Simulated pearls have come to interest becauseamount of the natural pearls is not met the jewelry market requirement. The other reason is also about the price, the natural pearls have always come withhigherprice according to their rarely found in nature.
There was a long story about creation of simulated pearls in human history. Begin in China, approximately at 83 A.D. it was recorded in for the first time about simulated pearl using heat with proper timing andright mix of chemical substance to generate similar look tonatural pearl. Later on, in the 17th century, the French guy named Jacquin found the way to create simulated pearls from glass bead coated by shimmer of fish scales and later filled them with wax. However, to create simulated pearls by this way, harvesting of large fish scales is required from thousands of fish. Therefore, people tend to use other methods for generation of simulated pearls, for example plastic beads with pearl film.
Today, lots of simulated pearls are available in the jewelry market. Nothing is wrong with this pearl type, just about the price. As the consumer, you need to be careful about the natural pearls and simulated pearls. There are some tips to separate one from the others.
1. Using your tooth. This is the common and trustworthy way. The natural pearl should have a gritty feel when you lightly press your teeth on. The simulated pearls, on the other hand will give a smooth feeling instead ofgritty feeling.
2. Using magnification. The real pearl should have surface imperfections like ridges or grooves while simulated pearls will show a perfect smooth surface. You need to take a closely look for this method.
3. Using sunlight. The real pearls will show variation in colors and more depths when you hold them in the sunlight. Simulated pearls will givelittle shine when compare with the real one.
4. Compare its density. The real pearls are always heavier than simulated ones. However, the high quality simulated pearls tend to increase the weight just like the real one.
Although the simulated pearls have some different feature from the real pearl, but they are still pearls – for the same meaning in jewelry world. Either real or simulated pearls are worth for your purchase, just make sure that you know what you are going for.
