Mikimoto Pearl Jewelry.

Q: A friend wants to get a strand of pearls for their daughter's graduation, we were discussing different aspects of pearls. Size, quality, color etc. I know we have some gem experts here or at least pearl lovers. For a classic, keep forever strand of pearls what do you recommend? Is one size better than others?

A:They may want to do some very serious research before investing in pearls for a young girl. I was told by a reputable jeweler that pearls, unlike all other precious jewelry except opals, do not maintain their quality with simple care. As the ads say, *diamonds* are forever. Pearls apparently lose color and luster over time. I imagine that good/great pearls maintain their quality longer than crummy ones, but that's not a real selling point for me. FWIW, I have diamond solitaire earrings that are bezel set in white gold euro-wires (plus a matching bezel set stud for my 3rd hole). My mother had these made for me a couple of years ago and I find that I wear them almost every day. I've never had such comfortable earrings, and I definitely consider them to be "keep forever". Five thousand dollars would certainly buy a super nice set of earrings like that--and if the daughter ever tires of them, she can have them reset into other jewelry, making them much more versatile than pearls. OTOH, I have the pearls that my FIL bought when he was on-leave in Japan during the Korean War. They are small, graduated Mikimoto pearls in what would be considered a choker length on a regular sized neck. I took them to a jeweler to have them professionally cleaned and that's when I was told about the drawbacks of buying pearls for the long haul. These were from the days when Mikimoto pearls had a very good reputation (early cultured pears were supposedly better than a lot of today's cultured pearls--left to develop more layers of nacre in the oysters, IIRC). Still, the color is no longer great and there wasn't much the jeweler could do but advise me to wear and enjoy them because they would only continue to fade with time.

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