Pearl Necklaces Hit the Runways: Everything You Need to Know About Pearl Necklaces

After a few decades of being considered "your grandmother's jewelry," pearl necklaces are back in fashion. Beautiful pearl necklaces grace the necks of celebrities walking the red carpet, give businesswoman a feminine edge, and add a certain je ne sais quoi when dressing for a romantic date.

According to the Cultured Pearl Association, pearl necklaces typically come in six lengths:

Collar (12"-13") - Usually worn in three strands at the center of the neck, collar pearl necklaces are the perfect accessory to boat neck, V-neck, or off-the-shoulder fashions.

Choker (14"-16") - Worn as a single strand at the base of the neck, choker pearl necklaces can go from casual to business to evening, and can be worn with any neckline.

Princess (17"-19") - Falling slightly below the base of the neck, princess-length pearl necklaces work best with either high or plunging necklines.

Matinee ( 20"-24") - Resting just above the bust line, matinee-length pear necklaces are the perfect accessory for casual or career fashion.

Opera (28"-34") - Opera-length pearl necklaces are extremely versatile. Worn as a single strand, they perfectly accessorize high necklines. When doubled, they can be worn as a two-strand choker.

Rope (Over 45") - Plunging to the hipline, rope-length pearl necklaces are the ultimate in luxury and sensuality.

Before buying a pearl necklace, you should know something about cultured pearls. According to the Cultured Pearl Association, pearls are judged by the following qualities:

1. Luster - Luster is both the shininess of the pear's surface and its inner glow. If you can clearly see your reflection in the pearl's surface, the pearl is of high quality.
2. Surface - No pearl is completely without blemishes - after all, it's a product of nature - but its value increases with its smoothness.
3. Shape - Most people think of pearls as being perfectly round, although no pearl is perfectly symmetrical. Generally, though, the closer a pearl is to achieving perfect roundness, the more valuable it is.
4. Color - Although we think of "pearly whites," cultured pearls actually come in many different colors, including rose, gold, and cream. The color you choose depends upon your preference.
5. Size - Pearl sizes, measured in millimeters according to their diameters, range from seed pearls (less than one millimeter) to huge South Sea pearls (20 millimeters or more). Pearl necklaces can consist of pearls all the same size, or of pearls that increase in diameter from each end, with the largest pearls in the center of the necklace.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Visit this Jewelry Website and Majon's Jewelry directory.

Men's Necklaces Make Their Mark

Ever seen a French comedy where the husband gives his beloved wife a piece of jewellery. She opens the black box in excitement. Her face drops when she looks inside: her husband has lovingly given her a black leather choker with silver studs reminiscent of a dog collar. The tragi-comic irony of the story is that when it comes to necklaces, or mens’ necklaces to be more precise, anything goes. If it’s a choice between neckties and necklaces, men’s necklaces revel in fashion glory. Take a look around you notice how men wearing men's necklaces have evolved.

Beaded necklaces for the spiritually leaning kind of man, chokers for the body builder at the gym perhaps? Chunky gold necklaces for the younger bolder man, blinging it to the nines. And then there’s the more understated silver necklace with pendant for the slightly mature, sophisticated man who wants to exude charm and confidence. Whatever shape or form the men’s necklace comes in, the male race is out wearing them with pride.

The boom in necklaces has seen fine jewellers tripping over themselves to satisfy the growth of mens' interest in jewellery. Fine jewellers like Tiffanys have expanded its usual watch and cufflink collections to include a broad range of sporty men’s jewellery including mens’ necklaces, pendants, rings and bracelets. Tiffanys have also designed a number of simple, masculine jewellery styles in titanium steel and silver.

In a recent US poll, 75 percent of men said they enjoy wearing jewellery and 80 percent of women say they find men who wear jewellery sexy. Today’s generation of men are fashion conscious, they care about street cred and will pay attention to fine detail. There seems to be more of an understanding that wearing a piece of jewellery, like a mens’ necklace is essential to completing a look.

With the World Cup in full swing, fine jewellers and big fashion houses have spotted the potential for branding with soccer players. Suddenly footballers are the new, rising media stars with a high international profile. What better way to advertise mens’ necklaces, jewellery or clothes than a footballer with rippling muscles in motion, sporting an earring that is bound to play on the mass public conscience? Zinedine Zidane of the French team is the face of Dior's Eau Savage, and Lukas Podolski of Germany sells Axe body spray. Brazil’s Ronaldinho, the world’s most talented footballer, wears his hair pulled back to reveal a pair of gaudy earrings with his number cast in diamonds. Japan’s answer to Beckham, sometimes referred to as the Asian Becks has also been known to wear the occasional piece of mens’ jewellery.

