The Evil Eye is more than just a superstitious myth, and evil eye beads are more than just good luck charms. They are a reminder that we are all one people.

Hows that?

Take an Orthodox from Greece, a Catholic from Mexico, a Jew from Israel, or a Muslim from Turkey, Iran, or anywhere in the Middle East. Different people, different religions, everybody always fighting all the time, etc, etc.

But what do they all have in common? They all believe in the Evil Eye, and they all wear these good luck charms to guard against it.

The Evil Eye is a reminder that underneath it all, we are all the same human beings, even if we think were different.

In our eyes, thats what makes the evil eye REALLY cool!

Enough editorial, now for the straight story…

Throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East, many people believe envious gazes or high praise from others can bring you bad luck.

The people who praise you probably mean you no harm, but still, evil spirits can piggyback in on their words or looks, and put a bad luck curse on you.

The Nazar Boncuk charm (or Evil Eye Bead) is an eye, often set on a blue background. It stares back at the world to ward off the evil spirits and keep you safe from harm. It is one of the most common items of decoration in any Turkish home, in any car, or on any person. You can see the charm hanging above doorways, dangling from the wrists of young women, or even planted right into the cement outside modern office buildings. And always, always, you will see them pinned to the shirts of newborn babies.

What do the colors mean? In Turkey and surrounding countries, the most popular evil eye charm color is blue. Turkey is in a dry part of the world, where water is precious — with water things prosper and grow, and without it, things shrivel and die. The color blue reminds people of fresh, cool water.
In the Jewish faith, the color red is often associated with luck and good fortune, so red is also a popular color.

When the Evil Eye Bead appears in other colors besides blue or red, it is usually for fashion reasons — color coordination with ones wardrobe. Beads in the alternative colors have every bit as much protective power as the traditional blue ones.

Evil eye beads go back thousands of years. The earliest written references to the evil eye occur on Sumerian clay tablets dating to the third millennium BC. Agate beads of exceptional quality, worn to protect the wearer from the influence of the evil eye, were also discovered in royal Sumerian graves at Ur.

In Turkey and Greece, throughout the republics of Central Asia, and all the way to the Turkic regions of western China — the effects of the evil eye are believed real, and genuinely feared.

As production of moissanite picks up you can be sure that this will become a major diamond simulant. However most moissanite info will just tell you how limited moissanite is and also there will be a lot of comparisons to diamonds. Tests have been done on moissanite to see if this jewel is better then diamonds. The tests show that moissanite is superior then diamonds but people will always come to their own conclusions. If they want moissanite jewellery then they will buy that rather then diamonds. But diamonds are more well-known and therefore this will still be the best seller out of the two for many more years.

Many people including jewellers can mistake moissanite for diamonds it is only jewellers with a lot of knowledge of moissanite that will be able to tell the difference between moissanite and diamonds. They have gained a lot of valuable moissanite info and they know what the difference is between the two but it is not easy to tell the difference.

Nearly all moissanite info will contain the well-known facts that moissanite takes 104 years to reproduce in a laboratory. Also the fact that moissanite actually originated from a meteoroid crater in Arizona. Simple moissanite info is easy to find and if you look around you will find info on how to tell the difference between moissanite and diamonds. This could prove to be very helpful because some jewellers that cannot tell the difference will put moissanite on sale for the price of diamonds and this can equal a big saving for you.

Moissanite is going to be around for a long time and so it might be helpful for you to get some information on the jewel that could very well take the world by storm.

Many industries in the UK have suffered as a result of cheap imported foreign goods and as a result of the strength of the pound against other currencies.

Whilst there are undoubtedly some excellent quality imported goods there are equally as many poor quality, poor value goods. A good example in this area is in the manufacture of jewellery and our UK market has been flooded with cheap foreign rubbish, much of which comes from the far east and is probably produced in less than desirable working conditions. The jewellery is usually of the costume variety, the quality is not great so it won’t last and the materials used are cheap and can produce allergic reactions.

