Have you ever wondered how pearl earrings are made? What
happens before you wear a pair of well-matched pearl studs?
It is a long process! It all starts with a big bag filled
with pearls that have already been sorted for their body color, size, shape,
and surface quality by the pearl farm. The bag you see on the first photo is
actually considered as a small one. Sometimes we have to go through four times
as much to find the “pearlfect” fit!
We work in batches. We always go for the bag with the very
best quality pearls. We divide them into several trays and search for the most
lustrous and roundest of these pearly beauties. Sometimes we feel like a team
of Cinderellas, separating the good grains from the bad!
Naturally, the more pearls we take out of the tray, the more
we risk considering as good ones because some of the remaining pearls will
suddenly look better if left with the less-lustrous ones. This is why once we
have made our initial selection we inspect every single one of them to make
sure you get the best, the roundest, and the prettiest of them all! On this second pass, we take out quite a
bunch of the ones we had initially selected.
The ultimate beauties get their spot on a sorting leaf. Then
the pairing process can finally begin! It can be hours before we start pearl
matching. Our skilled staff makes sure your pearls look as identical as each
other as possible. Absolutely perfect matches
are very rare and a whole lot more expensive because, like snowflakes, each
pearl is unique! We carefully study the
size, body overtones, and luster of each pearl that matches our quality requirements. We look for pearls that reflect the light in
similar ways and display similar color play on their surface. It’s not an easy task! Just to give you an
example, white pearls can have pink, silver, greenish, blue, ivory, or
multicolored overtones.
This is why only a tiny fraction of each pearl bag ends up
in our collection of pearl earrings. From this particular bag filled with
thousands of pearls we only selected a few dozen pairs, or less than one
percent of the cream of the crop, that were deemed worthy of your earlobes :o)
Not all pearl companies work in this way. Many cut corners
and leave the matching process to pearl wholesalers. Such companies buy paired
pearls in bulk and hope for the best, which is unfortunately far too often
wishful thinking. This is yet another reason to only choose reputable pearl
vendors who only carry only high quality pearls.
Let’s go back to our pair of earrings. We have already
selected finest pearls. Now we have to
drill them before we can affix earring findings onto them. This is an optional
step because oftentimes pearls are already drilled at pearl farms and ready for
setting. Again, drilling pearls requires skills and attention. You don’t want
to damage the pearl surface!
Once pearls are drilled, they are ready for setting… and
voila! Your earrings are ready to adorn and be admired!
