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.

aDear President Putin:

Let us not pretend (as did my predecessor) that you are our "strategic partner," or that we are members of the same club, sharing the same values, or that we can be your ideological tutors or financial sponsors, who will guide you on the way to democracy. We should clearly, if belatedly, understand that this is not America's place or mission.

On the other hand, my administration does not regard you as an adversary. The Cold War ended in 1991. We are eager to develop a pragmatic, fair and businesslike relationship with Russia as a proud, powerful, independent nation on the world scene.

However, if our two nations are to develop a relationship among equals on strategic issues, I need a sense of clear vision from you. By clear vision, I mean that:

a) You rethink the myth, which has been stated as policy, that christmas gifts a limited American National Missile Defense (NMD) project could jeopardize Russia's strategic deterrent capabilities. This unwarranted position has been packaged with the canard that Ballistic Missile Defense is a sinister plot to deprive Russia of its last vestige as a superpower. Your military experts know perfectly well that these charges are at best untrue.

b) If you wish to overcome this artificial issue, I invite you to propose a modification of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. A mutually agreed-upon modification would impose restrictions on our ability to develop a system capable of countering Russian nuclear capability. Please take a pen and a sheet of paper and write your restrictions on our system into the treaty.

c) After the air is cleared of propaganda and posturing, I propose that we have a serious dialogue about strategic issues. My administration is committed to an immediate review of the United States' strategic posture from the bottom up. One goal will be the reduction of our nuclear warheads to the minimum level required to meet our security needs. I am informed that this corresponds to your proposal of scaling down our nuclear arsenals to no more than 1,500 warheads each.

d) As a practical business consideration and to demonstrate our good faith, my administration is ready to invite your defense industry to participate in the development of our NMD system and regional ABM systems, including a European one.

e) A discussion among equals in matters of nuclear power has no place for the "bogeyman" of a European ABM system as "an active operation" to undermine our NMD project. This smacks of a clumsy and futile effort to create a split between Europe and the United States.

f) A strategic discussion would necessarily include the disturbing proposals for, and evidence of the sale of, Russian technologies with nuclear value to pearl jewelry wholesale the present Iranian government. This government, as we both know, openly sponsors the most radical of Islamic extremists against whom you have repeatedly claimed to be a "bastion protecting Western civilization." This contradiction would make serious discussions and policy formulation awkward. The recent dismissal of your agreement with my predecessor on conventional arms sales issues is also disturbing.

g) You have often declared that Russian foreign policy is primarily driven by commercial interests. However, my advisors suggest to me that there is an equal Russian propensity toward anti-American positions that have little to do with discernible Russian interests. Our discussions must address this divergence. (One example is the continuing Russian challenge to United States-backed sanctions against Iraq. It is clear that the day these sanctions are lifted, and Iraqi oil flows onto the world markets, it will severely damage your economy. We need to establish why you seem ready to pay such an economic price to create problems for the United States?)

h) Russia's arms sales to Iran seem worthy of a fruitful and serious discussion. Some of these sales may be purely commercial, and do not present threats to our security interests. However some sales provoke serious concerns for regional stability. I would propose to discuss with you an agreement of both a commercial and political nature. If Russians were to refrain from sales that threaten to damage U.S. interests and those of our friends, we are ready to discuss as an alternative: U.S. orders from your defense and space industries as compensation for potential loss of business to Iran. If our rational interests govern us, we may be able to find solutions answering both our security concerns and your commercial interests.

i) We clearly need to discuss proposed Russian strategic alliances with China or other growing nuclear powers to pearl jewelry offset the United States. These arrangements are vaguely directed against a "unipolar problem," whose definition is clear.

j) I would like to suggest that we also discuss the extent to which such an alliance could be skillfully exploited by the Chinese and could entail your subordination to China, resulting in probable threats to Russia's Far East and Siberia. This potentially disastrous scenario doesn't fit our strategic interests in the Northeast Asia region. We would prefer to live with a strong, economically prosperous Russia within its current borders. (By these remarks, I am not suggesting alliance or the imposition of any kind of leadership. I just wish to draw your attention to the fact that we have common strategic interests in the Northeast Asian region that provides a long-term basis for our cooperation.)

k) I strongly suggest that gratuitous anti-American posturing will bring less benefit to Russia than what I would hope we might agree upon in the course of serious strategic discussions. The alternative to what I propose would seem to be aimless propaganda to the effect that the "Kursk" collided with a U.S. submarine, or that the Kosovo operation was a rehearsal for NATO aggression against Russia, and so on. Maybe you need such diversions for internal political consumption. But the problem with these false tales is that after they have been repeated hundreds of times, you and your advisors may begin to believe in them, leading to wholesale pearl jewelry a fatefully distorted perception of the real world.

