Jewelry listings use the word pearl for three very different things, and the price gap between them is enormous. Here is what each one is, so you know what is on your ears.
Natural pearls
Formed by accident, when an irritant gets inside a wild oyster or mussel and the animal coats it in nacre over years. They are rare enough that a matched strand can cost as much as a car, and almost nothing sold today is one. If a listing says natural pearl at a normal price, it is using the word loosely.
Cultured pearls
Real pearls, grown in real molluscs, but started on purpose: a technician inserts a bead or piece of tissue and the animal does the rest over months or years. Freshwater, Akoya, Tahitian and South Sea pearls are all cultured. This is what jewellers mean by real pearls today, and prices start in the low hundreds for a simple strand.
Simulated pearls
Also called faux, shell or glass pearls. A bead of glass, resin or crushed shell, coated to imitate the shine of nacre. No mollusc involved. A good simulated pearl looks convincing at arm's length, weighs less, and costs a fraction of the price.
How to tell them apart
The oldest test is the tooth test: run the pearl lightly against the edge of a front tooth. A cultured pearl feels faintly gritty, because nacre is made of microscopic crystal layers. A simulated pearl feels perfectly smooth, like glass. Weight is the second clue: real pearls are noticeably heavier than resin ones. And under a loupe, real pearls are never identical to each other, while simulated ones are.
So which should you buy
It depends on the job. If you want an heirloom, buy cultured and buy once. If you want earrings you can wear to work every day, lose one of, and replace without any drama, simulated is the sensible answer. The look is the same across a room; the difference is what happens when the clasp breaks on the subway.
What matters is that the seller tells you which one you are buying. Every pearl piece we sell is simulated, and it says so on the product page, in the description, not in small print.
If that is what you are after: Floral Simulated Pearl Stud Earrings, Gold-Plated Huggie Hoop Earrings with Simulated Pearls and the Chunky Pearl Ring. Free shipping to the USA and Canada, sent from a US warehouse in 3 to 5 days.