UND-Pilsa Blog

Hamstring tears are very common soccer injuries. A study in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports shows that preseason strength training helps to prevent injuries to these muscles in the back of the upper legs (Volume 13, Issue 4, 2003). Players from two of the best soccer teams in Sweden were divided into two groups. One group received specific hamstring training of 10 weeks of twice a week, using a special device to overload the hamstrings eccentrically. The trained group had less than one third the hamstring injuries of the untrained group, and also had greater improvement in hamstring strength and running speed.

The findings of this study should encourage preseason strength training for other muscle groups stressed in any sports. While stretching can make muscles longer to exert a greater torque on joints, it has not been shown to prevent injuries. Muscles are injured because the force on them is greater than their inherent strength, so they tear. Resistance training makes muscles stronger so that they can withstand greater forces and therefore helps to prevent injuries.

You can help to prevent injuries by stopping exercise when you feel pain and by not exercising intensely when your muscles feel heavy or sore.

Muscles are made up of millions of individual fibers. When you first contact a muscle, you use only one percent of the fibers. As you continue to exercise, you contract more fibers, which share the load, place less force on each fiber and help prevent injuries. So go slow before you go fast. When you feel pain in one muscle during exercise, that’s a signal that it may be starting to tear and you should stop exercising. Every time that you exercise intensely, your muscles are damaged, causing them to feel sore on the next day. Exercising intensely when muscles feel sore injures them. So do not exercise intensely when muscle feel sore. It usually takes at least 48 hours for muscles to recover from hard exercise.

Read my Good Food Book FREE, with 100 healthful recipes.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

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Graduates Need to “T” It Up

I still have my Graduation Class t-shirt and it has been over 20 years since I graduated! More than a piece of fabric, a graduation class shirt is a memory, a token from a time when much happened in your life.

Whether you are graduating from junior school, secondary school, or college you will have a class t-shirt. Whether it is a group of seniors who design it in school colors or if it is a custom class shirt, you will be glad you ordered your shirt.

Valuable Memories

So many people let life pass them by and don’t want to spend money on things they perceive as not valuable. True you may not be wearing your class t-shirt as a fashion statement to the academy awards but some day you will be rummaging around in your box of old things and find that shirt.

Our children love to see memorabilia from our youth, it allows them somehow to connect with us as they imagine what we were like when we where “rebellious” teenagers. Imagine not being able to have this experience with your quickly growing up child, which is what you will miss if you do not have the foresight to purchase a graduation class t-shirt.

It may sound like a lot of drama for a t-shirt but it is so much more than that. Memories of our youth are fleeting; so much happens that is significant in that time of our lives yet so much continues to happen that we can forget. A memory trigger is what the t-shirt becomes and when seen, the memories come flooding back.

Choose one for you

There are as many styles of t-shirts as there are schools with Senior Classes who are getting ready to graduate, maybe more. You can choose to have a custom class t-shirt or just a standard Senior Class T-shirt. Perhaps you want to be identified with your classmates and you are not that close to graduating. It is OK; you can still have your own Class T-Shirt.

Class t-shirts help to promote unity, a team spirit that helps kids work together instead of picking on one another and tearing each other down. Young people of today have enough pressure on them without having to worry about if they are allowed to have a t-shirt like their friends.

Talk with your parents, save your money, and make sure you get a Graduation Class t-shirt, you wont’ regret it no matter how little you actually wear it.

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There is so much conflicting information out there when it comes to the topic of building muscle, and sometimes it can be very difficult to know where to start. If you’re an average beginner looking for some basic guidelines to follow in the gym, the following 8 points will start you off on the right track.

1) Train With Weights and Focus On Compound, Free Weight Movements.

If you want to make solid, noteworthy gains in muscle size and strength, you absolutely must train with free weights and focus on basic, compound exercises. A compound exercise is any lift that stimulates more than one muscle group at a time. Examples of these lifts are the squat, deadlift, bench press, chin up, barbell row, overhead press, dip and lunge. Compound movements allow you to handle the most weight and will stimulate the greatest amount of total muscle fibers.

