Pearl shapes

Pearl is cherished as a symbol of purity and elegance from centuries. People around the world use these pearls as jewelry or decorative objects. Pearls are the only gemstone obtained from animals. Pearls are collected from both, freshwater and marine water.

Since pearls are organic gemstones, they can occur in wide variety of shapes. Pearl’s shape depends upon factors inside the shell of mollusk like; shape of nucleus or position of pearl within the shell and many more. The shape of the pearl determines its value. Perfectly round pearl is very rare. There are mainly three categories of pearl shape; spherical, Symmetrical and Baroque.

Spherical shapes are nearly round; this shape is most familiar, classic shape of pearl. Symmetrical pearls are regular shaped pearls, if pearl is divided into two parts they can be divided into two equal halves and Baroque shapes are irregular and abstract.

Some basic pearl shapes are as follows:

Round: When anyone thinks about the Pearls, round is only shape that comes into the mind. These pearls are very rare. Perfectly round and unblemished they look which are very rare and expensive. They range from perfectly round to oval in shape.

Near Round: These pearls are not round but oval. These pearls are slightly flattened or elongated. These pearls belong to Spherical category.

Oval: These pearls are “Oval” in shape and they are narrower at the ends than center. They belong to symmetrical category.

Drop: Drop pearls are pearls which looks like a pear or sometimes available in a teardrop shape. They are usually short and fat. They are usually used for making earring and pendants. They belong to same Symmetrical pearls category as “Oval” pearls.

Button: These pearls usually have flattened shape. They are suitable for stud type of earrings. Their flattened side can be easily attached to jewelry setting.

Baroque: Baroque pearls do not have any specific shape. Any irregular shaped pearl fall into this category. They are very cheap. They can have amazing luster and can look amazingly gorgeous.

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