Mother Of Pearl

Mother of Pearl, also known as nacre, is the lining seen on the inside of the shells of some molluscs. It is a white to pinkish iridescent layer that the inhabitant finds simple to glide over. Oysters are a prime source of Mother of Pearl for the purposes of jewelry.

Mother of Pearl comes in and out of fashion over the decades, but is most closely associated with great-grandmothers and the 1920's It tends to be jewelry that older women like. This may be because younger women are ignorant of it and its ghostly lustre.

Pearls are created from the same substance that makes up Mother of Pearl, but Mother of Pearl is easier to harvest and is therefore cheaper. However, when it is presented correctly by an expert, it is a wondrous sight. Real Mother of Pearl appears to have depth. Being pearl in colour, Mother of Pearl matches very well with silver. In fact, it goes better with silver than with gold, the two most preferred metals utilized in jewelry throughout the ages. This off-sets the price of the Mother of Pearl, rendering it really rather affordable.

Mother of Pearl is very soft and so easily damaged. On the Mohs scale of hardness it is around 3.5. Window glass is 5 and diamonds 10. Therefore, a craftsman working with nacre has to be very cautious. This softness makes it simple to cut, but simple to damage as well.

If you want natural Mother of Pearl, you will be restricted to white and pinks to brown. However, nacre is easily dyed so you will find it in practically any and every colour. Not everyone wants it in non-natural colours though.

if you are purchasing nacre in a setting, the thing to look out for is the join between the Mother of Pearl and the metal. Is there a visible space between the two? If so, there is a pretty good likelihood that the nacre will work loose and fall out over time. If you are certain that you are looking at real nacre, this is the number one difficulty of bad workmanship.

However, there is also the problem of fake nacre. It is not uncommon, however if you compare real nacre and fake nacre, the fake will stick out like a sore thumb. Therefore, it is worth borrowing some genuine nacre to take with you if you are in the market for it. Because nacre is so soft it takes some looking after. Nacre should not be allowed to come into contact with any other objects because most things are harder than it. It will easily scratch, chip and flake, so wrap it separately when you are not wearing it.

If you have a costly item, you ought to have it cleaned by an expert as there are no cleaners that you can purchase that will not be harmful if applied incorrectly. It is better to pay a little more than damage a lovely item of Mother of Pearl jewelry

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of subjects, and is now involved with Birthstones. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Jewellry and Watches.