2) Be Prepared To Train Hard.

One of the biggest factors that separates those who make modest gains from those who make serious gains is their level of training intensity. In order to stimulate your muscle fibers to their utmost potential, you must be willing to take every set you perform in the gym to the point of muscular failure.

Muscular Failure: The point at which no further repetitions can be completed using proper form.

Sub-maximal training intensity will leave you with sub-maximal results, plain and simple.

3) Track Your Progress In The Gym From Week To Week.

Our bodies build muscle because of an adaptive response to the environment. When you go to the gym, you break down your muscle fibers by training with weights. Your body senses this as a potential threat to its survival and will react accordingly by rebuilding the damaged fibers larger and stronger in order to protect against any possible future threat. Therefore, in order to make continual gains in muscle size and strength, you must always focus on progressing in the gym from week to week. This could mean performing 1 or 2 more reps for each exercise or adding more weight to the bar. Keep a detailed training log to track your progress as your strength increases over time.

4) Avoid Overtraining.

Overtraining is your number one enemy when it comes to building muscle size and strength. When most people begin a workout program, they are stuck with the misguided notion that more is better. They naturally assume that the more time they spend in the gym, the better results they will achieve. When it comes to building muscle, nothing could be farther from the truth! If you spend too much time in the gym, you will actually take yourself farther away from your goals rather than closer to them. Remember, your muscles do not grow in the gym; they grow out of the gym, while you are resting and eating. Recovery is absolutely vital to the muscle growth process. If you don’t provide your body with the proper recovery time in between workouts, your muscles will never have a chance to grow.

5) Eat More Frequently.

The main area where most people fail miserably on their muscle-building mission is on the all-too important task of proper nutrition. Training with weights is only half of the equation! You break down your muscle fibers in the gym, but if you don’t provide your body with the proper nutrients at the proper times, the muscle growth process will be next to impossible. You should be eating anywhere from 5-7 meals per day, spaced every 2-3 hours in order to keep your body in an anabolic, muscle-building state at all times. Each meal should consist of high quality protein and complex carbohydrates.

6) Increase Your Protein Intake.

Of the 3 major nutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) protein is without a doubt the most important for those who are looking to gain muscle size and strength. Protein is found in literally every single one of the 30 trillion cells that your body is made up of and its main role is to build and repair body tissues. Without sufficient protein intake, it will be physically impossible for your body to synthesize a significant amount of lean muscle mass. If your body were a house, think of protein as the bricks. A general guideline is to consume 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day from high quality sources such as fish, poultry, eggs, beef, milk, peanut butter and cottage cheese.

7) Increase Your Water Intake.

If you want a simple, easy and highly effective way to maximize your muscle gains, drinking more water is it. Water plays so many vital roles in the body and its importance cannot be overstated. In fact, your muscles alone are made up of 70% water! Not only will drinking more water cause your muscles to appear fuller and more vascular, but it will also increase your strength as well. Research has shown that merely a 3-4% drop in your body’s water levels can impact muscle contractions by 10-20%! Aim to consume 0.6 ounces for every pound of bodyweight each day for optimal gains.

Be Consistent!

Consistency is everything. Those who make the greatest gains in muscular size and strength are the ones who are able to implement the proper techniques on a highly consistent basis. Simply knowing is not enough, you must apply!

Building muscle is a result of the cumulative effect of small steps. Sure, performing 1 extra rep on your bench press will not make a huge difference to your overall results, and neither will consuming a single meal. However, over the long haul, all of those extra reps you perform and all of those small meals you consume will decide your overall success. If you work hard and complete all of your muscle-building tasks in a consistent fashion, all of those individual steps will equate to massive gains in overall size and strength.

