Julia's Pearls pearl jewellery!

We want everyone to be able to buy something from us - classic or with design but always with quality.

There are not two identical pearls since it is impossible to control exactly what the pearl mussel creates.

We choose the pearls our self with great care to find the quality we are looking for.
The most beautiful luster, colour and shape are what we spend many hours finding.

This is a challenge but also what makes all the pearl jewellery unique.

Finding one beautiful pearl can be hard enough and it is be even harder to find a matching set of earrings or whole necklaces with beautifully matching pearls.

Our pearls are cultivated, that is, the pearl grows inside a pearl mussel but the
pearl´s growth does not start spontaneous.
The method to induce the pearl to be developing inside the mussle is called grafting or nucleating. 

The colour of our pearls
Pearls from Julia's Pearls have their natural colour, the pearls are not dyed.
The pearl mussels naturally create different colors depending on the species.

Wild pearls and cultured pearls
Wild pearls comes from wild mussels and are very rare. The diefinition is that the pearl's growth must start spontaneous, ie not induced by man.
A wild pearl with beautiful form, colour and luster is very, very rare and valuable.
With very few exceptions, all pearls available today are cultivated pearls.
Our pearls are grown/cultivated in a mussel and basically the same as wild pearls and the material is the same.

Cultured pearls
There are many different types and there are many different ways to grow pearls.
New methods have been developed for more than a hundred years and the methods are refined contineously. 
Many methods and combinations of methods are used for the cultivation.
The exact methods are carefully kept by the pearl farmers as secrets of trade.

Cultivation of freshwater pearls is generally done by a pearl mussel is getting a piece of tissue from a donor mussel grafted into the tissue.
The host mussle defend themselves against the foreign tissue by encapsulating the piece of tissue in mother of pearl, chrystal by chrystal, layer by layer.
This method is most common for the cultivation of freshwater pearls.
There are also variants in which a pearl made of mother of pearl is inserted into the mussel which is then encapsulated by the mussel which continues to create layers of layers in natural pearls, this is common for various saltwater pearls.

Large scale cultivation of pearls as we know it today was started by Kokichi Mikimoto (1858-1954) in Japan.
Mikimoto pearls are still a concept as well as a brand of  pearl jewellery of high quality.

Imitation pearls are made artificially. Of course, glass and plastic beads belong here. Majorica beads are the most famous name of imitated pearls and are prepared by dipping a bead into a solution made of fish scales.

Small facts 
Choosing pearls is based on size, shape, color, luster, quality of mother-of-pearl and surface defects.
Round pearls are never completely round, two pearls are never exactly the same -variations are endless!
The value of round beads is usually higher than the value of semi-round beads. If the bead is not round or symmetrical, it is called the baroque and then the price can be the same as a corresponding round bead, depending on the beautiful shape and color as well as the luster.

Pearls belong to the gems and are the only organic gems.

Pearls are the first precious stones described, 2206 b.kr. mention pearls in Chinese writing.

Swedish biologist Carl von Linné managed to grow pearls but it is not known much about the result.
The river pearl mussel lives wild in Sweden and is a protected spieces throughout the country.

Mabe pearls are pearls that have grown against the shell of the mussel and therefore have a flat side. Mabes pearl are famous for their beautiful colors and luster.

Akoya Pearls (Lat: Pinctada Martensii)
Akoya Pearls are the first pearls that was successfully cultivated and grown with high quality.
Kokichi Mikimoto has received the credit but Dr. T. Nishikawa did studies on how to make pearls to grow in a natural way like Mikimoto then used.
The Akoya Pearl is a small pearl that has hiher luster than all other pearls!
It is famous for its intense shimmer, often with a faint pink undertone but it is also available in other colour tones.
Now there are many manufacturers but Mikimoto is still the most famous name in the design and cultivation of pearls of the highest quality.

Freshwater pearls
Freshwater pearls are grown throughout Asia; China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, India but also in the US and Australia.
Commercial cultivation of freshwater pearls started in Lake Biwa in Japan in the 1930s. The name Biwa pearl have become a trade name of cultured freshwater pearls, regardless of their origin.
Mussels live by filtering the water flowing past and are very sensitive to water quality. The cultivation of pearls in lake Biwa has ceased due to deterioration of water quality.
The method of cultivating freshwater pearls have developed a lot in recent years.
The better qualities of freshwater pearls are often comparable to saltwater pearls.
The largest individual improvement is due to the replacement of the spieces used for pearl production.
Previously, Cockscomb mussels "Cristar ia plicata" were used but since the mid-1990s, Triangular Mussel "Hyriopsis cumingii" is more commonly used.
One contributing reason why freshwater pearls are cheaper in purchasing is that several pearls can grow inside a mussel at the same time. Up to 20 pearls can be on growth in a mussel but in order to maintain the quality, the number decreases.
After the pearls are harvested for the first time, the mussels are put back into the water and additional pearls are produced but often get a baroque, non-symmetrical shape.

A pearl with a diameter of 10-12mm can take 4-7 years to grow.

Tahitian pearls or black southern pearls (Lat: Pinctada Margaritifera)
Tahitian pearls are among the most sought after and highly valued because of their rare, incredible colors and luster.
Although Tahitipearls are sometimes called black pearls, they appear in a wide range of colours, peacock green, silver, blue and close to black.
The Tahiti pearls come from the mucus, Pinctada Margaritifera.
Cultivation techniques differ slightly from freshwater pearl cultivation.
A nucleus of mother of pearl is inserted into the host mussel which makes the mussel to encapsulate this forign object with mother of pearl.
The pearls produced are usually between 7 and 14mm in diameter.

All pearls produced on Tahiti are quality controlled by Tahitis Marine recourses department. Pearls that do not meet the quality measure may not be exported.

The pearl farms are found throughout French Polynesia from the Gambier Islands in the East to Micronesia and the Cook Islands in the West.

South Sea Pearls (Lat: Pinctada Maxima)


These pearls are famous for their incredible colors and sizes. They are available in different coulor tones, ranging from ivory white, snow white, silver tones and intense golden colour. The mussle used is called Pinctada Maxima.
There are two generl types, one type called silver lip and a type called gold lip.
The name comes from the colour of the outer edge of the mussel. The colour of the outer edge of the mother of pearl determines the color of the pearl that is created.
The mussels's large size allows it to produce much larger pearls than other mussels.

Take care of your pearls!
Pearls are a natural product and must be protected from the effects of chemicals (perfume), oily skin care products, moisture (take off before shower and bath!), Unnatural drought (do not store, for example, pearls on a bed of cotton).
Clean by wiping with a damp cloth without detergent. Store pearls in a jewellery bag or a sealed plastic bag if you think the humidity varies.

We use polyester thread that is very strong. The necklace do not need to be re-stranded as a necklace threaded with silk thread do.

Sveriges Gemologiska Riksförening has a lot of information about pearls on its website: www.gemmologiska.se

At Pearls-guide.com you will find much more information about pearls in English: www.pearl-guide.com