Pure Pearls Glossary
Pearl Care
Pearls are soft and porous. They need to go on last, come off first, and be stored apart from everything else.
Nacre is calcium carbonate bound by protein. Acid dissolves it, and perfume, hairspray, deodorant and cosmetics are all mildly acidic.
The rule is last on, first off. Dress, do your hair and perfume, then put pearls on. Take them off before undressing, and wipe them with a soft damp cloth.
Store pearls in a soft pouch, separately from other jewellery. Harder stones and metal scratch nacre easily. Never seal them airtight, because pearls need a little humidity or the nacre dries and crazes.
What you will hear
“You can clean pearls in an ultrasonic cleaner like other jewellery.”
In fact: Ultrasonic and steam cleaning destroy pearls. They loosen nacre layers, strip adhesive from half-drilled settings and can crack the pearl outright.
When you are buying
The single most damaging habit is spraying perfume while wearing pearls. It dulls the lustre permanently and no amount of cleaning brings it back.
Read next
Nacre
The material a pearl is made of: microscopic aragonite platelets glued in layers by conchiolin. Thickness determines both lustre and lifespan.
Peeling
Nacre lifting or flaking away from a pearl, exposing the bead beneath. Terminal, and caused by thin nacre or chemical damage.
Restringing
Replacing the thread a strand is built on. Routine maintenance, not repair, and overdue on most pearl necklaces.
Lustre
How sharply a pearl reflects light. The single most important quality factor, and the one you can judge without any training.
Not sure what you are being sold?
Paste any pearl description — another shop’s listing, a message from a jeweller, an old certificate — and we will break it down term by term.