Sean Nalewanyj is a bodybuilding expert, fitness author and writer of top-selling Internet Bodybuilding E-Book: The Truth About Building Muscle. If you want to learn how to build maximum muscle in minimum time, visit his website: www.MuscleGainTruth.com/

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When thinking about mobile networks, there are regularly the popular few that pop into our minds and are the most popular; all of these are 3G, 02, Orange, T-mobile and Vodafone.

Built in 1983 as Rascal Telecom, the mobile corporation then became independent in 1991. Situated in Berkshire England; the mobile firm are the largest mobile brand in the world by phone sales and has value in the market of more or less 76 billion pounds. The mobile retailer has equity interests in twenty eight nations around five continents, nearly 187 m proportionate mobile phone users and 33 partner mobile networks.

For over twenty years the company have been on the driving seat of the mobile phone revolution. The company is preferred by a lot of people since the retailer is well famous for their good service. The mobile firm channels enormous investments into enlarging a telecommunication network that lets every one of Vodafone’s clients dial lots of telephone calls from more areas than every other mobile phone company, cheaply and while continuing to continue supplying sensational quality and reliability to all there customers. In the past three years The mobile corporation has cut there rates more than five times, as if they had cut their charges and services by 0.5 per client. The mobile retailer has enlarged its range of uncostly handsets and introduced further flexible payment schemes. Find the latest Vodafone mobile phones.

Telephone technology is improving rapidly every day. The retailer is aware that their mobile phone clients are their main concern hence the mobile retailer have the responsibility to make sure that the mobile phone users can use all the products safely and confidently. What makes the mobile business the principal mobile phone network to be with is that the retailer in fact care about what their clients think. If you do have issues there’s no need to dread calling as all their call centres can be found in England and will help you find an answer to your problems and queries particularly quickly. The mobile corporation ordinarily ask their mobile phone users about their problems of using the retailer as their specific company and what they can do to make it better for their customers.

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Other articles in this series looked at a number of exercises, mainly from the perspective of developing a comprehensive muscle building program. Sometimes we take things for granted, especially when it comes to performing the basic exercises that constitute the core of most bodybuilders’ training regimes.

It is useful, therefore, to describe in detail the processes involved in actually doing these exercises. This will help beginners to start out using the correct techniques before moving on to potentially more dangerous heavy weights. If it also helps more experienced lifters to redress some of the little faults that have almost imperceptibly crept in over the years, all the better.

In this article we’ll take a close look at the crunch.

MUSCLES TARGETED: rectus abdominis

STARTING POSITION

Assume a supine position on the floor.
Place the calves and ankles on a bench with the hips and knees flexed to roughly 90 degrees.
Fold the arms across the chest.

UPWARD MOVEMENT

Flex the neck to move the chin to the chest.
Curl the torso toward the thighs until ONLY the upper back is off the mat.

DOWNWARD MOVEMENT

Allow the torso to uncurl, then the neck to extend back to the starting position.
Repeat or finish set.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Exercises to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

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A diamond wedding ring represents one of the most important purchases you will make in your life. The right ring can make just the right impression with your bride, while also serving as the perfect expression of your love. But how can you make such an expensive purchase with confidence? By having a firm understanding of the 4 C’s of course, and we’re not talking bread crumbs. The 4 C’s of a diamond determine its overall value and eye appeal. In this article, we’ll break down these important details while giving you the tips for buying an expensive diamond wedding ring

If you are unfamiliar with the 4 C’s, they simply stand for a diamond’s cut, color, clarity, and carat. These four characteristics are the benchmarks by which all diamonds are measured, and having a solid understanding of them will make buying an expensive diamond wedding ring a lot easier. Before we get started though, it is recommended that you only buy from a reputable jeweler. This will work to your advantage in a couple of ways. 1) The jeweler will be able to further discuss the 4 C’s with you in a knowledgeable fashion and 2) you will be sure that you are receiving the highest quality diamond. So, let’s take a look at the first C - cut.

