4 Hottest Pearl Jewelry Trends for 2012

Trips to the International Jewelry Expo in Hong Kong are always fascinating. You meet new people; you learn about new techniques in the world of pearls; you discover new designs and inspirations for the new season. This year, our focus was on what will be hot in pearl jewelry for 2012. We found 4 themes that were the most prevalent during the fair...

Pick of the Week: Chica Pearl Bangles

This week's pick is a perfect wardrobe staple. Wear it with simple dresses for understated evening glam or pile it up with other types of fine bangle bracelets to inject everyday looks with boho cool. The bracelet has a discrete opening between pearls and is adjustable to any wrist size.

Modern Dot by lovemypearls featuring white pearl jewelry

Chica Pearl Bangles
$99 - love-my-pearls.com

Hanako Pearl Earrings
love-my-pearls.com

Pick of the Week: Ultra-Feminine Pearl Earrings

This week's pick is very feminine and classy. Keep them for special occasions, shine at the Christmas table or enchant your dearest one at a romantic dinner for two.

Classy Girl by lovemypearls featuring Aurelie pearl earrings

Aurelie pearl earrings
$59 - love-my-pearls.com

My Precious Pearl

We simply can’t wait for the launch of our metallic pearl collection. Why, you ask? A customer from Belgium recently paid a visit to our office. She wanted to learn more about pearls and see the metallic beauties for herself. No wonder, as such pearls are rarely available even in Asia where they are born, so for a European customer their sight was even more exciting. 

Happy Customer with Her New Pearls!

She immediately fell in love with the silver-pink hues of one of our oval-shaped pendants. She asked us to find a matching pair of earrings. Usually, this is a very simple request, however in case of these rare beauties, finding two more pearls of the same delicate pink hue was very challenging! Hundreds (did I say hundreds? Thousands!) of pearls and a few days later we finally found a perfect match. These were the only two pearls in the entire collection that exhibited the same beautiful hue. 

Here is the result:

Metallic Freshwater Pearl Set based on Ariel Earrings and Maya Pendant

…One more happy customer :-)

Pick of the Week: Venezia Chandelier Earrings

Feminine and sexy, they are so easy to style!

Modern Contessa by lovemypearls featuring genuine leather belts

White pearl earrings
$79 - love-my-pearls.com

Pick of the Week: Teal-colored Pearl Studs

Teal, the color of feminine sophistication, is one of the most important colors of the season. We decided to glam up a pair of pearl studs and offer their teal-colored version as an alternative to white or black pearl earrings. You can style them in many ways, with simple tees or more classy dresses. Teal matches well with black, gray, purple, peach, brown, beige, and mustard colors.

Here is our proposition, incorporating a black mini skirt and a highly fashionable thick sweater with a wolf motif:

Mint Candy - 8mm pearl earrings - US$ 24 ( approx. €17.50)

A quick guide on how to wear, clean, and care for your pearls

Here is a short compilation of our pearly DOs and DON'Ts. If you follow these simple rules, your pearls will look gorgeous for many years to come!

Wearing your pearls

• Always apply perfume, hair and body cosmetics before wearing pearls;
• Avoid contact with acidic foods such as fruit juices and salad dressings. If you want to see what happens to a pearl when exposed to acids, read our post Following in Cleopatra's Footsteps.
• Remove your pearls before you begin your evening cleansing routines;
• Remove pearls before showering or swimming in chlorinated water;
• Remove your pearls before working out or doing housework.

Cleaning your pearls

• After wearing pearls, always wipe them down with a soft, dry cloth;
• Wash them occasionally in soapy water, and then pat them dry. It is best to use an extra mild baby soap for this purpose;
• Never clean your pearls in an ultrasonic cleaner, it is very damaging to their surface!
• Don’t use chemical cleaners with ammonia, bleach, or baking soda as they react chemically with the pearl surface;
• Never clean your pearls with a toothbrush or abrasive pad.

Caring for your pearls

• Store your pearls in a soft pouch, away from metallic jewelry, to avoid scratching them;
• Avoid storing your pearls in extremely dry places as they may lose their shine;
• Have your pearl necklace or bracelet restrung at least once every two years.

