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As long as pearl jewelry have been known to people, they have been a highly sought commodity for their beauty. It's only in recent times however that the industry has taken the hunt for the perfect pearl to a whole different level. Today, the shiny orbs that we see on in display in jewelry stores have actually almost always been grown in farms.
That's a far cry from the dangerous extraction and collection methods used before the invention of modern technology. In the past, not more than 100 years ago, the only way to retrieve pearls was by diving in lakes, floods and the ocean to pick them up, one at the time. The unfortunate divers who'se job it was to do this, were often poor and lured by the relative large sums they could get. The diver would sometimes have to dive as deep as 100 feet on one single breath of air. In order to preserve air and to stay submerged the longest, the divers would hold on to heavy stones on the way down.
Naturally, this dangerous activity was reserved for the desperate or the powerless - in many cases slaves or extremely poor peasents. Today, this method is all but obsolete in most places of the world. The cheaper cultured pearls have become popular and are many times the only pearls available to the consumer.
There are however still a few isolated areas that practice this old art of pearl diving. Some of the finest natural pearl speciments come from the gulf of Bahrain. Here, divers still risk their health to retrieve what are considered the top of the crop in the world. In fact, Bahrain wants no part of the sale of cultured pearls, banned from trade. Bahrain is one of the few places on earth that does an active job in trying to preserve the natural habitat and waters from pollution.
It's an interesting story and one that continues to fascinate buyers around the world. Somehow, the beauty of the pearl grows when it's been retrieved from the depth of the ocean.
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Buying pearl jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you're considering a gift of pearl jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's some information to help you get the best quality pearl jewelry for your money, whether you're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online.
Pearls
Natural or real pearls are made by oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials.
Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls. Cultured pearls, because they are made by oysters or mollusks, usually are more expensive than imitation pears. A cultured pearl's value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which give it luster. Jewelers should tell your if the pearls are cultured or imitation. Some black, bronze, gold, purple, blue and orange pearls, whether natural or cultured, occur that way in nature; some, however, are dyed through various processes. Jewelers should tell you whether the colored pearls are naturally colored, dyed or irradiated.
Clams, oysters, mussels and many other mollusks with limy shells are known to produce pearls. But very few kinds yield gem pearls of jeweler's quality. The pearl is an abnormal growth of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, imbedded in the soft bodies of these shellfish. It is built up, layer upon layer, in the same way as nacre is added to the lining of the growing shell and always has the same color and luster. For example, over the country, hundreds of good-sized pearls are found each year in the oysters we eat. Unfortunately these have no commercial value regardless of whether they have been cooked or not because they are dull opaque white or purple like the shell of the parent oyster. In recent times almost all pearls of gem quality come from the oriental pearl oyster which has a bright shimmering translucent nacre.
A pearl starts growing when some irritating foreign substance such as a sand grain, bit of mud, parasite or other object becomes lodged in the shell-producing gland called the mantle. Pearls formed in the soft flesh where nacre can be added on all sides are most likely to be spherical and the most highly prized. By far the great majority are flattened or variously distorted and have little value. Size, color, luster and freedom from flaws are other essential qualities. Unlike other gems, such as diamonds, pearls have an average life of only about 50 years. In time the small amount of water in a pearl's make-up is lost and its surface cracks. Because they are mostly lime, necklaces which are worn often are injured by the acid secretions of the human skin.
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It's rare for Kanye West to shoot down a project, especially one that's sparking controversy. Share The rapper cuts a mouse from his stomach in a film directed by Spike Jonze. Even more odd is for said project to spark rumors that West himself had been killed, but that was what happened after the hip-hop impresario pulled down the short film "We Were Once a Fairytale" from his blog Tuesday, one day after he posted it there, only offering fans the explanation, "Sorry I had to take it down :(." Since then, "RIP Kanye West" has risen to pearl jewelry top trend status on the micro-blogging platform Twitter, with fans reacting to a gruesome series of scenes in "Fairytale." That impelled West's girlfriend Amber Rose to take to Twitter to shoot down rumors that West died in a car crash. (The rapper was actually involved in a near-fatal wreck in 2002, inspiring his hit "Through the Wire," which is also reportedly the title of his upcoming book.) Related WATCH: Kanye West's Swift Outburst WATCH: Kanye West Arrested in Paparazzi Scuffle WATCH: Kanye West: It Was Rude "This 'RIP KanyeWest' topic is not funny and its NOT TRUE!," Rose tweeted. "He has people like myself and his family that love him very much." It's hard to blame fans -- "We Were Once a Fairytale" was made to cause a stir. In the 11-minute long film, made by longtime West collaborator and "Where the biwa pearl Wild Things Are" director Spike Jonze, the rapper plays a drunk version of himself stumbling around a club. West seems darkly desperate in the video, shouting "Do you like my song? This is my song!" at revelers who recoil as he goes on a warpath across the room. His hit "In My Nightmares" blasts in the background, and the whole thing is pretty nightmarish indeed -- after having sex with a stranger, West vomits rose petals, drives a knife into his stomach and pulls out a small rat-like creature, which then kills itself with a mini knife. Jonze's surreal product mirrors his work in "Where the akoya pearl Wild Things Are," "Being John Malkovich," and West videos like "Flashing Lights." While West obviously puts on an act in it, it's hard not to see "Fairytale" as a look into the psyche of a star struggling with fame.