The cut of the diamond refers to just that - the manner in which the diamond was originally shaped. The cut of the diamond is arguably the most important factor to consider when choosing a ring. The reason for this is because a well cut diamond will perpetually reflect light and create a visually stunning effect. If a diamond is poorly cut, the diamond may not reach its full potential, and you will most likely be wasting your money. Always be sure your expensive diamond wedding ring is cut to perfection, regardless of its actual shape (round, oval, pear, square, etc).

The second C is color. You may assume that a diamond is white, and this is true to some extent. However, diamonds have different shades of white, and these shades are graded using a letter system from D to Z. Naturally, diamonds with colors graded in the first few letters (D-G) tend to be very rare and therefore very expensive. But that’s not to say that diamonds graded with higher numbers aren’t just as stunning. Remember, the four factors taken as a whole will make the ultimate determination.

The third C is clarity, and this refers to the often undistinguishable “imperfections” of a diamond. As you probably know, diamonds are formed in nature, so they most times have some sort of inconsistency. What you are looking for (and what a reputable jeweler can help you find) is a diamond that has the least amount of these marks. These diamonds will have high clarity grades, and these are the diamonds that will be most worth your money.

The fourth and final C is carat. The diamond’s carat refers to its weight and size. It is important for you to know that jewelers will refer to carats as points in the business. For example, even though a carat actually weighs .2 grams, a jeweler will refer to a carat as 100 points. This tip will keep you from getting confused when looking at diamond specifications.

You now possess the necessary tips for buying an expensive diamond wedding ring. In addition to choosing a high quality jeweler, your new found knowledge of the 4 C’s will ensure that you make a wise and beautiful wedding ring purchase.

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The Hope Diamond’s Legendary Power

Evalyn Walsh MacLean was the last private owner of the Hope Diamond. She died in 1947 at the age of 60, and she left behind one of the most beautiful and well-known pieces of jewelry known to man. This diamond had a tragic history that appealed to the public and made headlines for many years. It was a massive diamond of incredible beauty and unimaginable value, but today is like any other old lady, leading a rather uneventful existence.

Ms. MacLean’s staff were unsure about how to deal with the Hope Diamond after she died, since the diamond had such a remarkable history and a superb value. They turned to a friend of Ms. MacLean’s, Frank Murphy, who they thought would give them the best advice. This Mr. Murphy, in addition to being a long-time friend of the MacLeans, was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Judge Murphy very quickly secured the jewels in the MacLean collection as soon as he came to Ms. MacClean’s house the night she died. He immediately left by cab, but since he couldn’t think of a safe place to put the the diamond at twelve o’clock at night, he decided to ride around in the cab until the banks opened in the morning.

Murphy approached a bank officer at the Riggs National Bank that morning and requested that the entire collection be deposited. When he gave bank officer the inventory of what was in the sack, he didn’t believe the Hope Diamond was one of the items. So he asked for proof that it was the Hope Diamond and when he saw for himself, he realized it had to be. In addition, the fact that a judge of the United States Supreme Court was the courier of this parcel, that he had just picked it up at midnight from the MacClean mansion, he became convinced that it most certainly must be the famous Hope Diamond.

Finally accepting the responsibility of securing such a gem, the bankers agreed to store the diamond, which was soon procured by Murphy, himself, in a sealed bid to purchase it, since no-one else wanted to take it into their possession. There it sat for several years, until he decided to donate it to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. How did he transport it to its new home? By placing it in a regular mailing package with a number of other gems which were of low quality and sending it by way of the U.S. Postal Service.

The beautiful Hope Diamond rests in its case of velvet at the Smithsonian to this day. Any tourist who strolls into the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. can have a glimpse of the most beautiful diamond in the world, which seems an ignoble ending for a gem whose history is steeped in greed, corruption, tragedy and insanity. Even Ms. MacClean died an untimely death at only 60 years of age. The mail carrier who was responsible for its delivery was in two separate car accidents, both resulting in serious injury. The stone had its final revenge.

