As long as pearl jewelry have been known to people, they have been a highly sought commodity for their beauty. It's only in recent times however that the industry has taken the hunt for the perfect pearl to a whole different level. Today, the shiny orbs that we see on in display in jewelry stores have actually almost always been grown in farms. That's a far cry from the dangerous extraction and collection methods used before the invention of modern technology. In the past, not more than 100 years ago, the only way to retrieve pearls was by diving in lakes, floods and the ocean to pick them up, one at the time. The unfortunate divers who'se job it was to do this, were often poor and lured by the relative large sums they could get. The diver would sometimes have to dive as deep as 100 feet on one single breath of air. In order to preserve air and to stay submerged the longest, the divers would hold on to heavy stones on the way down. Naturally, this dangerous activity was reserved for the desperate or the powerless - in many cases slaves or extremely poor peasents. Today, this method is all but obsolete in most places of the world. The cheaper cultured pearls have become popular and are many times the only pearls available to the consumer. There are however still a few isolated areas that practice this old art of pearl diving. Some of the finest natural pearl speciments come from the gulf of Bahrain. Here, divers still risk their health to retrieve what are considered the top of the crop in the world. In fact, Bahrain wants no part of the sale of cultured pearls, banned from trade. Bahrain is one of the few places on earth that does an active job in trying to preserve the natural habitat and waters from pollution. It's an interesting story and one that continues to fascinate buyers around the world. Somehow, the beauty of the pearl grows when it's been retrieved from the depth of the ocean.

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.

PARIS - THE French government on Sunday showed the first signs of retreat in a row over efforts by President Nicolas Sarkozy's undergraduate son to secure a plum job overseeing development of Paris's business district.

The plan to put 23-year-old Jean Sarkozy in wholesale pearl jewelry charge of the agency, which aims to transform La Defense into a financial hub to rival the City of London, has caused an outcry over preferential treatment for Sarkozy junior, dubbed the 'dauphin', or crown prince, in the national press.

On Sunday, government spokesman Luc Chatel was quick to seize a lifeline thrown by socialist parliamentarian Gaetan Gorce in a radio broadcast.

Mr Gorce said the government could avoid blister pearl a conflict of interest if the ministerial representatives on the board of EPAD, the public agency in question, were to abstain from the vote.

That would make Jean Sarkozy's election as president of the agency more uncertain by shifting the political balance of the board to the left.

The younger Sarkozy, taller than his father cultured pearl jewelry but with similar mannerisms and ambition, is a second year law student and a councillor in the wealthy Hauts-de-Seine department just outside Paris.

TEHERAN - A SUICIDE bomber killed seven commanders of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and dozens of other people on Sunday in an attack President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad charged had been plotted from Pakistan.

The foreign ministry called in Pakistan's charge d'affaires over the bombing, which targeted one of the Islamic republic's most prestigious institutions in a hotbed freshwater pearl region of Sunni insurgency against the Shiite Muslim regime.

Several tribal leaders in the majority ethnic Baluch Sistan-Baluchestan province also died in the bombing which left many others wounded, after the attacker set off his freshwater pearlexplosives belt as a meeting of Guards commanders and tribal chiefs got underway around 8.00am (0430 GMT, 12.30pm Singapore time) at a gymnasium in the city of Pisheen, near the border with Pakistan.

Provincial chief coroner Abbas Amian told the official IRNA news agency his office had received 42 bodies, as chief prosecutor in Sistan-Baluchestan, Mohammad Marziah, said that Abdolmalek Rigi, the head of the shadowy Sunni rebel group, Jundallah (Soldiers of God) had 'accepted freshwater pearl the responsibility' for the attack.

Rigi's group has repeatedly attacked the Guards, the elite military force set up after the 1979 Islamic revolution to protect the regime from internal and external threats.

The Iranian president, hitting out at neighbouring Pakistan over the bombing, and accusing it of sheltering Jundallah militants, said: 'We became aware that some of agents in Pakistan were cooperating with the main elements of today's terrorist incident and...We want the Pakistani government not to delay the arrest of the main elements of this terrorist act any longer.'

Members of Liaoning Province team compete during the five-ring exercise of the adult group competition at the 11th Chinese National Games in Dezhou, east China's christmas gifts Shandong Province. Liaoning Province claimed the title with a total of 111.455 points.

Family, friends, and supporters wait under akoya pearl jewelry stormy skies for members of the Ohio Army National Guard 's 135th Military Police Company to arrive at a welcome home ceremony. The unit spent the past year deployed in Baghdad, Iraq, where it conducted more than 800 combat patrols, provided convoy security and trained some 3,500 Iraqi police

Matt Groening (centre), creator of The Simpsons, poses pearl earrings wholesale with characters from the show (left to right) Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge and Maggie at the 20th anniversary party for the television series at Barker hangar in Santa Monica, California. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

A sculpture titled 'Apollon servi par les nymphes' (Apollon cared by the nymphs) by French artists Francois Girardon and Thomas Regnaudin (1667-1675) is displayed at the Versailles castle, outside Paris as part of the 'Louis XIV, the Man and the King' exhibition. -- PHOTO

LOORRS unlimited buggy drivers Larry freshwater pearl earrings Foddrill (left) and Tim Herbst (right) compete in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series at the Speedworld Off Road Park in Wittmann, Arizona. -- PHOTO

A stunning flower bed, one of the 'Sydney Living pearl earrings Colour Spring 2009' flower display sites, is shown at Woolloomooloo in Sydney. The theme of the displays is 'Blossoming of Biamme' designed by Adam Hill and which celebrates Australia's first inhabitants and their rich and ancient culture.

Six-month-old Airelle McDonald sits in a pumpkin pearl earrings costume surrounded by pumpkins at Saunders Farm in Munster, Ontario, just west of Ottawa.

DETROIT - A HALF-MARATHONER and two other runners died during the Detroit marathon on Sunday, organisers said.

Daniel Langdon, 36, of Laingsburg, collapsed at about 9.02am between the 11- and 12-mile (around 17-19-kilometres) markers, said Rich Harshbarger, vice president christmas jewelry of consumer marketing for the Detroit Media Partnership.

Rick Brown, 65, of Marietta, Ohio, collapsed at 9.17am, near where Langdon went down, and 26-year-old Jon Fenlon of Waterford collapsed at about 9.18am, just after finishing the half-marathon in 1:53:37, Mr Harshbarger said.

'On a day when so many people bring such christmas jewelry gifts energy and challenge themselves to do their utmost, this news is very difficult to hear,' said Free Press editor and publisher Paul Anger said. 'Our deepest sympathies are with the families.'

The temperature was about 28 degrees (-2.22 Celsius) when the marathon - in which more than 19,000 people were registered - started and had risen to 41 degrees (5 Celsius) by 10am.

Deaths at marathons are relatively rare. The christmas gifts last death at the Detroit event was in 1994 when a 42-year-old man died of a heart attack after running more than 20 miles (32 kilometres).