“There are two things which couldn’t be made at my laboratory — diamonds & pearls.”
—- Thomas Edison
Since ancient times, pearls have been the jewel worn by royalty. Pearls represented wealth and power, and for a period, only nobles were allowed to wear them. In the last century, freshwater pearl farming made pearls accessible to women from all walks of life, but although beautiful, these beads were usually small and sometimes of lower quality. A breakthrough in pearl farming technology sees a new breed of pearls – Edison pearls – that are high-end saltwater pearl quality, big, almost perfectly round, come in a variety of unique colors and are affordable.
Classification of Pearls
The first classification is between natural or wild pearls and farmed or cultured pearls. Natural or wild pearls are formed without the interference of humans, while pearl farmers grow cultured pearls. The next distinction is between saltwater pearls and freshwater pearls.
There are mainly two different types of farmed pearls: tissue nucleated and bead nucleated. Nucleation is the process of growing cultured pearls and starts with inserting a foreign object – the nucleus – into the mollusk. That triggers the mollusk to cover the nucleus with nacre until a pearl is formed. The nucleus can either be a bead or a piece of mantle tissue from another shell.
Freshwater pearl farming was initially started in Japan in the 1930’s, but today China is the biggest commercial producer of freshwater pearls.
What Are Edison Pearls?
Edison pearls are the brainchild of brother and sister Weijian Zhan and Weiyu Zhan. Their family has over 40 years’ experience in pearl farming. They spent three times more than the industry average budget on pearl farming research over the past 12 years and cultivated a new species of giant freshwater pearls with exotic colors & saltwater pearls’ quality. Most freshwater pearls are nucleated by tissue, but Edison cultured pearls are nucleated with beads, exactly as saltwater pearls. The beads are implanted into mussels, selected through genetic research, with a special technique – a secret that is guarded closely.
Only one pearl is cultured in each mussel, allowing for a much larger sized pearl to grow inside the shell. They have a bright luster and come in vivid colors such as white, peach, pink, gold, metallic, plum, and aubergine-purple as shown in the image below. Traditional freshwater pearls rarely produce pearls in such large sizes and so many unique natural colors with amazing luster.
Edison Pearls are of high quality; high-grade Edison pearls are perfectly round. Their sizes vary but they can become almost three-quarters of an inch, and they have a unique luster that can be compared with that of high-end saltwater pearls such as Tahitian pearls or South Sea pearls.
Quality Pearls for Every Woman
Edison pearl jewelry is affordable to the average working woman. With their high quality, large size, and unique colors, every woman can adorn herself in the luxury jewel of nobility. Now every woman can feel like a princess!
Timeless Pearl holds a unique collection of jewelry made from Edison pearls. Whether you’re looking for a unique piece of pearl necklace, ring, or bracelet, we’ll help you live life with a touch of elegance. Click HERE to see all our Edison Pearl jewelry.
To read the article from the New York Times about Edison Pearl, please click the link below:
China’s High-Quality Pearls Enter the Mass Market
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/business/global/chinas-high-quality-pearls-enter-the-mass-market.html)
Discover the Unique History of Edison Pearls
(https://www.timelesspearl.com/edison-pearls-unique-history/)
Real Edison pearls usually have a large size (most common sizes are between 10mm-13mm), pearl sizes above 15mm are rare, and pearls with size under 10mm are usually not real Edison pearls… Some sellers are using the “Edison Pearl” term to sell traditional freshwater pearls for a better price.
Although the company is developing small size Edison pearls of 3-8mm, the results were not satisfying. Hope that we would be able to see Akoya pearls size & quality Edison pearls in the future!
In November 2018, the very first batch of natural dark golden color Edison pearls was harvested, after 9 years of research and development.
We sincerely welcome you to visit our store and try our Edison pearl jewelry directly from the inventors of Edison pearls! Please click HERE to see all our Edison pearls collections.