Why not support some of our local home grown talent? Here in the UK we have many talented, skilled independent jewellery designers who struggle to make a living. These people handcraft all types of jewellery from all types of materials including precious metals and gemstones and many pieces will be unique. Most designers are happy to produce one off commissions at very reasonable prices enabling you to own a beautiful piece of UK made designer jewellery.

For your handcrafted jewellery made here in the UK, why not consider using the internet to make your purchase from a secure e commerce shop.

It is predicted that this year there will be bumper on line sales in the UK of over Ј4 billion pounds which is in stark contrast to high street retail sales which have a taken a bit of a knock. On line shopping is growing some 26 times faster than the High Street with half the UK, some 21 million people choosing to shop for Xmas presents on the internet with an average spend of Ј220.

By shopping on the internet customers avoid the hassle of busy shops, parking problems, out of stock situations and trawling from shop to shop trying to find what they are looking for.

You can browse the internet from the comfort of your home, compare prices you have more choices and all at the click of a mouse but try to remember to support the British manufacturing industry.

Pearl Value Factors
While there is no international standard for grading pearls, there is a system that is commonly used to evaluate these beautiful colored gemstones. Developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the world’s largest non-profit institute of gemological research and learning, this grading system considers seven pearl traits when determining value. They are: size, shape, color, luster, surface quality, nacre quality, and matching. Let’s take a look at each one as it relates to the beautiful cultured pearl.

Pearl Size
Pearls can be as small as a pinhead or nearly as big as a golf ball, but, of course, somewhere between these two extremes is the norm.

Size is determined by many factors. These include the size of the animal that produces the gems, the size of the implanted bead, the length of time the oyster or mollusk was allowed to form the pearl, the climate and conditions of the environment, and the health of the animal that produced the pearl.

Different types of pearls have different expected size ranges. For example, because they are produced in a relatively small oyster, akoya cultured pearls are usually much smaller than their South Sea counterparts, which are grown in one of the world’s largest mollusks, P. maxima. This large animal can accept a larger bead nucleus and can lay down nacre, the combination of organic substances that makes up a pearl, much faster than its smaller cousin. Be sure to find out what type of pearl you’re looking at (freshwater, akoya, South Sea or Tahitian). All have different expected size ranges, and anything outside the range will be reflected in the price. A guide: akoyas typically range from 2-11mm; Tahitians from 8-14mm; South Sea pearls from 9-20mm, and freshwater pearls from 4-11mm.

All other things being equal, a larger pearl will command a higher price. Larger pearls typically take longer to grow, and are not as common as smaller pearls. As in anything, however, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For some people, another pearl value factor, such as luster, may be more important than size.

When evaluating size, keep in mind that high quality small pearls exist, as do poor quality large pearls. Thus, pearl size is only one factor to consider when judging pearl quality. Which brings us to…

Shape
Close your eyes and picture a strand of pearls. What do you see? Probably a lustrous necklace of white round gems, right? That’s because the white round pearl necklace is a timeless jewelry staple and traditional classic in many cultures. As you can expect, round pearls are desirable due to demand, but they are also valuable because they are rare. (Think about it: Irritant enters oyster, oyster secrets nacre, nacre covers irritant. Pearl comes out…round? Doubtful.)

Although pearl culturing techniques are improving all the time, a perfectly round pearl is uncommon. (Akoya crops typically contain more spherical pearls than other pearl types.) According to GIA, collecting enough high quality round cultured pearls for a matched pearl strand can take years. Round or near round pearls will command more money than other shapes. That’s not to say that other shapes aren’t valuable. (Remember again the adage beauty is in the eye of the beholder.) According to GIA, drop shapes can sometimes match the value of rounds, especially when they’re symmetrical and well-formed.

Not a traditionalist? Pearls come in many shapes, and, depending on what you like, can be just as desirable, but less costly, than round. Pearl shapes include button, oval, drop, semi-baroque and baroque. Some pearls even resemble bars, crosses, and coins. Some, called circled pearls, have grooves that go around the gems’ circumference. These beauties can make wonderful jewelry.

