Pearls

The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries, and because of this, the word pearl became a metaphor for something very rare, very fine, very admirable and very valuable. Fine gem-quality saltwater and freshwater pearls can and do sometimes occur completely naturally, but this is rare. In modern times almost all the pearls for sale are formed with a good deal of expert intervention from human pearl farmers.Imitation or fake pearls are also widely sold in inexpensive jewelry, but the quality of the iridescence is usually very poor, and generally speaking, fake pearls are usually quite easy to distinguish from the real thing.