Buying pearl jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whether you're considering a gift of pearl jewelry for someone special or as a treat for yourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's some information to help you get the best quality pearl jewelry for your money, whether you're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store or online. Pearls Natural or real pearls are made by oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials. Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are either cultured or imitation pearls. Cultured pearls, because they are made by oysters or mollusks, usually are more expensive than imitation pears. A cultured pearl's value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which give it luster. Jewelers should tell your if the pearls are cultured or imitation. Some black, bronze, gold, purple, blue and orange pearls, whether natural or cultured, occur that way in nature; some, however, are dyed through various processes. Jewelers should tell you whether the colored pearls are naturally colored, dyed or irradiated. Clams, oysters, mussels and many other mollusks with limy shells are known to produce pearls. But very few kinds yield gem pearls of jeweler's quality. The pearl is an abnormal growth of mother-of-pearl, or nacre, imbedded in the soft bodies of these shellfish. It is built up, layer upon layer, in the same way as nacre is added to the lining of the growing shell and always has the same color and luster. For example, over the country, hundreds of good-sized pearls are found each year in the oysters we eat. Unfortunately these have no commercial value regardless of whether they have been cooked or not because they are dull opaque white or purple like the shell of the parent oyster. In recent times almost all pearls of gem quality come from the oriental pearl oyster which has a bright shimmering translucent nacre. A pearl starts growing when some irritating foreign substance such as a sand grain, bit of mud, parasite or other object becomes lodged in the shell-producing gland called the mantle. Pearls formed in the soft flesh where nacre can be added on all sides are most likely to be spherical and the most highly prized. By far the great majority are flattened or variously distorted and have little value. Size, color, luster and freedom from flaws are other essential qualities. Unlike other gems, such as diamonds, pearls have an average life of only about 50 years. In time the small amount of water in a pearl's make-up is lost and its surface cracks. Because they are mostly lime, necklaces which are worn often are injured by the acid secretions of the human skin.

AllAfrica has become widely regarded as the source-of-record for news and information about Africa, distributing more than 1000 articles on an average day. Along with pearl jewelry wholesale stories from leading African newspapers, the prize-winning AllAfrica news team provides additional reporting and analysis and selects newsworthy documents from more than 200 other sources. The AllAfrica News Wire supplies institutional, corporate, and financial clients through such services as Factiva (Reuters and Dow Jones) LexisNexis, Bloomberg, Comtex News Network and Financial Times, which collectively reach tens of millions of end users worldwide.

"We are proud to have freshwater pearl necklace created a global voice and a revenue stream for over 100 African news organizations," said Amadou Mahtar Ba, the company president. "An expanding presence across Africa is central to our long-term growth."

The company's innovative technology knits together its global operations. AllAfrica's Cape Town office wholesale pearl jewelry manages the web site, supervising news processing in Washington, DC and Dakar, while a Lagos-based team produces and broadcasts news, culture and health programs. Technology development and architecture is coordinated from AllAfrica's Copenhagen office.

AllAfrica today announced plans to open an online international news processing center in Monrovia. The office will also be used by the AllAfrica Foundation as a hub for healthafrica.org, an ambitious project to provide a broad pearl bracelet range of information and services, as well as a pioneering facility to track and monitor funding for health in Africa.

"As a global disseminator of news and information, our decision to set up operations in Liberia was a carefully considered corporate choice," said CEO Reed Kramer, "It was based cultured pearl jewelry on our analysis that the government's commitment to transparent, democratic processes and to rebuilding infrastructure provides an environment where growing, technology-dependent enterprises can thrive."

AllAfrica Global Media, a multi-media content service provider and the largest electronic distributor of African news and information worldwide, operates the most popular  wholesale pearl jewelry Africa destination on the Internet, allAfrica.com, serving over 12 million monthly page views. The site was nominated in two successive years by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences as Best News Site, alongside the news sites of the BBC, MSNBC and Google. In 2005 AllAfrica was awarded the African Economic Developer award by Nepad, the New Partnership for African Development.

Kenya Airways, the country's national carrier, for its contribution to accessible air travel in freshwater pearl necklace Africa;

South African Broadcasting Corporation, the state-owned television and radio operator, for its contribution to unbiased reporting of Africa through its SABC Africa channel;

Xstrata, an international natural gemstone necklace resources group, for contributions to youth development in Africa;

Eskom, South Africa's electricity generator, for contributions to the development of energy infrastructure in the continent;

Econet Wireless, for its work in wireless infrastructure development;

Shoprite, a South African supermarket chain for its development of 126 outlets in 15 countries;

"Nufarmer and African wholesale pearl jewelry Entrepreneur," a newspaper for emerging farmers (www.agridevnews.co.za )

The Mogalakwena HP-I Community project, for contributions to IT development;

The Africa Centre for Investment Analysis has presented AllAfrica Global Media with an 'Africa Economic Developer Award' on behalf of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).

AllAfrica was one of 10 akoya pearl necklace organisations to receive the award at a dinner in Somerset West, outside Cape Town, on August 11. The award citation lauded the pioneering work of AllAfrica in presenting news from Africa to the world. It noted that AllAfrica, which posts more than 1000 stories a day in English and French, is the world's largest electronic distributor of African news. At the dinner, the Minister of Environment, Planning and Economic Development for South Africa's Western Cape province, Tasneem Essop, made pearl necklace wholesale the formal presentation to AllAfrica's Vice President for Finance and Administration, Matambira Mate.

The Africa Centre for Investment Analysis, which is attached to the Business School of the University of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, coordinated the selection process, along with Africagrowth Research in Cape Town. The Nepad secretariat pearl jewelry wholesale provided support.

Professor Nicholas Biekpe, a Ghanaian expert on finance and econometrics who is the center's director, said the honor, which was presented for the first time this year, will be conferred annually.

A sought-after speaker, he has testified frequently before Congress, appeared on national broadcasts, written for major publications and hosted numerous events. With wholesale pearl Kevin Lowther he co-authored the book Keeping Kennedy's Promise about the Peace Corps. He has served as a member of several presidential delegations to Africa in both Republican and Democratic administrations. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the board of the African Development Foundation. In 1994 he co-chaired the White House Conference on Africa's sustainable development sub-committee. He was a founding member of the Corporate Council on Africa in 1993. His many awards and recognitions include two honorary doctorates. He multi-strands pearl necklace recently completed a two-year term as chair of the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

A consummate fundraiser, Lucas attracted support for Africare from corporations, foundations, U.S. government agencies and international organizations. One of his signature achievements is the annual Bishop John T. Walker Dinner, which potato pearl has become the largest Africa-related fundraising event in the United States, attracting some 2500 participants each year.

"We are already feeling the impact of having C. Payne Lucas at our side," says Amadou Mahtar Ba, AllAfrica's president, who is directing the expansion of operations in Lagos and other African cities. "His reputation opens doors across the continent."