GIA classifies pearls into three major shape categories:
1. Spherical: Round or near round pearls
2. Symmetrical: When bisected, these pearls have equal halves
3. Baroque: Pearls with no discernable symmetry

Although pearl shapes vary, those that display some type of symmetry typically cost more. But baroque pearls, either when set alone or grouped with similar shapes into a necklace or bracelet, can be highly beautiful and unusual. And baroque pearls often show orient, a desirable shimmering rainbow-like effect that adds to the pearls’ value. Many designers prefer to work with baroque pearls for their infinite design possibilities—and many consumers buy them for their unique beauty.

Color
Although white will likely always win the pearl color popularity contest, pearls come in a wide array of gorgeous colors. From the aforementioned white to grey-black, pearls can also be lavender, pink, orange and many shades in between. The choice is up to you, but keep the wearer’s skin tone in mind when choosing: Pearl color should complement the wearer’s coloring.

When describing a pearl’s color, jewelers talk about three traits: hue, which is the overall pearl color—the one you see on first impression; overtone, which is not always present but which is the secondary color you see when you look at the pearl (i.e. a pinkish blush on a white pearl) and orient, which is also not always present, but, as mentioned above, can best be described as a colorful, rainbow-like sheen.

The popularity of pearl colors waxes and wanes; value is determined by what’s in fashion. As can be expected, white is always in. Lavender pearls are very popular right now too. And Tahitian cultured pearls, which are typically dark gray, dark green, or dark blue/purple were, amazingly, pretty much unheard of before the 1970s, but are now widely coveted—and very costly. Sometimes, too, a model or celebrity will wear a certain pearl color and that color will experience a surge in popularity.

As with size, pearl types display typical characteristics when it comes to color. Akoyas, for example, are usually white or cream; Tahitians are typically black, gray or brown; South Sea are usually silver, white or a gorgeous golden color, and freshwater come in white, cream and a wide array of pastels. Acording to GIA, if the desirable pearl color is rare, fine pearls displaying that color it will command high prices.

Luster
Because pearls are known for their inner glow, a trait that sets them apart from other gems, this value factor trumps all others. According to GIA, Luster is the most important of all the value factors to the beauty of a pearl.

Dependent on many factors, among them nacre thickness and growth conditions, luster is only good when nacre is translucent and its plates overlap in such a way that the pearl appears lit from within. Thick nacre does not guarantee sharp luster, but it certainly helps. The sharper the reflection on a pearl, the better the luster. GIA defines four categories of luster:

• Excellent: Reflections are bright, sharp and distinct
• Good: Reflections are bright but not sharp, and slightly hazy around the edges
• Fair: Reflections are weak, hazy and blurred
• Poor: Reflections are dim and diluted

Luster is one of the easiest pearl value factors to rate. Just hold an object, like a pen, close to the pearl. (Be careful not to get ink on the gem.) The sharper the reflection, the better the luster, and the more valuable the pearl will be. Note, though, that each pearl type has its own characteristic luster. Akoyas are known for their sharp, fine luster, while South Sea cultured pearls, for example, have a subtler, softer glow.

Surface Quality
Pearls are organic, and therefore imperfect, meaning they are not uniform, shiny, perfectly round orbs every time they come out of an oyster. Rather, as natural, layered objects, they show many surface characteristics such as abrasions, bumps, chips, cracks, pits, scratches and wrinkles. Most people will never see a perfect pearl in their lifetime, and indeed, minor surface irregularities do not detract from a pearl’s value.

