Islands Silver
Posted in Uncategorized on 04/09/2004 07:28 pm by admin
Islands Silver
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 One Ounce 2007 50th Anniversary Sputnik Silver Dollar Perth Mint Cook Islands  US $127.99
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Pearls are the result of calcium carbonate deposits, called aragonite, and appear naturally in many types of shellfish. However, it is generally those pearls occurring in oysters and mollusks that secrete a nacreous substance that have shimmer and lustre that are highly prized, and used to produce pearl rings and other jewellery.
When most people think of natural pearls they picture white, cream or silver pearls, but many other colors such as blue, yellow, lavender, rose, green, mauve, golden, gray and black pearls appear in nature too. It is often thought that pearl color is not predictable, nor able to be controlled, but this is not strictly true. Many factors are known to contribute to pearl color. The most influential factors are the color of the nacre secreted by the oyster or mollusk and the depth at which the shellfish is grown, but other factors such as weather, color and location of nucleus implantation in the shellfish, mineral and trace element levels in the water, type and quantity of plankton in the growing areas, and of course dyeing or bleaching will all influence the final color.
South Sea Pearls are found in the oyster Pinctada maxima, located around Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, Japan and Thailand. The oysters around Australia, Thailand and Myanmar usually produce the traditional white, silver-white and cream pearls, while those around Indonesia and the Philippines usually produce off-white, creamy and golden pearls, and those from Japan are most usually golden or white. Whether they are silvery or goldy will depend on the subspecies of oyster - whether the oyster is the Gold lipped, or Silver lipped variety. South Sea Pearls can also be peach, pink, bronze, blue, green and very rarely black.
Tahitian Black Pearls are produced by the Pinctada margaritifera var. cumingi oyster, or Black lipped oyster, found around French Polynesia and the Cook Islands. The predominant color found in these oysters is (predictably) black, although they may also be gray, brown, blue to green, purple, or yellowish green. They usually have an overtone, and it is black pearls with a peacock blue-green overtone that are most sought after. A Peacock Black Tahitian Pearl ring is a beautiful piece of jewellery, quite stunning.
Akoya Pearls were originally produced only in Japan, using the Pinctada fucata martensii oyster, but are now also produced in China using the Pinctada fucata oyster. The P. fucata martensii oysters of Japan produce mostly white, but also cream, yellow, gray, and blue pearls, while P. fucata oysters of China also produce mostly white pearls, in addition to cream, yellow, pink and blue.
A number of other oysters, mussels and shellfish naturally produce colored pearls too, including green to blue, blue-green, purple and red pearls from the salt water Abalone varieties of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA; the pure white pearl of the Pinctada albina or Arafura pearl oyster found at Shark Bay, Western Australia; black, gray, blue to green of the Pinctada maculata (Maculated pearl oyster) found in the Cook Islands; white, cream, yellow, orange, pink, purple, green from the Hyriopsis cumingi and Hyriopsis schlegi (Biwa pearly mussel) freshwater mussels of China; and the White, "gray, "silver," with "rose" or blue overtone of the Megalonaias nervosa found in the USA in Tennessee and Texas.
And of course, in addition to all the above naturally occurring colors, it is now quite a common technique to dye or bleach pearls, particularly freshwater pearls.
Consequently, it is possible to find pearl jewellery of practically any color in stores today. While the white and silver white pearls are still considered the most 'genuine' and exquisite, a pearl lover does not have to be limited to only items in these colors, but can find pieces in nearly every color of the rainbow, to match with every outfit.
Purchase a beautiful pearl ring or stunning pearl pendant in your loved one's favorite color as a special gift at a fraction of the normal retail price at "Pearl Rings and Things".
