Perle Collection
The "Raliegh Goss" perle collection is one of true, natural beauty. Timeless pearl necklaces, collars and earrings that are handed down through generations. The "invisible" clasp allows the pearls to sits seamlessly round the neck, the ultimate simplicity and elegance.
Learn all about pearls through the Raliegh Goss fine jewellery brand. All shelled mollusks can, by natural processes, produce some kind of "pearl" when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within its mantle folds, but the great majority of these "pearls" are not valued as gemstones. Nacreous pearls, the best-known and most commercially significant, are primarily produced by two groups of molluskan bivalves or clams.
A nacreous pearl is made from layers of nacre, by the same living process as is used in the secretion of the mother of pearl which lines the shell.
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Natural (or wild) pearls, formed without human intervention, are very rare. Many hundreds of pearl oysters or mussels must be gathered and opened, and thus killed, to find even one wild pearl; for many centuries, this was the only way pearls were obtained, and why pearls fetched such extraordinary prices in the past. Cultured pearls are formed in pearl farms, using human intervention as well as natural processes.
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One family of nacreous pearl bivalves – the pearl oyster – lives in the sea, while the other – a very different group of bivalves – lives in freshwater; these are the river mussels such as the freshwater pearl mussel. Saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine pearl oystersin the family Pteriidae.
Freshwater pearls grow within certain (but by no means all) species of freshwater mussels in the order Unionida, the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae.
Tahitian pearls come in a range of colours from white to black. They can contain various undertones and overtones of green, pink, blue, silver and yellow. The most valuable of these are of the darker variety, as the naturally dark tones of the Tahitian pearls is a unique quality among pearls. A true black Tahitian pearl is extremely rare, and largely considered one of the most beautiful kinds of pearls in the world. Most Tahitian pearls that are identified as “black” are actually charcoal grey, silver, or dark green. An advantage of the Tahitian pearl is that the oyster inside of which they grow is quite large, sometimes weighing as much as ten pounds. This means that a Tahitian pearl can more easily grow to a larger-than-average size.
Pinctada maxima produces South Sea pearls in colors ranging from white, silver, champagne, gold. Currently south sea pearls are cultured primarily in Australia, Indonesia, Tahiti and now, the Philippines. Because these pearl oysters are so large, a much larger nucleus than usual can be used in culturing. Commercial pearl farming in Australia is mostly centred around the coastal waters of Broome, 17.9614 degrees South and 122.2359 degrees East, located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Best known and valued for their white/silver with pink hues from the silver-lipped pearl oyster, Australian South Sea Pearls can grow beyond 18mm - 20mm in diameter, with a typical size of 10mm - 13mm when harvested following a two-year gestation. South Sea pearls farmed in the Philippines, typically produce golden pearls from the gold-lipped pearl oyster, which are currently experiencing a surge in popularity, resulting in increased market-demand, particularly in China.