Posts Tagged ‘ natural purple pearls ’

For centuries purple has been the color of royalty, mystery, and magic. It seems that pearls, with their inner glow and aura of mystery, would be perfect in purple, but, unfortunately for those of us who like the color, purple pearls are incredibly difficult to find and often very expensive. Even if you do find one, they can be difficult to sell. Why? The answer is that there are only two varieties and of those, one is a clam that only rarely produces pearls. Let me explain a little more…

The first type of purple pearl comes from the Quahog clam found off the coast of the Eastern United States. These clams have a brilliant purple shell, so the pearls they produce are also a beautiful purple color. In fact, it was this particular clam that Native Americans used to make wampum, then used as a type of currency.  Many years ago it wasn’t uncommon for people to find pearls while shucking clams or even eating them (and it happened within the last decade too) but the increased mechanization of the shucking process means these pearls are probably being crushed or discarded before anyone gets the chance to find them. This means that they are incredibly rare and valuable. However, because there isn’t a market for them at the moment they are also very hard to sell. On top of that, Quahog pearls are brittle and hard to drill. If you should find one or wish to buy one, the safest place to keep it may be in a bottle.

While you may not be able to find natural pearls in quite the same shade as the beautiful Quahog pearls, freshwaters are available in lavender. They don’t have to be dyed – lavender is just one of their many natural colors (others being pink, peach, or white, for example). Otherwise, if you would like more traditional, rich purple colors, the only option is dye. Just remember to be careful when buying dyed pearls because it is often the lower quality ones that are dyed. Make sure that, at the least, they have a blemish-free surface and decent luster.

While many of us wish that deep purple pearls were more common, the truth is that Quahog pearls are unlikely to ever be mass-produced, leaving lavender freshwaters or dyed pearls as the only other options.  Not that I dislike freshwaters! They’re gorgeous, and because their lavender occurs naturally, and their nacre is so thick, they will be very durable. Even dyed pearls can look gorgeous if you do a little searching and make sure to double check their quality.  The bottom line: if you want a purple pearl necklace, it’s out there for you somewhere!