Ecksand South Sea pearls
Birth
The most beautiful pearls in the world originate from the waters of the South Sea, most commonly known to be from Australia and the Polynesian region of Tahiti. They are cultivated by pearl farmers in ecologically friendly lagoons. Pearl harvesting is an art; it is precise work that requires patience. Less than 30% of the pearl production may be used for high-end jewelry.
Quality and Luster
Fine pearls are rarely perfect spheres. Like the human body, pearls normally have a few imperfections. Ecksand evaluates the value of a pearl with two main criteria in mind: the physical state of the pearl and the intensity of the lustre. The lustre is the reflection the pearl produces. A simple way of observing lustre is by looking at yourself in it, a fuzzy reflection categorizes a dull lustre whereas a clear reflection categorizes a deep lustre. Often pearls with high levels of nacre will have a clearer lustre, thus enhancing value. At Ecksand we use the Polynesian chart to categorize our pearls. The quality of the surface is structured into four categories, A, B, C and D. The A class is composed of the highest quality pearls in which their surface imperfections are not visible to the naked eye. The B group is composed of pearls with surface imperfections of less than 10%. The C and D class are a group of pearls that have visible imperfections on more than 25% of their surface.
Colors
South Sea pearls colors alter according to which oyster they originate from. Tahitian pearls also known as "black pearls" are from the pinctada margaritifera oyster. Their pearl overtones are of infinite natural possibilities. The predominant colors are distinguished as follows: The "Aubergine" colored pearl is a blend of red and green reflections with a purple overtone. The "Peacock" colored pearl is characterized by green overtones with a deep darker shade. The "silver" colored pearl portrays a silver base yet often contains reflections of blue, green, or red. The "Moon" colored pearl is light grey with pale yellow reflects. The Australian South Sea pearls originate from the silver-lip and black lip oysters which tend to produce white pearls with deep luster as well as silver, cream and pink overtone. The gold-lip oyster which is commonly found in the sea area of South-east Asia produces yellow or creamy South Sea pearls.
Ecksand pearls and diamonds are carefully selected and embraced for their natural beauty.
Forms
Pearls are natural elements that may turn out to be completely abstract or perfectly round. The "Gem Quality" pearls are extremely rare. They are physically flawless and perfect mathematical spheres. The round and semi-round pearls have little to none diameter variations. The baroques and semi-baroques are uneven pearls with many facets. The circled pearls are distinguished by concave rings around their surface. The drop types are pearls shaped like pears. Pearl sizes depend on the origin of the pearl. The Tahitian South Sea pearl generally has a diameter ranging from 8mm to more than 20mm. However, other South Sea pearls can go from 5mm to 20mm in diameter. A larger diameter adds to the rarity of the pearl and enhances the value.
Discover Ecksand colored diamonds
Rare diamonds
Formed millions of years ago and crystallized under similar geological conditions as the colorless diamond, each colored diamond experienced a different affluence that flushed a natural color through them making each one different. They are revived through the fine art of cutting and polishing each facet in a particular order: the color, most complimenting shape and brilliance of the diamond are unravelled. Remarkably, every color hue found in nature is also found in the admired, cherished and collected colored diamonds. They are the result of nature’s most incredible colorful work of art. Like a pearl, no two colored diamonds are exactly alike in appearance.
Colors
Color is the most important factor in determining a colored diamond's value. The color is calculated through the measurement of the body color and visual assessment of the face-up color. Hue, lightness and saturation are the three contributing factors that build the color definition of a colored diamond. Certain colors such as black, brown and yellow are more prevalent and as a result less expensive than rarer colours such as red, pink, green, orange, purple and blue. The lightness or deepness of the coloured diamond affects the price as well, the deeper and pronounced the color, the rarer the diamond. The rarer the diamond the more expensive per carat the price becomes.
The twelve principle color hues are as follows:
- Black
- Gray
- Pink
- Brown
- White
- Red
- Yellow
- Olive
- Green
- Orange
- Blue
- Purple
Colour indicators from lowest to highest:
- Fancy Light
- Fancy Intense
- Fancy
- Fancy Vivid
Clarity grades from lowest to highest:
- I1
- SI3
- SI2
- SI1
- VS2
- VS1
- VVS2
- VVS1
- IF
- F
Cut
There are many different cutting styles used to achieve the most brilliance in each individual diamond. Common cutting styles you will see often in colored diamonds are modern brilliant cut and fancy cuts which come in a variety of forms. A diamond's cut is evaluated by trained graders. Higher grades are given to diamonds whose symmetry and proportions most strictly match the particular model of each cut that is used as an example.
Carats
The weight of each colored diamond is weighed to the nearest hundredth of a carat. Sizes range from 0.01cts to greater sizes that capture the attention of high-end jewelry connoisseurs, investors and great diamond collectors.
Clarity
Clarity adds a premium if it's high, yet unless inclusions are directly on the diamond's table (face-up), most are not noticeable to the naked eye when you're focusing on the color spectrum and will not affect the look of the diamond or its sparkle.