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At some point of time, you may be interested in buying diamonds. Before you throw your life savings into the stone, please do your homework and know a little bit about the basic 4 c’s of diamond before getting that cheque book out.

4C’s of Diamond Quality

Diamonds are graded by four characteristics: cut, carat (weight), clarity, and color. All four of these properties determine how much a diamond is worth.

* Cut - What is the proportion of the diamond? Round brilliant diamonds are commonly cut with 58 facets. The better proportioned these facets are on the diamond, the more light will be reflected back to the viewer’s eye. This is extremely important. When cut properly, the diamond will sparkle more. Diamond cuts are measured by the table percentage, so always ask for it. A good table percentage is between 55-60%. Cut also refers to the shape such as: round, pear, and oval.
If you are having a diamond mounted, write down the measurements of your stone. Measurements never change. Measure the stone after it is mounted and verify that it matches the appraisal and/or certificate.

* Carat - How big is the diamond? Larger diamonds often cost more per carat due to their size. There are 100 points to a carat. Hence a 50 point diamond is 1/2 a carat. (There are 5 carats to a gram.) Always get the actual point size of a diamond rather than a fractional weight. Sometimes jewelers will try to sell a .90 diamond as a 1 carat diamond. A .90 diamond should be substantially less expensive.

* Clarity - How clear is the stone? Clarity ranges from flawless (perfect) to I (included). Here is a chart:

Flawless: perfect inside and out

Internally Flawless: may have minor blemishes on the outside

VVS1, VVS2: have very very small inclusions. VVS1 inclusions can only be seen through the pavilion. VVS2 inclusions are more visible.

VS1, VS2: have very small inclusions. VS1 inclusions are harder to see than VS2.

SI1, SI2, SI3: have small inclusions

I1, I2, I3: have inclusions visible to the naked eye

* Color: Diamond colors generally range from D - X for white and yellow diamonds. D is the whitest. Around S they become “Fancy” yellow Diamonds. One can also find green, pink, red, blue and brown diamonds - though these are usually irradiated.

Be certain to ask: Do you guarantee the color and clarity of your stones? Many states allow dealers to be off by one color and/or one clarity.

The price per carat does not increase smoothly with increasing size. Instead, there are sharp jumps around milestone carat weights, as demand is much higher for diamonds weighing just more than a milestone than for those weighing just less. As an example, a 0.95 carat diamond may have a significantly lower price per carat than a comparable 1.05 carat diamond, because of differences in demand. All else being equal, the value of a diamond increases exponentially in relation to carat weight, since larger diamonds are both rarer and more desirable for use as gemstones.

Therefore if you are to invest in a diamond try and get one at 1/2 carat or even better 1 carat.
With a GIA certificate that won’t be wrong.

Now go ahead and get that stone!

Ally Too is the owner of
http://diamond4me.blogspot.com/
Feel free to check for more information and resources about diamonds.

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Combine two of everybody’s chief pursuits and what you’ll display is a trend that’s named a sportsbook bets website. And what could be more creative… Visualize a large assembly of fanatics cheering a chosen favorite lineup, and incessantly stakes are guaranteed to be proclaimed to complement the rumpus. So keen to catch some of the delights, onlookers will repeatedly attempt to figure who is the likeliest to prevail the forthcoming challennge. Put together, this all develops into a fun little challennge called sportsbook bets website.

Sure, it may sound obsessive, note, however, that sports betting is, in reality, purely for fun and to bond with fellow sports maniacs. Here, you’ll be able to risk a a little budget of cash and still enjoy yourself. Furthermore, here are a group of cues to get going sports betting. If you want to place your wager, you’ll want to go to a sportsbook bets website, which is a place that receives sportsbook bets website. In the US, we have four states where to do sports betting in a legal manner, but illegally you can try it anyplace provided that you can determine a bookie *and* you are of age. Included among the sports you have a choice of betting on are professional & college basketball and football, professional baseball, professional hockey, & bets on both horse and dog racing. Patrons can bet money on the entire results of a competition or game, at which point any given contestant will be knocked out, and even if a given coin toss in a competition or game will land either heads or tails.