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Convicted con man Bernard Madoff, who slept on luxury linens and dined at the finest restaurants, is now sleeping in the lower bunk of a two man cell in a federal prison, with a 21-year-old convicted drug dealer for a roommate and a child molester cooking his pizza, according to a new victims' lawsuit filed by the lone outsider to visit him behind bars. Share The KPMG man cited in a suit tells ABC News he had no relationship with Madoff. More Photos San Francisco attorney Joe Cotchett says the pearl jewelry former billionaire now spends time with former Colombo crime family boss Carmine Persico and convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, amid a gang of fellow inmates in prison for drug and sex crimes. Click here to go behind the scenes of Brian Ross' investigation into Bernie and Ruth Madoff. Madoff should feel comfortable among the former drug dealers given his long association with office messengers who provided him and his wife Ruth with large amounts of marijuana over the years, according to accounts by former employee in a new book by ABC's Brian Ross, "The Madoff Chronicles." As the former Madoff staffers told Ross, Bernie liked to let off steam. "Especially in the early days, a messenger known in the office as Little Rick would be dispatched to Harlem to bring back marijuana for Bernie and others in the office." Related PHOTOS: Inside Palm Beach: The Secret World of Bernie Madoff PHOTOS: Bernard Madoff's Luxuries More from Brian Ross and the Investigative Team "Little Rick ended up losing his job in biwa pearl 2003 when he couldn't kick his own problem with cocaine and drugs were discovered in his desk. He says he wasn't the only one with a problem at the Madoff firm. "There was white powder all over that office. It was like the freaking North Pole," Little Rick said. "Are you freaking kidding me?" And as the firm grew, as reported by Ross in the "Chronicles," Bernie liked wild times at office parties. "At one Christmas Party, Bernie rented out the entire floor of the disco New York, New York, and there were topless waitresses and waiters in just g-strings," said Little Rick. Click here to purchase "The Madoff Chronicles" from Amazon.com. The lawsuit also brings new accusations against KPMG, a prestigious "Big 4" accounting firm, responsible for so-called independent audits of a several of the largest of Madoff's U.S. "feeder funds," as well as Madoff's London office. The lawsuit alleges there is "substantial evidence that akoya pearl KPMG either knew or failed to disclose or failed to detect" the massive Ponzi scheme. And in particular, the suit questions the role of David Yim, a director in KPMG's London office, whose cell phone number was found in Madoff's personal address book and who was one of the auditors assigned to Madoff's London operation, according to the lawsuit. "Either Yim knew or was willfully blind to the blatant fraud occurring. Yim was in constant contact with Madoff and his phone number was in Madoff's directory of key contact information."
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More than 50 followers of spiritual guru James Arthur Ray had just endured five strenuous days of fasting, sleep-deprivation and mind-altering breathing exercises when he led them into a sweat lodge ceremony. It was supposed to be a religious awakening, the pearl jewelry culmination of a $9,000-plus-a-person retreat outside Sedona, Ariz., aimed at helping people find a new vision for life. But it wasn't long before the ceremony turned into a terrifying experience. People were vomiting in the stifling heat, gasping for air, and lying lifeless on the sand and gravel floor beneath them, according to participant Beverley Bunn. One man was burned when he crawled into the rocks, seemingly unaware of what he was doing, she said. Ultimately, three people would die. Related Two Die in Spiritual Sweat Lodge Retreat WATCH: New Details in Sweat Lodge Deaths Couples Retreat: Meet Real-Life Love Experts When participants exhibited weakness, Ray urged them to push past it and chided those who wanted to leave, she said. "I can't get her to move. I can't get her to biwa pearl wake up," Bunn recalls hearing from two sides of the 415-square-foot sweat lodge. Ray's response: "Leave her alone, she'll be dealt with in the next round." Bunn, a 43-year-old Texas resident, provided her wrenching description of the sweat lodge tragedy in an interview with The Associated Press, the first public account from a participant in the Oct. 8 ceremony. It also marks a significant revelation in the criminal investigation into Ray over the episode because it portrays him as driving participants to stay in the lodge despite signs all around him that the situation had gone bad. Investigators are considering bringing charges against the guru and trying to learn about his actions that night in a case that has cast a akoya pearl harsh spotlight on Ray and his self-help empire. Howard Bragman, a spokesman for Ray, said many people at the "Spiritual Warrior" event had "amazing experiences," and noted that people should not rush to judgment about what occurred during an ongoing investigation. "This is only one person out of many at this point," he said.
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