As defined by GIA, there are four classifications of pearl surface characteristics:

• Clean: Pearl can be blemish-free, or spotless, or contain minute surface characteristics that are very difficult to see when examined by a trained observer
• Lightly blemished: Pearls show minor surface irregularities when inspected by a trained observer
• Moderately blemished: Pearls show noticeable surface characteristics
• Heavily blemished: Pearls show obvious surface irregularities, which can compromise durability

The pearl’s overall appearance will determine its value. Obvious or multiple surface characteristics or large blemishes that affect the gem’s durability will detract from its value, while a more clean-looking pearl is worth more. Most of us cannot afford a perfect strand of pearls, but, luckily, small bumps and blemishes can often be hidden by a drill hole. According to GIA, …a completely clean pearl is a rare treasure. Since rarity influences value, the prices of such pearls run extremely high. Most consumers must settle for some degree of surface irregularity in the pearl they purchase. Even the finest pearls can contain minor surface characteristics.

Nacre Quality
Directly tied to luster, nacre quality/thickness is a very important value factor which, fortunately, can be judged by the naked eye. It’s better, of course, to evaluate thickness with an x-ray machine or by cutting the pearl, but most of us don’t have such a machine, nor do we want to wear pearls that have been chopped in half. (Picture that for a minute!)

Take a look at the pearl you wish to evaluate. A chalky, dull appearance means that the nacre is probably thin. In some cases, the nacre is so thin that the bead nucleus shows through. Do not purchase these pearls—they won’t last!

GIA classifies nacre into three categories:

• Acceptable: The pearl’s nucleus is not noticeable and the gem displays no chalky appearance
• Nucleus Visible: The pearl shows evidence of its bead nucleus through the nacre. The pearl shows strong blinking (a flickering of light and dark) when it is rotated across a light source
• Chalky Appearance: The pearl has a dull, matte appearance

Thin nacre has a negative effect on a pearl’s value, although thick nacre does not guarantee sharp luster. Thin nacre can crack, peel or otherwise deteriorate and the pearls won’t last very long. (Unlike other gems, polishing a pearl does not restore its original beauty.) Pearls with thicker nacre are more durable and more valuable. Ask about nacre thickness if you have the opportunity.

Interesting fact: Many freshwater cultured pearls are cultured with mantle tissue only, rather than a mother-of-pearl bead, and, as a result, are nearly solid nacre. Many pearl experts say that today’s freshwater cultured pearls from China now rival the beauty of Japanese akoyas!

Matching
As you can imagine, this pearl value factor only comes into play when a piece of jewelry contains more than one pearl. Some designers intentionally mismatch pearls for aesthetic effect, but when a strand is meant to be uniform, how well the gems match is an important consideration. Fortunately, this is easy to determine. Just look at the strand and note any obvious differences in the gems. (Some jewelers will try to hide small or imperfect pearls near the clasp, so check this area carefully.)

When evaluating a matched strand, keep in mind that cultured pearls are organic, not poured from a factory mold. No two are exactly alike, therefore it is impossible to make a perfect match. This does not detract from the jewelry, though, as long as, on a whole, the piece is uniform. To test, look at the strand, hold it up close and also view it at arms’ length. Are the pearls the same overall size? Color? Shape? Luster? Nacre quality? If they look the same, they’re well-matched.

GIA defines three categories of matching:

• Excellent: Pearls are uniform in appearance and drilled in the center
• Good: Piece shows minor variations in uniformity
• Fair: Pearls are noticeably different from one another

According to GIA, It takes an enormous amount of skill and labor to sort harvested pearls. The time and effort involved in producing a well-matched strand of pearls will reflect its market price.

Conclusion
Because they are produced in different animals in different environments under unique conditions, each pearl type has its own expected characteristics. When the traits shown for a certain pearl are outside the norm for its type, the pearl will be more valuable.

Each pearl is unique, and uniquely beautiful. Which pearl and pearl type is the most beautiful? It’s up to you. (This author is partial to white baroque freshwater pearls and golden round South Sea pearls.)

Go Shopping!
Congratulations! Now you know what to look for and what questions to ask when shopping for pearls. Remember, a pearl’s worth depends on its overall look–how well it combines the seven value factors. Keep in mind that not all value factors are important to all people. You may be more interested in pearl color than pearl size, for example. As with anything, individual tastes reign supreme. Now, go forth and buy with confidence.