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Wear Sand on Your Wedding Day
by Youngchin
Every girl wants a pearl necklace on her wedding day. I’ll wait until you’re done giggling before I go on.
But go on – picture a bride in your head. Or really a Bride, like the archetype of a bride, and if you look carefully, she probably has pearls on. Most people assume that’s because pearls are kind of sweet and demure, like a bride is supposed to be, or because pearls just go well with a white dress. It’s actually because some cultures believed that pearls were lucky for brides, or especially lucky to wear in June, which was in turn lucky for weddings. (Be careful, though – other cultures associate pearls with tears, and breaking a pearl necklace with bringing sorrow.)
Whether or not you go in for the superstition or symbolism, most chicks do like pearls. They can be as demure as you want them to be, but you can also use them to go for a swingy naughty flapper feel. I’ve seen pearl chokers on plenty of punk-rock girls. It’s tough to go wrong with them.
There are several factors that go into deciding a pearl’s quality and price.
Shape
The more perfectly round the pearl is, the higher the value. But odds are you won’t be re-selling them, so why worry? If you think the oddly-shaped ones look cool (and if you ask me, they do), then grab ‘em up.
Luster
This is how shiny a pearl is. The more light it reflects, the prettier the pearl and the higher the value. Your body heat will make a pearl shinier as you wear it. If anyone notices, just let them think you’re magical.
Nacre
Nacre is also called mother-of-pearl, and it’s what the oyster secretes to deal with the piece of sand or worm that’s gotten inside. I know: gross. Anyway, the thicker the layers of nacre are, the longer your pearl will last. And the farther away you are from that worm.
Color
Pearls come in white, cream, yellow, pink, silver, and black. I think black pearls are kind of bad-ass, but that’s just me. White and cream pearls are classics, and the rest kind of go in and out of style, so don’t worry too much about what the “right” color to get is. Go with the ones you like best, or with the ones that go with your skin tone.
Size
Yup, size matters when it comes to pearls. (And, sadly, the motion of the ocean means nothing. Oysters are dumb. If they reversed that, I’m pretty sure they’d have happier sex lives.) Since it’s harder for an oyster to make a big pearl and survive the ordeal, the bigger ones are more rare and will cost you more clams.
If you just want a big ol’ pearl earring or a necklace with a single pearl, then, yeah, go for the biggest you can afford. If you want a bracelet or a necklace, you may want to go for average-sized pearls, because the last thing to look for in pearls is…
Matching
You’ve already figured this one out. A necklace or bracelet is more valuable if its pearls are all the same size or if they make a nice swoop from big at the center to smaller at the ends.
Caring for your pearls
While your body heat will make your pearls reflect light better, your sweat is bad for them, so don’t wear them to the big marathon. You should also avoid wearing them in bright sunlight. No worries – they shine best at night anyway. Pearls will also dissolve in wine or vinegar, so avoid dunking them at the salad bar. Or whatever else you might do to get wine or vinegar on them. I don’t know your life.
String ‘em up
Even if you don’t have it in your budget for a full pearl necklace on your wedding day, it’s easy and not too expensive to make it the start of a beautiful tradition. Wear a necklace with a single pearl as you walk down the aisle, then add one each year on your anniversary. You’ll get to watch a beautiful piece of jewelry grow year by year, and you’ll have a can’t-fail-to-wow heirloom to pass down to a daughter or granddaughter.