Diamondbacks rout sleep-deprived Padres

The odds makers lean on their figures be of assistance to you decide which lineup you feel is most likely is the likeliest to prevail. First thing you’ll find the spread, meaning advantage in points given to a the losing party that is anticipated to be defeated by a specific number points. Obviously, this describes the betting outfit’s customary formula of organizing even stakes for a Sports Book. For a practical example, we may choose to bet on a party that is anticipated to be defeated and and still win the wager provided that the party does actually take a licking by a specific number of points. You can get sundry brands of lays– straight, parlay lays, and plenty more, the straight being the best known in sports betting.

So, why don’t you just give it a shot, and amuse yourself at the same time… Simply make sure that you won’t get too enthusiastic and blow your entire retirement fund on a whimsy. Because you’re certain to end up bewailing it for the rest of your life.

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There are three main types of cultured saltwater pearls: akoya, Tahitian, and South Sea. Pearls can be cultured in fresh water as well. Each type has distinct characteristics, and each is very beautiful in its own way. Like with most things, individual tastes determine pearl preferences. Or you may have a taste for every pearl variety! The following is a look at the main types of cultured pearls.

Akoya Cultured Pearls
Timeless and popular, the akoya cultured pearl probably comes to mind when you think of pearls. (Because akoyas are easier to match than other pearls, they are a popular choice for bracelets and necklaces.) These saltwater beauties are typically small (they range between 2mm and 11mm; average is 6mm-7mm), and are most commonly white or cream-colored.

Akoyas are produced in the akoya oyster, or P. fucata, the smallest of the saltwater pearl oysters. The main animals used for saltwater pearl culturing in Japan, these small oysters typically reach only 8cm to 13cm in diameter, but they can accept multiple nucleationsup to five at a time. (If a larger pearl is desired, however, only one bead is inserted.)
Akoya pearls were the first round cultured pearlscalled “spherical” in the jewelry tradethat were produced. Approximately 70%-80% of a given akoya crop is spherical. Typically white or cream with rosé or green overtones, akoyas typically grow from eight months to two years before they’re harvested. A jewelry staple, the simple and classic white akoya strand is a popular choice for brides.

Tahitian Cultured Pearls
If you think of black pearls, you probably picture a peacock-blue-sheened Tahitian. This is a desirable hue for a Tahitian cultured pearl, but they can also be black, gray or brown with hues of blue, green, and purple and overtones of rosé, green or blue. Marketed just since the 1970s, Tahitians are revered for their exotic colors and large sizes, and, as you may have noticed, their large price tag reflects their relative rarity.

Tahitian pearls are produced mainly in French Polynesia in the so-called “black-lipped” oyster, P. margaritifera, a large saltwater mollusk that can grow up to 12 inches in diameter, weigh up to 11 lbs. and live up to 30 years. These oysters produce pearls that reach 8mm-14mm in size in a growth period that takes about two years.

Tahitian cultured pearls typically show fair to excellent luster, and achieve this by natural means, unlike akoyas and freshwater cultured pearls, which require treatmentusually bleachingto bring out their sheen. When Tahitians are harvested, farmers wash them in fresh water, dry them and lightly buff them, usually by tumbling the gems with ground salt and bamboo chips.

P margaritifera can be nucleated, or implanted, several times over its lifetime, but in general, the first harvest produces the finest quality pearl. Unlike its smaller cousin, the akoya, Tahitian cultured pearls are spherical less than half the time. For this reason, it may take years to find just the right pearls to match for a necklace. This is one of the reasons why a matched strand of Tahitian cultured pearls is so costly. Because they can often come in unique shapes, however, Tahitians are used by many jewelry designers in pieces that feature a single pearl. These pieces are uniquely beautiful and can be as breathtaking as a costly Tahitian strand.

