The Pearl Book, 3rd Edition: The Definitive Buying Guide: How to Select, Buy Care for & Enjoy Pearls. This item is unavailable.The Pearl Book, 3rd Edition: The Definitive Buying Guide: How to Select, Buy Care for & Enjoy Pearls

Everything you need to buy beautiful pearls with confidence.

With today’s finest cultured pearls rivaling diamond, ruby, emerald and sapphire in terms of popularity, rarity and price, more and more people are searching for a reliable source of information to guide them in the fascinating and complex world of pearls―natural, cultured and imitation.

This revised and updated third edition is a comprehensive, authoritative guide that tells readers everything they need to know about pearls to fully understand and appreciate them, and avoid any unexpected―and costly―disappointments, now and in future generations.

Special Feature: Exclusive interviews with the world’s leading authorities on pearls, who offer "insider" insights and advice.

Selected Contents

• Updated retail price guides
• New types of pearls now on the market
• Important up-to-date resource information, including pearl glossary, size charts, sample lab reports and more
• New pearl producing locales, their products and what these new choices have to offer
• The rich history and romance surrounding pearls
• The five factors that determine a pearl’s value
• How to distinguish the differences between natural, cultured and imitation pearls
• How to judge pearl quality, including tips on how to see differences with the naked eye
• How to wear and care for pearls
• Magnificent pearl creations from the world’s leading jewelers
• What to look for, and what to look out for: How to spot fakes
• Treatments: Good and bad

Antoinette Matlins, PG, FGA, is an internationally respected gem and jewelry expert, author and lecturer. With over 1 million copies of her seven books in print in nine languages, she is the most widely read author in the world on the subject of jewelry and gems. Honored with the international Accredited Gemologists Association's highest award for excellence in gemology, Ms. Matlins’ books are widely used throughout the world by consumers and professionals in the gem and jewelry field. Her books include Jewelry & Gems: The Buying Guide (over 400,000 copies now in print―the only book of its kind ever offered by Consumer Reports); Colored Gemstones: The Antoinette Matlins Buying Guide; The Pearl Book: The Definitive Buying Guide; Gem Identification Made Easy; Engagement & Wedding Rings: The Definitive Buying Guide for People in Love; and Jewelry & Gems at Auction: The Definitive Guide to Buying & Selling at the Auction House & on Internet Auction Sites (all GemStone Press).

Former gemology editor of National Jeweler magazine, her articles and comments on buying and selling gems and jewelry and on gem investment have appeared in many national and international consumer and trade publications. She is also the author of the "Gemstones" chapter in the Encyclopedia of Investments, second edition.

Ms. Matlins has gained wide recognition as a dedicated consumer advocate, and continues to spearhead the Accredited Gemologists Association’s nationwide campaign against gemstone investment telemarketing scams and other types of consumer misrepresentation. A popular media guest, she has been seen on ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, educating consumers about gems and jewelry and exposing fraud.

In addition to her educational work, Ms. Matlins is retained by clients worldwide to seek fine, rare or unusual gems and jewels for acquisition.