<p>Novelisto has the best advice so far.</p>
<p>I worked at Sotheby’s in the jewelry dept right after college, and one of the jewelry experts there said CZs look just as good as D-flawless to the untrained eye, and never put your money into pearls. Most people can’t tell the difference between natural and cultured, and the good natural ones go for $100,000+++. </p>
<p>If you’re up for an unconventional jewelry journey, a friend of mine swears by pawn shops. She has gotten some really neat things there.</p>
<p>Or if you have the time (which you probably don’t), check out your local auction houses. It doesn’t have to be Sotheby’s or Christie’s. Any place that handles jewelry will probably have some unusual pieces for sale.</p>
<p>Ooops! I hopped into the wrong thread. DD and I wear nickel-free earrings (due to allergies) from an online vendor who specializes in them. $3.98 a pair for studs in different colors and sizes, including clear sparkle glass resembling diamonds. 
I’ll be spending the big bucks framing DS’s way-too-huge diploma for his graduation present!</p>
<p>Thank you Pizzagirl. I wear earrings just like the ones Gourmetmom posted:).</p>
<p>I am a bit superstitious. I view jewelry as a celebratory thing - H buys me a piece of jewelry to celebrate birth, anniversary, or some special event. I won’t own a piece of jewelry that I don’t know where it’s from or if I know it’s associated with an unhappy event. </p>
<p>I guess this would fall under a pet peeve?</p>
<p>Ah, but oldfort, remember that Athos counseled D’Artagnan to pawn the ring he had from Milady, for passing through the moneylender’s hands was a way to cleanse a curse from a jewel.</p>
<p>I have been known to go through each piece of my jewelry when I am depressed, not because of value, but because each piece brings back such good memories for me.</p>
<p>I wear those exact earrings posted by emeraldkity.</p>
<p>My daughter wears this everyday.
[Classic</a> Elegance Earrings - Akoya - Earrings - Categories](<a href=“http://www.mikimotoamerica.com/categories/earrings/classic-elegance-earrings-akoya-232.html]Classic”>http://www.mikimotoamerica.com/categories/earrings/classic-elegance-earrings-akoya-232.html)
I gave them to her when she graduated from grad school.</p>
<p>For her college graduation, I gave her a pair of emerald cut diamond earrings that I inherited from my mother.</p>
<p>Both my daughter and I prefer pearls.
If the OP wants to get a pair of diamond earrings, I suggest Costco.</p>
<p>When some of you say that you or a daughter wear the same pair of earrings every day – do you remove them at night? To shower? To dry your hair? The only pair I will wear without removing is a pair of little gold balls. Anything else either hurts to sleep in or will be damaged by water and heat.</p>
<p>I take pearls off every night because I am afraid to damage them with shampoo in the shower. I leave diamond studs in.</p>
<p>Since we have some jewelers here…is it ok to get pearls wet with shampoo?</p>
<p>Oldfort - to your point about not knowing where jewelry came from.</p>
<p>We have in our family a ring with a star of David with a little diamond chip in the middle. The story is - my great grandmother (who was not Jewish) supposedly found it behind her couch, passed it on to my grandfather who passed it on to my mother who then subsequently had use for it when she married Jewish men (not once, but twice). Where this ring is really from – who knows!!</p>
<p>Oldfort - I would wear pearl earrings in the shower, but not a necklace – I would think it was a function of not weakening the string.</p>
<p>Not recommended, oldfort. Sodium Laureth Sulfate (or some derivative thereof) which is in pretty much every commercial shampoo is bad for them. About the only one that might be okay is baby shampoo (some jewelers recommend it for cleaning pearls…I don’t). If you forget and leave them in a couple of times, they’ll be okay but I wouldn’t make a habit of it. I’d also give them an extra rinse with purified water (non-mineral) if you do. Tap water can also have damaging salts, minerals, etc in it. </p>
<p>For cleaning, pearls only need a wipe with a lint-free cloth after wearing. DO NOT use commercial jewelry cleaner! Your skin has oils and remnants of products which aren’t good to leave on the pearls. I don’t know if your earrings touch your skin or whether they are sitting in a ‘cup’ of some kind. If they do touch your skin, give them a wipe when you change them out.</p>
<p>Good to know - my pearl earrings are in a gold jacket with diamonds around them – they are uncomfortable to sleep in so I typically take them out anyway, but I’m sure I have worn them in the shower occasionally.</p>
<p>Great information. My earrings tend to be plain, they usually sit right on my skin.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl – Those sound gorgeous! Just check every now and then that nothing is loose. Water can weaken any glue that was used to hold the pearl in place. Going around the diamonds with a pencil point to check for ‘wiggliness’ from time to time can save you from losing a stone. It is very easy for a jeweler to tighten the prongs.</p>
<p>Oldfort – That’s the classic style which is why I asked. Same thing, though. Check to be sure they aren’t loose on the post. Usually the gold post is set in a drilled hole with a dab of glue to keep it all together. Sometimes the end of the post is screwed into the pearl but even those can loosen over time. If they start to spin or wiggle, take them to your jeweler for a check.</p>
<p>Those of you with rings and things that you’ve owned a long time and wear a lot…take them in for cleaning and a loose-stone check some time. I’m thinking of this because my mother just lost a big stone out of one of her rings. She found it – thank goodness - but it does happen when you least expect it.</p>
<p>If you wear your pearls a lot, make sure to have your jeweler check them to see if they need to be restrung. I am friends with my jeweler. She is a pearl lover/expert. She even came to our woman’s club at church and gave a wonderful talk on pearls. She was so informative.</p>
<p>I wanted to give D3 a strand of pearls for her college graduation. I took her to my jewelers and thought she could pick out a strand – thinking white pearls. She was ho-hum about them. Then, the jeweler brought out a strand that she was working on. They pink with a mix of matched round and long ones that look like teeth–if that makes any sense. DD’s face lit up when she saw them. Once she tried them on, that was it. They unusual and beautiful and look fantastic with casual and dressy looks. </p>
<p>Since then, I have bought DD3 a strand of gray pearls that were strung on gray string. They had been brought in as a consignment piece. DD loved them, but couldn’t justify the price, so I gave them to her for Christmas one year. I saw them strung on white string and gray string, and the gray was more striking. It is really a neat strand. Pearls really do have their own personality.</p>
<p>I believe those “teeth” pearls are called “keishi?”</p>
<p>I have a pearl circle pin that was my mother’s. Straight from the era of bobbysox and poodle skirts. I should figure out how to wear it stylishly. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, wear it high, almost on your shoulder – not typical pin height a few inches above your boob. And you can pair it with one or two other pins, to make a whimsical arrangement.</p>
<p>I have three pins that are different birds – two are enameled, one is 18K and a totally different size. It’s kind of cute to wear them together, since they don’t “match” except for all being birds.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl: You could also put the circle pin on a chain and use it as a necklace. It would look like an Elsa Peretti floating heart.</p>
<p>(BTW: Although I was really young, I remember seeing teenagers wearing the round pins…gosh I feel old…)</p>