South Sea Cultured Pearls
P. maxima, one of the world’s largest mollusks, produces the magnificent South Sea cultured pearl, generally the largest cultured pearl on the market. As its name implies, the South Sea cultured pearl is produced in Australia, Indonesia and the Phillipines. (The cultured pearl is the national gem of the Phillipines.) Most South Sea pearls are silver, white, or a gorgeous and coveted golden color. Farmers do not treat these pearls after harvest, although some wholesale buyers do so after export.

Unlike a freshwater pearl mollusk, P. maxima can accept only one nucleation at a time; however the oyster can be nucleated up to three times in its lifetime. After nucleation, the South Sea cultured pearl requires 20-24 months to grow, and typically produces a pearl around 13mm, although some reach 15mm or larger. Between 10%-30% of any given crop contains spherical pearls. Australia produces about 60 percent of the supply of South Sea cultured pearls, although Indonesian farmers produce more of the golden variety than Australian farmers do.

Freshwater Cultured Pearls
Unlike their saltwater cousins, freshwater pearls are produced in mollusks rather than oysters, and, like their name implies, are grown in ponds, lakes and rivers rather than in the ocean. Most of today’s freshwater cultured pearls are produced in China, and, thanks to improvements in culturing techniques, the round, high-luster gems of today are a vast improvement over the inexpensive, squishy rice-krispie-shaped gems typical of the freshwater crop of yesteryear. Indeed many experts maintain that today’s freshwater cultured pearls rival the beauty of saltwater cultured pearlsa far cry from the freshwater pearl’s humble reputation from the not-so-distant past.

Freshwater cultured pearls are produced in mussels belonging to the family Unionidae. Most are grown in China, yet the United Sates produces its fair share. In fact, the mother-of-pearl beads used to induce the pearl growing process worldwide are made from ground American mussel shells.

Many freshwater pearls are nucleated, or implanted, with mantle tissue only, which is taken from a donor mussel. Because they do not contain a starter “bead,” tissue-nucleated freshwater pearls are 100% nacre. This gives them a beautiful luster and a durable surface that won’t flake or peel to reveal the inner bead. By contrast, pearls that are bead-nucleated and prematurely harvested often have only a thin coating of nacre that is prone to flaking and chipping. Unfortunately, pearls cannot be polished back to perfection once they’re destroyed.

Freshwater pearl-producing mussels can accept up to 50 implants at a time. They typically require 2-6 years to grow, and the finished pearl typically ranges in size from 4mm to 11mm. Larger freshwater pearls do exist, although their bigger size will likely be reflected in a bigger price tag. Approximately 60% of a typical freshwater pearl crop is made up of button pearls (flat on one side) or oval pearls. Only about 2% of the harvest is round, according to the latest information from the Gemological Institute of America. Baroque (no symmetry) and semi-baroque pearls typically make up the remainder of the crop. As with Tahitians and other pearl types, in a skilled designer’s hands, these unique pearls can be turned into extremely beautiful jewelry.

When it comes to color, the freshwater cultured pearl offers a wonderful variety. Pastels like cream, white, yellow, orange, and pink are common; as well, universally flattering lavender pearls are enjoying a surge in popularity today. When deciding which color freshwater pearls to buy, keep in mind that the wearer’s skin tone should be the most important consideration. Choose a color that will flatter and not detract. Overall, freshwater pearls are more plentiful than other pearl types, thus they are usually more affordable. Your budget may allow you to choose a few different colors!

Conclusion
Whatever your taste or budget, there is sure to be cultured pearl jewelry that will thrill you. Choose carefully, treat them with care, and your pearls will give you a lifetime of pleasure, no matter which variety you choose.

A graduate of the Gemological Institute of America’s Graduate Pearls program, Amy Drescher is a fashion writer and accessories buyer for Moon River Pearls, www.moonriverpearls.com. She welcomes your questions. Reach her at adrescher@moonriverpearls.com.

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