Caring for your pearls is essential, so with each order at Love My Pearls, you can be sure to receive a free pearl cleaning kit. Each shiny packet includes pearl  two cleaning tissues generously soaked in a gentle cleaning solution and an ultra-soft microfibre pearl polishing cloth that will give you perfect results every time.

Simply swipe your jewels using one of the moist tissues then dry them with the polishing cloth. Our kit has one advantage over soaking your pearls in a soapy water - it prevents you from wetting the pearl necklace thread too much, which keeps your strands in good condition for longer.

Do you have your own well-tested and carefree pearl care routine?

Utopian necklace

Immerse yourself in nostalgia for simpler life, innocent and untroubled. An overwhelming warm feeling evoked by golden and copper overtones of paintings depicting flourishing and rustic Golden Age or idyllic Arcadia is taking over our dreams. 

Inspired by utopian images from the past, we have designed this pearl necklace to remind ourselves of the beauty of life. Soft and golden tones of ninety-one shimmery and round freshwater pearls symbolize the ripeness of summer apples picked from the tree. Do you still remember their warm sweetness taking over your senses? Eight pink gold-plated silver rings are the embodiment of the circle of life. Do you still recall the gentle touch of the morning on your skin? Her name is Alicia. A noble but dreamy girl; radiant, gentle, and truthful.

Immerse yourself in nostalgia for simpler life, innocent and untroubled.

Romantic at Heart

This year's femininity has been described with romantic vocabulary. Soft and flowing dresses, ruffled tops, bows, flowery head pieces, sheer, vanilla-coloured fabrics, and lace are the prelude to the soft side of fashion, richly romantic but also subtly sexy.

Pearls seem like the perfect finishing to the style. Bundle a larger pearl pendant with other charms on a longer chain or go for vintage-inspired earrings, to avoid overdoing it. Here's how to carry the trend adorned with romantic jewelry without looking like you stepped out of a Harlequin romance novel:

Romantic at Heart by Pearlbuzz featuring Yves Saint Laurent shoes

Vera Earrings

Winning Pieces in Pearl Essence Competition 2010

The Dubai Pearl Exchange has announced this month three winners of its Pearl Essence program. Take a look at the winning designs: bangle "Curvature" by 23-year old Reinhardt Van Zyl from South Africa, Catherine Buman’s necklace "The Life Line", and an avant-garde neck piece "Dubai Night Sky" by Belinda Koopman. What do you think?

The Winner: Curvature

Vacances a la mer

The holiday season is so close, we should start completing our laid back wardrobe. This summer, sailor-themed outfits found their way back to runways. Short, pretty, and flattering to all, striped mini-dresses are the definite must-have for this year. We propose a pearl bangle stack and cute starfish earrings to complete the look. Enjoy!

Vacances a la mer by Pearlbuzz featuring DKNY dresses

Bangle Triplets

Starfish Earrings

Pearl Styles Part 2: Nude pearls

This time, a dressy-nude approach to pearls. Enjoy!

Pearl Styles Part 1: Nude pearls

Anything from soft flesh-tone hues to earthy neutrals has been popular in shoes and makeup over the past several seasons. Now, they are making their way to clothing. How to match pearls with this trend for spring and summer?

Enjoy! :o)

Pearl Facts: the B-shaped necklace

Most of us know and some of us love Ugly Betty Suarez. Her breathtaking lack of a sense of style and wonderful abundance of a sense of humor amuse us since 2006 (for the US version of the series that is!). We all know her pearl choker decorated with a pearly letter “B” in the center. B, of course, is for Betty. But is it really?

Ugly pearls

The most common view is that pearls in your jewellery should be prettily round, white, and flawless. If you bother to look at the prevailing pearl grading scales, pearls that do not look as if they have just undergone a major facelift/Botox injection procedure or do not roll in the straight line when dropped onto a smooth surface, do not stand a chance.

Pearls, the underappreciated eco-jewels

Are pearls ecologically friendly? They are organic gems, yes. We like to think that pearls are angels’ tears, but in reality, pearls are the natural nacre made by oysters or freshwater mussels around a bead and/or donor tissue inserted by a man or woman. It doesn’t get more “green” than that!