It is evident that the fashion conscious persona has swept across Europe. Hairstyled players with sunglasses and mens’ jewellery may seem contrived to some but for the most part these players pull off the fashion look because they are talented players. At least for the moment, fine jewellers of mens’ necklaces, pendants, rings and earrings are living the advertising dream.

Taroon Shah is based in the UK and can be contacted via:
http://jewellery-bracelets-rings.com/mensnecklaces.shtml

Necklaces of the Middle Ages

The European era of necklaces this article covers is from 1300's to 1600's. During the middle ages it was customary for men, women, and children to all wear jewelry. This era had two main themes for jewelry: religion and romantic love.

Very popular were busts and portraits of saints, altars, or ornaments worn on necklaces. Mythical creatures such as mermaids and dragons were very popular along with animals, such as dolphins and lions. European towns each developed their own unique design style, such as Venice which was influenced by the imports of precious gems and other items from the orient bringing forth oriental approaches to the designs. Engraving ranged from having ones initials to lengths of scriptures or poetry. A popular religious pendant was the Tau Cross, which was worn by itself or with many on the chain, sometimes just one tiny bell was worn with it. It was also popular to wear a necklace with just a tiny bell attached only.

The leading workshops were in, Paris, Limoges, Meuse, Belgian-Lorraine, Siena, Florence, and Venice. The main precious metals used in jewelry making were gold and silver with the main gemstones being sapphires, rubies, and pearls. During the early part of this era (14th century) gemstones were finished with the en cabochon method which is highly polishing smooth the stone and not cutting it into faceted angular cuts until later when cutting was more perfected. Other types of neck jewelry were glass beads of various colors combined with precious gems mounted in silver or gold. Covering certain areas of the piece with enamel was also a common practice. Niello was also used which was a mixture of silver, sulphur, and lead. Fashioning jewelry necklaces was often done with molten metal poured into molds. Germany was well known for using milled wire instead of pouring to make them.

The en cabochon method gave way to a new method during the 15th century which was the forerunner of the diamond facet cutting we know today. The Dutchman Louis de Berken, was the first to discover in Brussels that a diamond could be polished with pulverized diamond moistened with oil. In 1476 he was able to perform facet cutting to diamonds, which had previously been used for rock crystal. Charles the Bold employed Louis de Berken at his court for his newly discovered amazing ability.

Cloisonne' enameling was where the enamel was applied and fired in raised cells which would sometimes be done with soldered wire. Champleve' took over in popularity which is the carving out of areas and filing these areas with enamel and then leveling down (usually sanding) the surrounding metal with the level of the enamel. The copper champleve' work was a technique which allowed colorful jewelry to be produced from inexpensive material and was opaque with clearly outlined areas of color. Paris goldsmiths have been credited with inventing translucent silver enameling, with this technique the goldsmith pours the opaque enamel into a bas-relief carved into the silver. The silver backing produces a delicate and diffused shimmer when the light hits it due to the light colored enamel. The gold enameling technique en ronde bosse also developed by Paris goldsmiths in the late 14th century . This technique utilized various colors of glass flux which were melted over a gold core, and combined with beads and precious stones, including red rubies and blue sapphires being the most popular. In Hungary, which from the 13th to the 15th century was the European country richest in gold, wire enameling was taken over from Italy. This method consisted of twisted gold wire forming the contours of the design and the hollows were filled with an opaque enamel.

Gothic style came about during this era which were religious scenes portrayed similar to Gothic church cathedral art. The effect was a straight forward type of approach which started to change into a more elaborate free flowing style later on.

Short chokers were worn and light to heavy chains were worn on the neck. Necklace chains were of all manner of thicknesses and lengths, some had large round links with others having tightly woven type of braiding. Long thin chain necklaces were often weighed down with heavy pendants. Italian women were known for wearing a crown like brooch attached to a hair ribbon.

The middle ages may be one of the most famed in history for adventures and artifacts of this fantastic period including the unique jewelry. This era lives on in many of todays artist's designs as they have studied this amazing period in history.

To see some amazing jewelry visit: www.amazing-adventure.com/Jewelry/AlleJewelry.htm

Glenn Heitkoetter is a part time writer and runs the following websites: http://www.incredible-items.com and http://www.amazing-adventure.com