order to be considered a gem grade Pearl, it must demonstrate iridescence over its entire body and the color must have good surface luster.
Author Fred Ward notes that pearls were most certainly the world’s first valued gemstone, needing no cutting or polishing. Unlike other stones with one or few sources, pearls occur indigenously all around the globe.
Due to the rise in COVID cases, by law newer restrictions need to be put in place at our shop. Customer traffic is now limited to 15 customers in the main retail area.
Face covering & use of hand sanitizer is required when entering the shop.
The museum area will now be used as a waiting area, and limited to 8 people. We ask that people please not come in with large groups, and please limit their stays to under an hour, so others can have the opportunity to also do their shopping. We will also soon install an excellent outdoor heater, to make it much more comfortable for those who wish to wait outside. Thank you all for your continued support and understanding, during these difficult times.
Together, we'll get through this!
Loading...