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Colour Investigation | ORANGE & YELLOW GEMSTONES<br />
ORANGE & YELLOW GEMSTONES<br />
GOLDEN SOUTH SEA PEARLS<br />
PHILIPPINE<br />
ISLANDS<br />
Officially the worlds oldest gem, pearls have<br />
been surrounded in history, legend and<br />
mysticism since before written history, with<br />
discoveries such as pearl jewellery found in<br />
a royal sarcophagus dating back to 420BCE.<br />
Pearls were also often presented as gifts<br />
to Chinese royalty as early as 2300BCE,<br />
while in ancient Rome they were considered<br />
to be a status symbol and laws were<br />
passed allowing pearls to be worn only<br />
by the ruling classes.<br />
The only way of sourcing pearls was by<br />
collecting wild oysters.<br />
It could take up to a tonne of wild oysters<br />
to find just three or four quality pearls.<br />
The increasing demand for natural pearls<br />
by the 19th Century meant oyster supplies<br />
began to decline.<br />
In the late 1800s, the concept of culturing<br />
pearls was developed, with Kokichi<br />
Mikimoto becoming perhaps the most<br />
famous for commercialising and marketing<br />
this industry.<br />
Pearls can be cultured in various species of<br />
oyster, in both fresh and saltwater, producing<br />
different finished pearls with different<br />
attributes – and thus value.<br />
Saltwater pearls take up to four years to<br />
produce a pearl, with each oyster generally<br />
producing just one pearl for each cycle.<br />
They are highly sensitive to their<br />
environment and subtle changes in their<br />
surroundings can directly affect the<br />
oyster's health. Therefore, saltwater pearl<br />
farms generally are located in pristine<br />
environmental conditions.<br />
Golden South Sea pearls are cultured from<br />
the gold-lipped Pinctada maxima along<br />
the Philippine, Indonesian, and Australian<br />
coastlines and are valued for their size and<br />
their unique lustre,<br />
– Atlas Pearls<br />
Est.1968<br />
AUSTRALIA’S WIDEST<br />
RANGE OF GEMSTONES<br />
ALL VARIETIES OF NATURAL<br />
COLOURED GEMSTONES<br />
NATURAL FANCY<br />
COLOURED DIAMONDS<br />
OPALS AND PEARLS<br />
MEMBER<br />
03 9654 4449<br />
Level 4, Wales Corner<br />
227 Collins Street<br />
Melbourne VIC 3000<br />
gems@kandk.net.au<br />
FANCY COLORED DIAMONDS<br />
ARGYLE PINK, COGNAC & CHAMPAGNE<br />
AUSTRALIAN BLACK OPALS<br />
sales@tremac.com.au<br />
www.tremonti.com.au
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