Pearl Farming – Gaining Popularity Worldwide

Pearls are one of the most sought after gemstones by both men and women. Therefore, they need no introduction. Pearls are not only popularly used in wedding jewelries for brides, but are available in simple designs for every day use as well. Due to the growing popularity and demand for pearl jewelry, the size of pearl farming industry is also increasing worldwide. Pearls are usually cultivated in two forms, namely, nucleated cultivation and non-nucleated cultivation. They are popularly known as saltwater and freshwater pearls.

Most of the people might know that the pearls in the pearl set that they have just purchased have come from a Tahitian pearl farm. But very few of them have the proper understanding about how pearls are cultured in a pearl farm. Creating quality pearls is not an easy task and requires a lot of time.

A farmer involved in sustainable pearl farming wants to ensure that every pearl that is created in his farm is of the highest quality. But in order to produce pearl of the excellent quality every time, it requires a lot of hard work and the entire process is an exhausting one. Therefore it certainly requires a great deal of appreciation from the pearl lovers.

As most of us already know, pearls are obtained from oysters. A farmer involved with ecological pearl farming accommodate thousands of oysters capable of producing pearls in the suitable environment and take care of them for a period ranging from two to five years. They allow pearl formation to take place gradually and finally reach perfection.

For harvesting pearls that can earn profits for a farm, the farmer requires extraordinary skills, as well as, some good luck. The oysters have to be protected from different kinds of diseases and water pollution. Also, harsh water conditions can destroy the entire bed of oysters that are being cultured. Therefore, the oysters need a lot of care and protection.

In pearl farming when the oysters reach maturity, the farmers move them to a special area during their final stage of pearl processing. In this area there are rocks where the oysters can cling to and settle down. After this the oysters are ready to be harvested.

Perfect pearls are not found easily and take 5 years for complete formation. Pearls and definitely one of the greatest creations of nature and since they cannot be harvested easily, you need to take good care of your pearls.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Valentine’s Day or Saint Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the English-speaking countries, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine’s cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

Read more about Valentine’s Day at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day

Popularity: 10% [?]

The blue in Turquoise is enhanced with copper is present. If the area where turquoise is formed contains more aluminum, the turquoise will shade to green. When zinc is present, the deposits are a yellow green color, that so far is very rare and have only been found in a few areas.

The Matrix in Turquoise is the dark markings, the rock the turquoise formed in. When stones are cut, some of the matrix remains bound to the turquoise. Matrix colors vary because turquoise can form in different rocks.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Australia is one of the greatest contributors to the diamond industry. In fact, it produces the greatest number of rough diamonds of any country in the world. The year 1982 marks the start of Western Australia’s activity in the diamond industry. What makes Australia such an interesting addition to the diamond community is that it was the very first western, democratic nation to enter into diamond production. The government in Australia is not involved in the diamond mining process, nor does it own the diamond mines themselves. Hence, it does not stand to gain anything from supervising the marketing aspect either. For that reason, the diamond industry in Australia doesn’t leave many openings for dishonest practices or political involvement on behalf of the government.

Three of the most productive diamond mines in Australia are the Argyle Mine, the Ellendale mine, and the Merlin mine. In the year 2005, these mines generated nearly 33 M carats worth of diamonds.

The Argyle mine is currently Australia’s biggest diamond mine, producing the following:

Five percent – diamond gemstones Seventy percent – near-gemstones
Twenty five percent – industrial quality gemstones
Seventy two percent – brown diamonds
Twenty seven percent – colorless diamonds and different shades of yellow
Under one percent – different shades of pink to red diamonds

An open mining project in the Argyle mine that was originally to be finished by 2008 has been changed to an underground diamond mining project in an attempt to maximize the diamond mine’s lifespan by approximately 10 years. In about 8 years almost 20 M carats are expected to be generated by the Argyle diamond mine each year. In addition, another project known as Phase Two is also in the works for the purpose of extending the diamond mine’s productivity to the year 2024. The investment in these underground mines entails a substantial investment of 910 M USD. Nonetheless, if these projects had not been undertaken, the Argyle diamond mine would be expected to arrive at its final output in just 2 years. As for the Argyle mine’s marketing efforts, from 1982 – 1996 the diamond mine’s output was vended to the DTC. About 14 years ago, the mine began to market its diamonds independently.

The Ellendale mine is the second highest producing mine in Australia. From the diamond mine’s beginnings in the year 2002, a company known as Kimberley has generated and vended nearly 397,000 carats of diamonds worth about 70 M USD. If forecasts prove to be accurate, the Ellendale diamond mine will have generated approximately 122 M USD every year until it will be completely exhausted in the year 2014.

The 3rd most productive diamond mine in Australia, the Merlin mine, which opened towards the end of 1998, has not had much stable ownership, but now it’s held by North Australian Diamonds. It is difficult to assess the exact amount of diamonds to be generated from the Merlin diamond mine because it is quite unpredictable.