President Putin, during the first 100 days of my administration, I will set a high priority on a serious attempt to devise a strategic relationship with Russia, which addresses Russia's realistic strategic interests, even as we formulate our own. The choice, which will be between mutual respect, cooperation at various levels and trade between Russia and the United States on one hand, and ad hoc policies of resentment and regional destabilization on the other, will rest with you. I am determined to define a clear and constructive post-Cold War strategy for the United States, which is both in the interests of our national security and trade, while defining and respecting the interests and earning the friendship of our potential colleagues in a world grown more diverse. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely Yours,
George W. Bush.

All large Russian fortunes were made in much the same way ¨C through dividing up former state assets. But they all get spent differently. As befits capitalists, many of Russia's wealthy spend their money making more money. But then there's Roman Abramovich, co-owner of one of Russia's largest oil companies, Sibneft. Abramovich has spent a lot of his money becoming governor of remote and sparsely populated Chukotka, which he says he wants to bring closer to modern civilization.

Another Sibneft co-owner, Boris Berezovsky, spends his money financing the political opposition ¨C the recently formed Liberal Russia movement and independent media outlets.

Berezovsky took an active stand in the conflict over NTV, inviting that channel's journalists, led by Yevgeny Kiselyov, to join TV6, which Berezovsky owned. TV6's news programs soon became more critical toward the authorities, and the channel's ratings went up. Then LUKoil, Russia's largest oil company, which is closely linked to the state, stepped in and reportedly offered Berezovsky $200 million for a controlling stake in TV6. It's not hard to gemstone necklace guess that in the event of a refusal, the tycoon risked losing his channel entirely and getting nothing in return, but he apparently turned down LUKoil.

Berezovsky seemed initially to be counting on having a solid position ¨C unlike Vladimir Gusinsky's NTV, which was liquidated last year, TV6 was not laden with debt. Berezovsky owned a 75 percent stake, while LUKoil held only 15 percent. Certainly, the arbitration court judges took political bias to new heights when they used a legal provision against TV6 that had already been deleted from the statute books.

After being taken off the air on a trumped-up pretext, Kiselyov's team entered an agreement with the channel's new potential owners ¨C a diverse group of industrialists who invited as their chief political patron none other than Yevgeny Primakov, a former prime minister, foreign minister, head of foreign intelligence and Politburo member. With an overseer like Primakov, there were no illusions about TV6 keeping its independent political line. Primakov is known for his strong-state views and for not always getting along with journalists. What's more, Kiselyov has already said that he especially appreciates Primakov for his contacts with President Vladimir Putin.

Two of the most independent journalists, Andrei Norkin and Eduard Matskyavicius, have already left Kiselyov's team, but the majority is still together and has the best chance of winning the TV6 frequency at a March 27 tender auction run by the Press Ministry. This will give the Kremlin propagandists the formal opportunity to say that there is not a threat to freedom of speech in Russia, and that, if an unpopular oligarch loses his property, no one's going to shed a tear. Surely Berezovsky wasn't so naive that he didn't see what was coming and let $200 million go down the drain.

Subsequent events show that he was simply playing a different game in which keeping a hold on TV6 wasn't the main goal. In fact, the goal is such that a truce with the authorities for the sake of $200 million was out of the question.

Having settled in London, Berezovsky has in effect declared war on Putin, saying that the then-prime minister knew that federal secret services were involved in the apartment-block bombings in Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk in September 1999. The government used the bombings as grounds to pearl jewelry begin military operations in Chechnya that helped Putin get elected president.

