June Challenge: Designing with Pearls

The Starving Jewelry Artists Monthly Team Challenge is a way of encouraging one another to grow as artists by stimulating our minds and our creativity to move in a new direction.

There is no voting.

There are no prizes.

There is fun, the joy of creating, and the pleasure of seeing how other jewelry artists interpret the theme.

June's traditional birthstone is the pearl. Pearls don't just come in ladylike strands anymore. They are sold in countless shapes and in every color of the rainbow. Is your style demure and understated or wild and bold? June's challenge was to show us what you can do with the gift of the oyster and mussel.

Pearls in a multi-strand bracelet by Galadryl.

Sylvia finished first with a beautiful multi-strand bracelet that combined soft gleaming pearls and sterling silver. There are some crystals in there for the perfect dose of bling.

Cat's use of texture makes this a stunning piece.

Cat gave us a feast for the eyes with a seven strand fine silver wire crochet (chain stitch) necklace with dark beads, lava stone in two shapes, peacock freshwater pearls, and hematite in different sizes and shapes. 

Pearls are a perfect wedding adornment in these earrings by Beadsire.

Caron provided us a glimpse of these elegant pearl earrings made for a wedding party in England. Don't they make you wish you could see the pictures of the ceremony?

Bonnie added pearls to a vintage rhinestone shoe clip for this bracelet.

My contribution from The FamiLee Jewels mixed vintage rhinestone jewelry with the softness of freshwater pearls in a seamless combination of old and new.

Beaded bead earrings by Island Girl

Lynne made beaded beads using pearls. She suspended them from delicate ear wires with fine silver chain for a feminine fashion statement.

As you can see from our accomplishments artists love a challenge. Won't you consider joining us in July's Fly me to the Moon Challenge?

More Timeless Pearls

Last week we discussed how pearls are produced by molluscs. The fact that pearls are produced by an animal affects the colour, shape and texture of pearls.

Shape: Pearls come in a variety of shapes. The classic and most sought after shape is full round. But perfectly round pearls are very rare, with a price tag to match. Off-round pearls are close to round and often appear round from a distance. More common are potato and rice pearls which are oval, and button pearls which are flat on one side. Baroque pearls are oddly or irregularly shaped pearls.

Texture: Not all pearls have the same texture. When picturing a pearl, most people think of smooth pearls. Smooth pearls are beautiful, but they do command a premium price. Oval pearls often have ridges around the middle and are more moderately priced. Some pearls have blemishes, areas that look like burst bubbles. These blemishes can add interest to a piece if used as part of the design.

Colour: The colour of pearls depends on the variety of mollusc that produced it. Natural pearl colours include white, cream, ivory, champagne, pale pink, peach, bronze and peacock. But many pearls, even white and cream ones are in fact treated and dyed. As a result, pearls are available in most every colour imaginable.

Care: The organic nature of pearls makes them more vulnerable to acids, heat and extreme humidity, which cause them to lose their beauty and reduce their lifespan. Special care should be taken with pearls.
• Perfume, hair spray and skin creams should be applied before you put on pearls so that the pearls are not sprayed or coated with the product.
• The acid in perspiration damages the nacre and lustre of pearls, so pearls should be cleaned with a dry, lint-free cloth before they are put away.
• Use warm soapy water to clean pearls (never use an ultrasonic cleaner), but avoid getting water into the drill holes – this could cause a change in the colour of the pearls.
• Pearls should not be stored in a plastic bag as the bag will cause condensation. Instead, pearls should be stored in a cloth pouch or in acid-free tissue paper. This will also protect the pearls from impact with other stones.
• Store pearls away from direct sunlight as it can change the colour of the pearls.
• Wear your pearls at least once a month. The small amount of humidity from your skin is actually good for them!

Since wearing pearls is good for them, feel free to indulge yourself with some fabulous pearl jewelry!








Featuring artisan handmade creations by the Etsy Starving Artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current Etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com.

Timeless Pearls

With their variable colour and beautiful lustre, pearls have long been valued by humans. The early Chinese thought that pearls fell from the sky when dragons fought. Ancient Greeks thought pearls were tears from the Gods.

Women have been adorning themselves in pearls for thousands of years.

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

Mary Queen of Scots wearing black pearl necklace

Pearls are an organic material formed by molluscs. A grain of sand or other irritant gets into the mantle of a mollusc which causes stress for the animal. The mollusc then slowly deposits nacre over the irritant and eventually a pearl is formed.

Pearls can be from saltwater or freshwater. Saltwater pearls are produced by oysters and mussels and are usually of high quality and are more expensive than freshwater pearls. Freshwater pearls are produced by molluscs in rivers, lakes and ponds and are more irregular and varied in shape than saltwater pearls.

Some pearls are natural and some are cultured. Today natural pearls have limited availability because constant demand led to overfishing of pearl beds and many pearl beds were lost forever. As a result, natural pearls have become very expensive.

The shortage of natural pearls has led to the cultivation of pearls. Pearls are cultured by cutting open the membrane of a mollusc and implanting between 1 and 20 round mother-of-pearl beads. The beads serve as the stressor to the animal, which then deposits the nacre layer over the beads, creating the pearl. Most often large beads are implanted to speed up the cultivating process as it takes 3 years for just 1 mm of nacre to form.

If it is not indicated if a pearl is natural or cultured, it is safe to assume that it is a cultured pearl.

The cultivation of pearls has led to an abundance of affordable pearls on the market which means that many women can now afford to indulge in their love for pearls.

Pearl is the birthstone for June.

Featuring artisan handmade creations by the Etsy Starving Artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current Etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com.