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Islands $8.99 Islands |
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Church with Silver Dome and White Houses on Ios, Cyclades Islands, Greek Islands, Greece, Europe $29.99 Woolfitt Adam Church with Silver Dome and White Houses on Ios, Cyclades Islands, Greek Islands, Greece, Europe - Photographic Print |
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Sterling silver necklace, 'Blue Islands' (Thailand) $34.99 Sleek globes drift like islands in a sea of diminutive beads. Punctuated with sterling silver, this necklace by Somluck Komolmith features reconstituted turquoise beads. .925 Sterling silver |
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Sterling silver necklace Blue Islands (Thailand) $34.99 Sleek globes drift like islands in a sea of diminutive beads. Punctuated with sterling silver, this necklace by Somluck Komolmith features reconstituted turquoise beads. .925 Sterling silver |
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Sterling silver dangle earrings, 'Solomon Islands' (Indonesia) $69.95 Unique earrings by Warren and Robbin are inspired by the traditional barava of the Solomon Islands. These are sculpted from seashells and thought to represent land titles. The designers reinterpret the concept in bone, suspended from textured silver bathed in copper. .925 Sterling silver |
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Sterling silver dangle earrings Solomon Islands (Indonesia) $69.95 Unique earrings by Warren and Robbin are inspired by the traditional barava of the Solomon Islands. These are sculpted from seashells and thought to represent land titles. The designers reinterpret the concept in bone, suspended from textured silver bathed in copper. .925 Sterling silver |
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The Islands $39.99 cindie k watkinson The Islands - Giclee Print |
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Ebony dangle earrings, 'Three Islands' (Indonesia) $62.95 The second largest of the Fiji islands, Vanua Levu holds warm memories for Warren and Robbin. They inspire these elegant earrings, handcrafted of sleek ebony wood set with a trio of silver squares. "We anchored behind three small islands like this off the coast of Vanua Levu," the designers recall. .925 Sterling silver |
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Leather and ebony pendant necklace, 'Three Islands' (Indonesia) $94.95 The second largest of the Fiji islands, Vanua Levu holds warm memories for Warren and Robbin. They inspire a necklace, handcrafted of sleek ebony wood set with a trio of silver squares. "We anchored behind three small islands like this off the coast of Vanua Levu," the designers recall. .925 Sterling silver |
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Ebony dangle earrings Three Islands (Indonesia) $62.95 The second largest of the Fiji islands, Vanua Levu holds warm memories for Warren and Robbin. They inspire these elegant earrings, handcrafted of sleek ebony wood set with a trio of silver squares. "We anchored behind three small islands like this off the coast of Vanua Levu," the designers recall. .925 Sterling silver |
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Leather and ebony pendant necklace Three Islands (Indonesia) $94.95 The second largest of the Fiji islands, Vanua Levu holds warm memories for Warren and Robbin. They inspire a necklace, handcrafted of sleek ebony wood set with a trio of silver squares. "We anchored behind three small islands like this off the coast of Vanua Levu," the designers recall. .925 Sterling silver |
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Onyx dangle earrings, 'Between Islands' (Peru) $124.95 A graceful sterling arc links islands with the textures of silver sand. Hemispheres of black onyx provide a bold contrast. Crafted by hand, these earrings are an original design by Patricia Babroff. .925 Sterling silver |
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Silver Sand Beach with Turquoise Sea, Havelock Island, Andaman Islands, India, Indian Ocean, Asia $29.99 Michael Runkel Silver Sand Beach with Turquoise Sea, Havelock Island, Andaman Islands, India, Indian Ocean, Asia - Photographic Print |
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To the Islands $30.99 To the Islands traces the persistence across two centuries of a regional idea expressed variously as Australasia, the Malay Archipelago and 'the Islands.' The book explores the manifestations of this idea in trade, travel, investment and diplomatic interactions between Australia and its island neighbors from the early years of British colonization to the present day. |
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Taste Of The Islands $10 Taste Of The Islands |
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Paradise Islands $10 Paradise Islands |
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Tropical Islands $6 Tropical Islands |
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Outcast of the Islands $13.99 Outcast of the Islands |
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Hard Islands $6.49 Hard Islands |
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Enchanted Islands $9.49 Enchanted Islands |