Pearls have long been considered the hallmark of traditional elegance in the jewelry department.  Wedding publications are now splashing their images all over the pages of their magazines and pearls are, once again, experiencing popularity.  The love of pearls wax and wane, much like the love for a pair of old Levis.   There’s simply nothing better than an heirloom strand of pearls.

Given their vast history, the once rare and exclusive natural pearl has emerged in cultured form, as a gem to be enjoyed by the masses.  Fred Ward, in his article, The History of Pearls explains that Kikichi Mikimoto, single-handedly launched the cultured pearl industry by enticing oysters to produce round pearls on demand.   It turns out that pearls are created by introducing round nuclei cut from U.S. mussel shells into the oysters flesh.  The tissue forms a pearl sack, which secretes a nacre coating over the nuclei that ultimately forms a round pearl (PBS.org).  

 I wore Carolee pearls at my wedding, because I love her style and price point.  I chose to spend the bulk of my wedding expenditure on food and entertainment, so it was nice to keep some in my pocket, when it came to my jewelry.  

Here’s a sampling  of Carolee’s style.  Shown here are the AB Crystal and White Simulated Pearl necklace and the matching AB Crystal and White Simulated Pearl Drop Pierced Earrings.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 24th, 2008 at 11:38 am and is filed under Bridal Collections, Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.