How to Take care of Cultured Pearls

Cultured pearls are precious jewels and should be treated as such. They're also the products of living creatures. Cultured pearls are formed when an irritant is introduced into a mollusk. The mollusk secretes a substance called nacre, which covers the irritant and produces the pearl. Nacre gives pearls the rainbow of colors and luster that makes these gemstones so treasured, but its delicate nature also makes pearls particularly susceptible to damage. For this reason you should be extra careful with your cultured pearl jewelry:

• Apply cosmetics, hair sprays and perfume away from the area where the pearls will be worn.
• You can wash your pearl jewelry to remove any oils or harmful chemicals, simply soak in a mild soap and water solution, roll the pearls in your fingers or brush lightly with a soft bristle brush and rinse. Do not clean cultured pearls with any chemicals, abrasives or solvents. These substances can damage your pearls.
• Always lay cultured pearl strands flat to dry on an absorbent cloth. Hanging a strand may stretch the threads.
• Do not toss your cultured pearl jewelry carelessly into a purse, bag or jewel box. A pearl's surface is soft and can be scratched by hard metal edges or by the harder gemstones of other jewelry pieces.
• Place cultured pearls in a chamois bag or wrap them in tissue when putting them away.
• Cosmetics, perspiration, oils and ordinary wear weaken and stretch the threads on which the pearls are strung. Let us examine your pearls periodically, strands that are worn frequently will need restringing at some point in time.