November 2 2011
by Sophie Cao

Shapes in Freshwater Pearls

Looking at the fashion trend for the last few years, geometric designs are in. You'll notice this trend increasingly in Balenciaga or Pedro Lourenco. A great way to play off of the geometric designs that you'll be wearing this season is to incorporate geometric shapes into your earrings and bracelets.

Freshwater Pearls are cultured and because of their manmade background, are able to be utilized in different ways. Farmers insert a small piece of shell into the oyster or mussel that they want, which is opposed to how some oysters naturally respond to an irritant. This irritates the mollusk into producing natural nacre around the foreign substance and results in a pearl. The Freshwater Pearl, because it has a shell center, has the same luster and shape as a saltwater pearl that grows to completion in less time and with less cost. Since it is manmade, farmers are able to insert a custom shape that they would like and wait for the mussel to create the natural nacre around it. A lot of original and funky designs can result. No matter what, the farmers are left with gorgeous pearls that can be drilled, set and made into different shapes. As well, because the freshwater pearls are farmed, they can be dyed into various shades and colors.

Rectangular Freshwater Pearls are great ideas to use in simple drop earrings. When wearing a fitted suit, they give your ears a subtle flair. Other ideas would be to put them in between hammered sterling silver soldered rings throughout a necklace or use them in a multi-strand bracelet. Some pearls are even attached to rings in beautiful clusters that look like a flower bouquet.

Coin Freshwater Pearls are a fantastic idea as they would add luminescence to any design. Their shape allows them to be easily dropped as charms from simple bracelets. They make easy and original earrings, and strung next to each other make a beautiful multi-layered strand.

Other examples of freshwater pearl shapes are Keshi and Biwa pearls. Keshi pearls are when the oyster or mussel rejects the nucleus before being cultured to completion. The resulting shape of the keshi pearls are cute cornflake pearls that are great to mix with coin crystals and round beads. Also, because one side is concave, they also look like miniature shells which allow them to be mixed in with real shells or nautical themed pieces. Biwa pearls are originally from Biwa, Japan but are now mostly farmed in China. The inserted irritant is a soft-mantle tissue so that when the oyster or mussel is coating it with nacre, the first couple of layers can vary in shape. This results in a wide variety of different shapes. Common biwa shapes are long and rectangular versus the flat and irregular shape of the keshi.

These unusual shapes are fantastic when clustering different materials on a piece. I've seen great necklaces and earrings that combined crystals, pearls and stones. Great ways to use the pearls would be to cluster them with other beads of similar color or shape. Overall, freshwater pearl shapes are a great and affordable way to add different colors and textures to your piece.