Officewear in a corporate environment is not supposed to draw attention to your body. This is a formal environment where people are supposed to be employed for their knowledge and skill, not their physical attractiveness. Although we all know this isn't always true, it does mean the dress code tends to be conservative.
Bright colours, loud patterns, and clothes and jewellery that move when you do are best worn away from the office. The classic corporate outfit - the suit - is traditionally cut to create clean lines from the shoulders downwards; in the most conservative office the only interest in the outfit provided for men is by the tie, while women may wear a coloured blouse.
Pearls are perfect jewels for officewear, as they are usually in a neutral colour, have a beautiful understated lustre, and, frankly, if the morality of nineteenth century ettiquite allowed pearls to be worn during the day, you can't go too badly wrong.
Cultured South Sea pearls are no longer rare. They are produced in Australia, Indonesia, Fiji, Tahiti, and Myanmar. The farming process has been improved over decades, and the industry now produces a huge number of high quality pearls each year. This has lead to the recent high fashion re-interest in pearls, and their gradual shaking of the 'ladies who lunch' image. Although the classic round white pearl will probably always be the one most people think of, there are many other colours and shapes that can also reflect your personality and style.
A pair of round silver grey Tahititan earrings, a pair of Keshi silver grey Tahitian earrings, an antique natural pearl ring, and a triple strand of vintage Akoya pearls.
Both my pairs of Tahitian South Sea studs have a body colour of silver, and a slight overtone of pink. The spherical pair are cultured, they are the result of a seed being implanted in the oyster. The oyster treats this as an irritant and covers it with layers of nacre over a period typically of up to two years. The aim of this is to produce a large, round, smooth pearl.
The irregular pair are Keshi pearls. Keshi's are naturally occurring pearls within a farmed oyster. They cannot be sold as 'natural' pearls as this implies they were found in a wild oyster. Keshi's happen when the seed is rejected by the oyster, or a speck of sand, or some other tiny object gets in to the oyster, and the oyster covers it with nacre. Because the nacre is much thicker than on a seeded pearl, the lustre is quite different, and mine have an iridescent 'orient' over them. The lustre of a Keshi is very similar to the lustre of a natural pearl, as both of them are pure nacre.
The antique pearl ring shows the similarty of the lustre to the Keshi pearls.
I put together the triple strand of Akoya's from a double strand and a separate single strand. The colours don't match exactly, but I don't feel they need to. The lustre and size match, and they all have warm pinkish overtones, so I feel they sit well together.
The silver grey Tahitian earrings, a dove grey Tahitian pearl with metal fittings to slide on a chain, and the antique natural pearl ring. This photo shows that the colours don't have to match across each piece of jewellery.
Four pairs of very simple pearl earrings. The grey Keshi Tahitian South Sea pearls again, a pair of Kailis Australian White South Sea pearl Tranquility drops with removable huggie fittings, the grey Tahitian studs again, and a pair of Akoya and diamond cluster studs. A similar pair of round Tahitian South Sea studs can be found here, at Rutherford Pearls. (I work at Rutherford Pearls.)
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