Olypmic silver medalist Kathleen Baker in her signature pearl earrings

On Sunday, August 7th during the preliminaries for the 100m women’s backstroke, American swimmer (silver medalist) Kathleen Baker lost one of her signature pearl earrings to Rio’s Olympic pool, the depths of which reach almost ten feet. Thankfully, a diver went down to search for the earrings, and ultimately recovered it from Baker’s lane around the 15 meter mark.

The story has a happy ending, but it does bring up a few cautions for anyone who wears their jewelry swimming or who may be thinking of adopting some good luck swimming pearls of their own.

The most obvious thing to consider is that jewelry can and will fall off. Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings all have ways of finding themselves falling to the bottom of pools, lakes, rivers, and oceans all over the world. If you're lucky you will find them again, but more often the pieces are gone for good.

Now you may say "but I can lose my jewelry on dry land as well!" I would agree with you, but there is a less obvious but possibly even more serious concern when it comes to swimming in jewelry.

Pearls
Both natural and cultured pearls are covered in a luminous substance called nacre. In natural pearls this layer has built up over an immense amount of time and is incredibly thick (hence their high cost and relative rarity), in the more common cultured pearl the nacre present on the surface of the seed material (see image). The nacre contains some organic proteins and also calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate dissolves when it comes into contact with acid. Even mild acids (perfumes, lotions, hairspray, and makeup) can weaken the structure of the pearl’s nacre and eventually dissolve its beautiful shine.

The chlorine used to purify water is actually sodium hypochlorite, the same stuff you find in household bleach. This particular type of chlorine is highly oxidizing, and has a tendency to destroy a pearl’s luster on contact. Over time the pearl's nacre will come off, leaving a cloudy surface; it may even peal off in layers while the inside continues to disintegrate (it's not pretty, trust me).

Precious Metals
So while all that is happening to your pearls, your metal is going through an equal amount of hardship. Chlorine can react with precious metals, including gold and silver. If you’re in the pool every day or cleaning with bleach products it can cause pits in the gold’s surface that look like little dents. Chlorine can actually break down gold jewelry to the point of disintegration. A gold ring, placed in undiluted bleach, can disintegrate within minutes of exposure. Stress corrosion cracking can also occur in any weak joints of the jewelry or areas where it has been repaired. In general, platinum doesn’t react with chlorinated pool water, but some platinum rings contain gold solder that can.

But I have to wear it!
If you absolutely must wear jewelry in the pool then the best metallic material to wear is stainless steel, specifically type 316 stainless steel, which is resistant to chloride attacks from sweat and sea water. Titanium alloys also stand up well. If you are firmly on board the pearls-in-the-pool train then I suggest imitation pearls. There are various types of imitation pearls from plastic, to glass, or shell. The relative inexpensive nature of the imitations means your heart and your wallet wont break when an earring is lost or dissolved in the pool.

No matter what your jewelry’s made of, one thing is certain: all of that sweat and chlorine will dull its brilliance, so make sure to clean it. Most colored gems can be cleaned in warm water with mild soap and a soft brush. Precious metals should be cleaned similarly. When in doubt about cleaning jewelry make sure you ask! Gemologists are here to help.

Enjoy your gemstones and metals out of the pool. (Olympic Silver Medalist Kathleen Baker)

I am a big fan of Kickstarter. Crowd-funding can lead to all sorts of products being produced that would never would have seen the light of day by other means. Kickstarter has especially influenced the wearable technology industry. The Galatea follows in the same vein as wearable technology; however, there is a key difference. Where most wearables focus on utility, the Momento Pearl focuses on sentiment.
The heart of the modern jewelry industry is essentially born out of sentiment and emotion. Coupled with the unique use of modern technology, Galatea has capitalized on these moments.
An NFC chip embedded in a cultured pearl allows a message or a photo to be associated with the pearl. The photo or message can then be retrieved by tapping the pearl to “a sweet spot” on the back of an NFC enabled Android device. Sorry iOS users, the technology just isn’t there yet.
The pearls are available in a variety of settings, as well as being available in the patented “Galatea pearl”, the only pearl grown with a gemstone (usually man-made opal) inside.
Being a bit of a wearable technology junkie I just had to check this out for myself.
I backed the project at the early bird stage so I paid $95.00 for a white carved "honeycomb" pattern pearl in 18k white gold. The expected retail price of the pearl jewelry is in the $400.00 range, but the exact retail scale of costs remains to be seen.

As promised, the Momento Pearl arrived well in time for Mother's Day, which was brilliant timing on their part. It even contained a To: and From: postcard if the item was to become a gift! Before I even looked at the necklace I was struck by just how much material about the company and other products that Galatea offer accompanied the necklace. It is clear that this is being marketed towards the retail world even though they capitalized on the general public's support during their Kickstarter campaign. This was incredibly evident from the letter detailing extra products for customers and how to show your customers how to use the device. I set aside the catalogs for later because I was too excited to check out the pearl.

As the Kickstarter promised, I received the necklace as well as a rubber bracelet that they said would help the user to locate the NFC chip in the back of their device.
The pearl has an interesting look. I wasn't sure I would be a fan of the carved honeycomb pattern, but it does offer the wearer a unique look to their pearl jewelry and light does play off the "facets" when viewed closely. Included in the jewelry box with the necklace was a small scroll tied with a ribbon. This gives instructions for using the pearl in very easy to follow steps.

The instructions for using the pearl and bracelet were very straight forward: simply touch the bracelet or the pearl to the back of the Android device and it opens up the Google Play (app) store. Install the free app and you are good to go. From then on touching the bracelet or pearl will open the app.

Once the app is open you are given the choice to associate a voice recording, photo, website, or written message. I tried all of the options that were given to me on the app and all of them worked really well. It is easy to change the associated images. If the app is not associated with any of the choices it will take you directly to the Youtube advertisement for the Momento Pearl.

I could easily see the Momento Pearl being popular for mothers, grandmothers, daughters, significant others etc. It reminds me very much of the recordable greeting cards, but with the added bonus of it not ending up in the trash soon after.
Perhaps the description of the Momento Pearl taken from their website says it best:
"Imagine being able to say 'I Love You" repeating into eternity or being able to record your wedding vows in an anniversary gift worn close to the heart. With just a tap of your phone to this pearl you can listen to your children's laughter or see your loved one's face. The Momento Pearl requires no battery and no wire. Think of it as a digital locket for the 21st century. "
The future of the popularity of the Momento Pearl remains to be seen, but the selling point of saving memories obviously appeals to a lot of the buying public. For now I see it as another step closer towards the marrying of technology and aesthetics, of incorporating sentimentality into what used to be a purely function based product group.

About Galatea by Artist (from linkedin)
Galatea: Jewelry by Artist of San Dimas, California, was founded in 1994 by Chi Huynh. With an uncompromising artistic vision, Huynh has created some of the world’s most beautiful and unusual jewelry including the Momento Pearl, Diamond in Pearl, Galatea Pearl, Illusia and DavinChi Cut Collections. Today, Galatea manufactures its proprietary designs in the U.S. and Vietnam and sells to approximately 1200 retail jewelers throughout the United States. In 2009, Galatea established a South Sea pearl farm off the coast of central Vietnam in the South China Sea. The company also distributes its product lines in Europe and Asia. For additional information about Galatea: Jewelry by Artist, please visit the website at www.galateausa.com

Kathleen Marino M.A, G.G., AJP, NAJA

My better half used the bracelet on the phone and lost his privileges thereafter.