Though vast quantities of diamonds are mined and produced in Australia, the majority of them are exported. As for Australian rough diamonds, they are most often not up to international standards. This is the reason why Australia is still the highest producer of rough diamonds, it is not in the highest ranking as far as value in the diamond industry.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Apparently Zimbabwe’s plan to sell off the conflict diamonds from their Marange diamond fields is simply not going to come through as long as the HRW (Human Rights Watch) has any say in the matter. The HRW specifically instructed the leading diamond jewelry providers in the world to keep their distance from any diamonds from Zimbabwe. Specifically, Arvind Ganesan, Director of the Business & Human Rights Division at HRW, released an official warning regarding a full on embargo of Zimbabwe diamonds due to their many violations of serious human rights conditions. According to Arvind Ganesan, Zimbabwean diamonds are conflict diamonds in every sense of the term, and as such the HRW is requesting that jewelry retailers and jewelry consumers boycott these diamonds until the human rights infringements reach their end. In fact, Arvind Ganesan wrote a letter asking as much from leaders in the diamond jewelry industry, such as Cartier, Tiffany’s, and Zale.

Arvind Ganesan has turned to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme as well as the World Diamond Council in an attempt to expand the current definition of blood diamonds to contain diamonds acquired by governments in conflict and not only diamonds by rebel groups. In his letter, the Director of the Human Rights Watch requested that major diamond jewelry retailers issue public statements regarding refusal to purchase Zimbabwean diamonds. Such acts on the parts of the major players in the diamond retail community will surely have some significant long-term effects on diamond production from the Murowa diamond mine, as well as the River Ranch diamond mine, which are thought to be channels for the sale of diamonds from the Marange fields in Zimbabwe.

In the letter, Arvind Ganesan also appeals to the powerful members of the diamond industry to use their influence on the Kimberley Process to ensure that Zimbabwe is fully suspended from the group up to the point when they actually meet basic human rights standards. As per reports from HRW, such human rights infringements as killing, smuggling, and child labor have been going on until just this October and there are no signs of any considerable changes since then. These diamonds have been smuggled to neighboring countries mixing with diamonds from other nations and basically causing a situation where conflict diamonds are traded worldwide.

Hence, it is up to the jewelry retailers to be responsible enough to make sure that they do not vend such conflict diamonds to their jewelry consumers. As diamond consumers are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about conflict diamonds and requesting certifications as to the origin of their diamonds, it was only a matter of time before Zimbabwean diamonds became too risky to be associated with.

The problem is that generally speaking, jewelry providers can’t just boycott their diamond jewelry items, but then again, nobody wants to be linked to conflict diamonds either. It looks like we’ll just have to wait and see how the major members of the diamond jewelry community intend to comply with the demands of the Human Rights Watch.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Color, while applied to white diamonds, is often misunderstood by people outside the diamond industry.

Most people imagine that all white diamonds are colorless. In fact, truly colorless diamonds are quite rare. The diamonds used mostly in jewelry are nearly colorless with pale yellow or brown tints. These diamonds drop into the usual color range. In the normal colour range, the nearer to colorless, the more attractive and valuable the diamond.

In the 1950’s, the D-Z color grading scale introduced by GIA that is stills the industry standard.

GIA Colour Grade Scale
D – F: Colorless
G – J: Near Colorless
K – M: Faint Yellow
N – R: Very Light Yellow
S – Z: Light Yellow

How is color calculated?

Color in white diamonds is normally calculated by comparing the diamond with the set of ‘master stones’. The maximum ‘master stone’ is E-color. Any diamond enhanced than the E-color master is rate d D-color.

Each color grade is really a skinny range of colors. There is no one accurate color for any GIA color grade scale. So, an F-color diamond can be a physically powerful, standard or weak F-color. Though, as long as the diamond is better than the G-color master, it receives an F-color grade.

Fluorescence

Fluorescence is an exclusive effect that causes some diamonds to create a glow (typically blue or yellow) when showing to a strong ultraviolet light. Some favor a diamond with some ‘blue fluorescence’ because it may create the diamond in the ‘near colorless’ or ‘faint yellow’ ranges look rather whiter.

In the ‘colorless’ range, fluorescence has no result on color, although it can reason the diamond to have a little milky appearance.

Why diamond’s color grade is important?

The luminous, fiery, sparkles of light that radiate from an elevated quality white diamond are matchless by some other gem. The diamond acts similar to a prism, dividing light into spectral colors, which are then reflected as color flashes, known as fire. Any usual color in the diamond filters the light, falling its fire and brilliance.

The fewer colors in the diamond, the more bright the fire, and the better the diamond’s color grade. The better the color grade, the more attractive and valuable the diamond.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Cleaning jewelry at home can be done. There are professional things to try and even some home remedies. Each piece of jewelry might have to be cleaned differently as to not ruin it. There are some tips to follow and some advice for follow for common problems when cleaning it.

Cleaning your jewelry will make you feel better. You might have more jewelry at home then you think. Over the years it is common to collect it and store it in a special box. Often people forget exactly what they have. A great thing to do on a rainy day is to look through your jewelry box to see what you have and polish it up. There might be some old necklaces or pearls that you could wear again.

