THE FIVE VIRTUES OF FINE PEARLS:
By South Sea Pearl Consortium

For most of us, choosing and buying anything rare or valuable can be daunting few of us are experts. We can feel out of our depth when obliged to take too much on trust. But buying South Sea Pearls is different. Of course, there are qualities of South Sea Pearls that define their value. We call them virtues. A knowledge of these will help the selection process, but with South Sea Pearls you can - indeed must - trust in your own senses and Judgements. You're choosing something created by a living creature. Like us, every pearl is unique. Whether for yourself or for someone else it is a personal choice. An intuitive selection based on what is beautiful to the eye of the beholder.

You don't have to be an expert to see and feel the attraction of that special pearl South Sea Pearls seem to have an inexplicable inner presence that glows, resonates - choosing you as much as you have chosen it With South Sea Pearls all you have to trust is yourself.

1. LUSTER
The paramount defining virtue of beauty and therefore value is how light reflects from the pearl's surface, but also how it seems to glow from within. Luster ranges from the bright and sprightly to the warm and alluring. It's a virtue that combines the quantum nature of light and the subjective judgement of the beholder. It catches and complements the beauty, the moods and personality of the wearer. Like all virtues, the luster of South Sea Pearls is natural. It should never be chemically modified or enhanced.
3. SHAPE
Perfectly round pearls are the most scarce, and are valued accordingly. But there's more to pearls than just round ones, and more to nature than the sphere. Baroque pearls with their voluptuous line and shape, the contemporary impact of the circle pearl and the rare sensuality of the semi-baroque bring to the South Sea Pearl range a world of exciting possibilities.
4. SURFACE
The more flawless the pearl the higher the value But pearls are created in the ocean by a wild oyster and nature almost always leaves its mark. Even though most markings can be seen by the naked eye they are part of the unique and individualizing elements of every pearl. One oyster in a million may produce a perfect, flawless pearl.
5. COLOR
South Sea Pearls come in an array of natural colors. Like so much about pearls the choice of color is a matter of personal preference. There is traditionally a strong demand for the classic silver-white, for the glow of a golden pearl and for the most coveted' the rare white rose famous for being found in the pristine waters of Australia's North West coast. Popularity impacts on price even though color is irrelevant to a pearl's intrinsic value.
2. SIZE
Size matters. The larger the pearl the scarcer; and Australian South Sea Pearls are the largest in the world. Measured across the smallest diameter; sizes run from 8 mm to an extremely rare I 8 mm. Only the South Sea's Mother-of-Pearl Shell can create quality pearls of such a size.