Swarovski (Austrian) Crystal is considered by many people to be the finest quality, full-lead crystal made today. It contains a minimum of 32%PbO, making the crystal optically very pure. The crystal is then faceted with tremendous precision, creating beautiful prisms. Brilliant colors and/or coatings are added to these crystals to create pendants, stones, and beads of dazzling beauty and tremendous variety of shapes and sizes. Swarovski Crystal is unmatched in quality and distinction.

The unique Swarovski Crystal Pearl technology. Each Swarovski Crystal Pearl is created around a crystal core, hence the name Crystal Pearl. This crystal core gives the pearl its ideal weight and combined with the Swarovski Pearl coating it causes each Crystal Pearl to glow from within. The pearl coating developed by Swarovski is applied around the crystal core in pearly layers.
The high specific gravity of a raw pearl made of crystal gives the Swarovski Crystal Pearl the same weight as a cultured pearl. A Swarovski Crystal Pearl feels good to the touch and as a piece of jewelry; it offers that sensual experience valued by pearl enthusiasts.

• Fine silver – 99.9% silver – Lustrous white, soft, and malleable; the most inexpensive and accessible precious metal. Too soft to be made into beads; available as wire.
• Sterling silver – 92.5% silver, 7.5% other, usually copper (92.5% is the minimum silver content for an item labeled “silver”) – The addition of copper or other metal makes sterling silver harder and more prone to tarnishing than fine silver.
• Silver plate – Thin layer of pure silver over base material – Looks much like sterling.
• Bali silver – Sterling silver – Handmade in Bali; characterized by surface granulation and fine detail.
• Karated gold – 24k=99.9% gold; 22k=91.3% gold; 18k=75% gold; 14k=58.5% gold; 12k=50% gold; 10k=41.7% gold.
• Gold-filled – 10k or hire over base metal.
• Gold plate – 10k or hire over base metal. Gold layer is thinner than in gold-filled items.
• Gold vermeil – 14k or hire over sterling silver.
• Copper – 100% copper – Reddish-gold metal that ages to warm brown.
• Brass – Copper and zinc alloy – Inexpensive gold-colored metal.
• Nickel – 100% nickel – White metal that looks like silver.
• Pewter – Tin alloyed with various other metals – Soft, grayish-silver metal.

Seed beads were originally made thousands of years ago by drilling naturally occurring seeds and pods for stringing. Today seed beads are very small, round (seed shaped) glass beads that are generally sold by weight or volume.

Natural pearls are very rare and expensive, they tend to be found in older jewelry. They are produced if a piece of grit manages to find its way into the Oyster. The grit generally irritates the pearl and in turn, the pearl secretes a nacre, which is a combination of calcium carbonate and organic substances. Over time, the build up of this nacre produces a natural Pearl. Most jewelers use cultured pearls in their jewelry.

Pearls are formed when an oyster or mussel is irritated by grit such as sand being trapped in their shells. Layers of aragonite nacre are secreted around the irritant and gradually build up to form the solid pearl. Pearls get their opalescent color from light reflecting in these layers producing an iridescent luster. Sometimes, an irritant is introduced to the mussel or oyster to start the formation of a cultured pearl (such as a Mother of Pearl Bead).

These pearls are made by taking an oyster, prying it open slightly and then making a tiny incision into the Gonad (a reproductive organ of the oyster). A small nucleus (grit) is inserted in the slit and mantle tissue placed behind it. The cells in this tissue grow around the inserted nucleus which produces a pearl sac. This is the beginning of a cultured Saltwater Pearl. The three major types of Saltwater Pearls are the Akoya, Tahitian and South Sea pearl.

Akoya pearls are the specialty of Japanese pearl farms. These were the first pearls to be cultured early in the 1920s, they have a white color with a slight rosé overtone. Akoya pearls are a high-quality pearl, they are well matched for size, shape, and color.
Akoya looks very similar to the Freshwater pearl. When compared side-by-side, the difference is a more rounder shape than a natural Freshwater Pearl and a very slight pinkish hue. Akoya pearls are more expensive than a Freshwater Pearl and are on average larger, smoother, rounder, and more lustrous than Freshwater pearls.
Sometimes, more than one nucleus can be inserted into the Oyster, producing more than one pearl at a time.

Black Tahitian pearls are created by the black-lipped oyster in the islands of French Polynesia. The oyster can reach up to 12 inches across and can weigh up to 10 pounds each. This results in sometimes larger than normal sized Pearls. Most Tahitian Pearls have darker colors, gray, silver, charcoal or similar shades. True black pearls are extremely rare, most `black` Tahitian Pearls are a darker gray.
Tahitian Pearls come mainly from the surrounding Islands of Tahiti in French Polynesia, it is true that Tahiti is the main selling center for Tahitian Pearls.
In the early 1960`s, cultured Tahitian Pearls began and these pearls were more readily available, still keeping their unique size and coloring. The larger size of a pearl may be created by inserting a larger nucleus into the Oyster at an early stage.

South Sea pearls are among the largest commercially harvested cultured pearls in the world (Tahitian Pearls are also larger than `normal`). The average size of a South Sea pearl is 13mm, with most farms producing a range of sizes from 9mm up to 20mm.
As the Tahitian and sometimes Akoya Pearl, the South Sea pearl also grows in a larger Oyster, thus producing a larger Pearl. Because of the larger Oyster, a larger nucleus can be inserted to cause a larger pearl.
The outside of a South Sea Oyster is known as Mother-of-Pearl which is responsible for the color of the cultured South Sea Pearl.

As each item is handmade, please expect some variations in stones and design. Slight variations are to be expected and that’s what makes your handmade jewelry unique!