| 1 Regular mail |
Regular postage within Australian is $4.85(postage and handing fee) , $1.50 for each additional item in the same package . |
International postage: AU $9.00 for USA/Canada buyers, AU $10 for Europe buyers, AU $7 for NewZealand buyers, $1.50 for each additional item in the same package . Item(s) will be shipped to you from Perth by air mail. |
| 2 Register mail |
Customer is able to ask for registered post for $2.50 extra postage. |
| 3 Express mail |
Customer is able to ask for registered post for $4.50 extra postage. |
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Sorry, no responsibility for the lost and damaged items during post |
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Cultured pearls are made with the assistance of humans and are produced en masse in Japan and China. To produce a pearl, the cultivator makes an incision in the soft flesh of the mussel and carefully implants the nucleus - a spherical irritant cut from the shell of a freshwater clam combined with a small piece of mantle tissue from another mussel. After recovering from surgery - about two out of three survive the operation - the mussels are submerged in cages to begin the slow process of “nacreation,” the layering of nacre that produces the pearl.
The size, shape, and quality of the pearl depends on many factors. The most crucial is the size and shape of the implanted nucleus. As the mussel layers the nacre onto the nucleus, the pearl will form in that shape. Water temperature, nucleus location, and length of time the pearl remains in the mussel are also important. Up to 50 small rice pearls can be cultured from one warm water mussel in a about a year, where only one large 9 to 12mm baroque pearl can be produced by a single mussel, and it may take several years for the nacre to accumulate.
There are several criteria for judging the quality of pearls. Many of the criteria come down to personal preference, and when judging pearls for quality, all the factors should be taken into consideration: color, coating, shape, surface, sizw, matching (the relationship of one pearl on a strand to another). |
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