FREE: Vintage Mother of Pearl Earrings

The listing, Vintage Mother of Pearl Earrings has ended.

It is a bit difficult to get good photos of these earrings, I took a lot, and you still may not get an idea of them. The Earrings look to me like a blossom of sorts...two dark green outer leaves, and many creamy shards of petals inside. They may look altogether different to you!

Mother of pearl is the common name for iridescent nacre, a blend of minerals that are secreted by oysters and other mollusks and deposited inside their shells, coating and protecting them from parasites and foreign objects.

Not all mollusk shells have a nacre coating. The primary distinction between a shell that has a mother of pearl coating and a shell that does not is the iridescent quality. Mother of pearl has a very distinct multi-colored effect and a faint glow similar to other optically impressive moon-like gemstones.

Mother of Pearl Trends

Despite the wide availability of mother of pearl due to pearl farming, it is widely underused in the jewelry world compared to its use in previous jewelry eras. Much of the aversion to using mother of pearl in designer jewelry may come from the unwillingness to support unsustainable and unnatural pearl farming practices. Using mother of pearl in jewelry is looked at in the same way using coral or ivory is. Therefore, the most desirable mother of pearl jewelry is often antique or vintage. However, jewelry companies are taking note and using more widely accepted pearl farming practices.