To make your jewelry sparkle and shine again there are a few things you can do. The first involves using a soft cloth or piece of felt. You can try rubbing the items using these cloths to see how much dirt comes off. When that is done, you can wipe them with warm water.

A non abrasive cleaner can be used after you have washed the jewelry using warm water. You simply wipe on the product and then wipe dry. It is noted that some items cannot be cleaned using non abrasive items due to the fact that it might scratch them. These pieces include; emeralds, rubies, coral and turquoise.

Gemstones can be stained from constant perfume use, cosmetics and perspiration marks. It is important to keep these stones cleaned using a cloth. Paper towel use to clean jewelry can leave jewels with scratches.

Gold can be cleaned by using a soft brush and warm water. The water can have a mix of detergents as long as they are fragrance free. Silver involves lots of cleaning. It is often a metal that tarnishes quickly. Simply keeping it wiped with a soft cloth might help it to last longer before cleaning.

Pearls can be cleaned only by using a soft cloth. Anything else will scratch them. Pearls cannot be stored near gold or some types of gemstones as it can discoloration the pearls.

There are also some home remedies to try. Some people use natural solutions to clean jewelry and swear by their effectiveness. One idea is to clean it in cooled down potato water. Another claim is to use a tooth brush and paste, although some experts claim that the brush and the paste will not do any good but actually harm the items. Another idea is to soak it in salt, baking soda and water for a few minutes and then remove and rinse. While these ideas might work for some types of jewelry it is advised to use your own caution.

Getting jewelry to sparkle again can take some work. It all looks good at first in the store under those flashy lights, but when you get them home and wear them for a bit, suddenly the color isn`t as bright, diamonds look dull and silver tarnishes. When this happens we struggle to find cleaning answers so that we can fix the problem. However, it is important to note that all types of jewelry clean in different ways. The best thing to do is to prevent it from becoming really dirty by maintaining them with a soft cloth regularly.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Below is a quick notice of the above gemstones and their color alteration treatments

· Aquamarine is usually heat treated to enhance its color from a light blue to a deeper and desirable shade. It helps in removing any unwanted greenish tint or undertone to achieve a bluish shade.

· Diamond is usually radiated with a technique different than heat treatment. Radiated diamonds display a brilliant white sparkle from what it usually shows an off white color. There are many fancier colors like green, yellow, etc.

· Ruby is usually diffusion-treated gemstone when it gives a faint red or pink color. To intensify its shade, chemicals (same shade coloring agents) are coated over the surface of the gemstone. Then those specimens are heated for a stretched period. Just the core remains colorless.

· Sapphire, generally found in abundantly alluring colors like yellow, pink, green, blue, etc, is also heat treated. Most demanded is the blue sapphire. Heat transferred at specific temperature lightens or intensifies its color. It usually uniforms the gem color. They sometimes undergo diffusion treatment.

· Emerald is commonly oil filled. Emerald is rarely seen without any flaw, i.e. without any internal fine cracks. Therefore, they are filled with same tinted oil to enhance uniformity. Otherwise, they make the gem look unacceptable with whitish cracks displaying.

Popularity: 5% [?]

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Is there something like REAL “Caribbean Amber”? Definitely. It is found in the Dominican Republic (not Dominica, mind you!!). But it has not been “discovered recently”. To the contrary. Columbus and the Taino Indians exchanged amber gifts when he arrived on the island he called “La Hispaniola” . Besides the Green Amber one of the specialties of the Dominican Republic is the Blue Amber. It is green and blue by nature, not enhanced like most Baltic amber. There are different versions of green amber, the rare translucent kind, a opaque green, a green with black stripes, a bluish green, smokey green, olive green, but also the regular honey, brown, black etc. and the most rare BLUE, purple, eggplant, teal and others. How do you recognize natural Caribbean Amber? In natural amber one piece never looks like the other. Most of the time it has some natural inclusions as characteristics that make it unique. But people are being told that amber has to be clear, pure, transparent like glass, and they believe it because most of them have no idea what amber and amberization are all about. And because of this, they fall easy prey to the mass industry. A renowned scientist, Prof. Dr. Mark R. Mayer writes: ‘First of all, beware of pieces that are too uniform or too perfect. Amberization involves processes that result in imperfection in pieces, imperfections that often give amber its personality. So, bubbles, plant debris, clouds, inner layers, cracks and fissures, insect parts, opacities, swirls and stress lines are present to some degree in most pieces and can help verify authenticity. Beware, for example, of a necklace of perfectly matched, transparent beads — that would be most unlikely.” Also beware of “Caribbean Amber” which comes in clear greenish tones and is sold over TV marketing. It is nothing else but just artificially colored (pressure, vapor and heat) Colombian copal. See: Wikipedia: Caribbean Amber. This so called and much advertised “Caribbean Amber” made with Colombian Copal is beautiful, clear, well presented, exquisitely mounted. But it is far from 30 – 50 million years old – probably less than 2000 years. It is: de-naturalized, not green by itself, not what commonly is accepted as “amber” (see Wikipedia/amber), not from the Caribbean, but from South America not been found “recently in 2005″. What they have “recently found” was the way to make Colombian Copal look green.

Popularity: 6% [?]