the Wedding Planner

UK Wedding News

01/05/2012

Contemporary Pearls In Vogue For The Wedding Season

Grace Kelly famously wore pearls, and now that wedding season is just around the corner so will many brides, bridesmaids and wedding guests.

Pearls have been associated with weddings for many years and are often worn as jewellery by brides or sewn into bridal gowns. White pearls in particular are a symbol of purity and innocence. The pearl is also the birthstone for those born in the month of June - which is traditionally the busiest wedding month of the year.

The fact that the lustre of pearls is incredibly flattering for the complexion also means they are an obvious choice for the big day. Or indeed for any occasion when you want your skin to glow.

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But if those old-fashioned pearls your great-grandmother wore has put you off, think again.

"No bride should be without a pair of classic pearl earrings," a company spokeswoman for Jewellers Rok Chix said.

Pearls are made by molluscs in response to an invading foreign body - often a grain of sand. This foreign body is covered with layer upon layer of pearlescent nacre, which is secreted by the living part of the mollusc, resulting in a pearl up to several years later.

Pearls are composed of calcium carbonate, conchiolin and water, plus trace elements such as iron, magnesium or aluminium.

Experts have found fossil traces of pearls that are up to 225 million years old, while actual pearls have been found in rocks that date back to the age of the dinosaurs.

South Sea pearls - which are found in gold-lipped pearl oysters - tend to be the most valuable, with some exceptional single pearls sold for many thousands of pounds.

Companies like Rok Chix use natural freshwater pearls, which are found in many species of mussels in rivers, lakes and ponds (whereas South Sea and other saltwater - or marine - pearls found in seas and oceans.

Most freshwater pearls are now produced in China and are far more affordable than marine pearls.

(GK)

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"Grace Kelly famously wore pearls, and now that wedding season is just around the corner so will many brides, bridesmaids and wedding guests."