At a news conference last week in London, his home-in-exile, Berezovsky showed a French-made documentary about the bombings. (The film was shown this week in Moscow, courtesy of two Duma deputies from Berezovsky's fledgling Liberal Russia bloc.) This raised laughter from the oligarch's opponents, who asked what new evidence the French could possibly have come up with.

But the film wasn't the only evidence, and perhaps not the main evidence. The real sensation was the arrival of a witness, the former director of a scientific research institute that worked with explosives, who said the secret services had organized the theft of hexogen from military stockpiles. Hexogen was the explosive used in the Moscow bombings. Berezovsky thus provided some circumstantial evidence to support his claim, though there is still no direct evidence.

But more than the disclosures made in London, the main event was the official reaction in Moscow. While Berezovsky was showing the film to journalists, Putin spent the day talking with Russian athletes and said not a word about the accusations against him. The Federal Security Service said it had no intention of getting into a "polemic" with Berezovsky, as if only a trivial issue were at stake. And the Prosecutor General's Office introduced an element of farce by announcing that Berezovsky had financed Chechen terrorists and was involved in the kidnapping of Gen. Gennady Shpigun, who was killed by terrorists. The prosecutors said an international arrest warrant would be issued for Berezovsky as soon as they had collected all the necessary proof. So, for all their threats, the prosecutors essentially admitted they had no proof.

In this respect, it's hard not to remember earlier, strange facts such as the FSB "training" exercise in a Ryazan apartment block that never did receive a convincing explanation, or the trial of terrorists charged with the apartment block bombings that was held last year in Stavropol. At that trial, the court ended up admitting that the accused were neither Chechens nor involved in the bombings. Thus, 2 1/2 years after the acts, there is still no proof to pearl jewelry wholesale confirm the "Chechen hand" in the bombings that set off a war that still rages today.

The authorities' helpless and feeble reaction to these accusations raises the prospect that the secret services believe Berezovsky is not out of ammunition yet. Only the expectation that new accusations are coming can logically explain the prosecutors' seemingly illogical behavior, which consists of heaping threats on Berezovsky but so far doing nothing more than issuing a nationwide warrant for his arrest, knowing that he's not in the country.

MAKING PRIMAKOV PRESIDENTIAL - PLAYING SOON AT A VENUE NEAR YOU: Yevgeny Primakov is undergoing a repackaging process that would make Madonna blush. At stake is the future of investment in Russia - or so you may be led to believe.

Just over a year ago, the former foreign minister hit the big time as the consensus choice for prime minister. Members of the State Duma (lower house of parliament), overjoyed at a viable option to Viktor Chernomyrdin and/or dissolution, wondered aloud where this fine specimen of a prime minister had been hiding.

Conspiracy theories positing that Grigory Yavlinsky - the first to gemstone necklace publicly tap Primakov as a viable prime ministerial candidate - was the master puppeteer began to make the rounds.

The West, meanwhile, came to grips with the reality that a lifetime KGB bureaucrat in the true Soviet mold was taking the power seat in Moscow. Investment banks spouted gloom about the imminent rollback of economic reforms (such as they were, and are), and the return of a central planning regime.

Although it had long ceased to be a barometer of investor sentiment toward Russia, the RTS Index plunged to an all-time low just a month into the Primakov administration - some 93 percent lower than its high the previous year, and 61 percent below its starting point in September 1995.

Contrary to expectations, it turned out Primakov wasn't the devil incarnate. He didn't do much of anything, which arguably was the best policy at the time. Talk of a reversion to Soviet-style economic controls, inspired also by the presence of Soviet castaways like Yury Maslyukov in the Primakov cabinet, amounted to no more than so much hot air.

Primakov assumed the not-unattractive sheen of an inoffensive, vanilla-flavored senior citizen, who patiently tolerated those annoying Duma types when he wasn't bouncing grandchildren on his knee.

Nevertheless, the West breathed a loud sigh of relief when President Boris Yeltsin showed Primakov the door. Primakov was too old, too Soviet, too communist, and looked and felt way too much like Leonid Brezhnev. And those old KGB connections gave everyone but Madeleine Albright the willies.

Fast-forward a few months, and a President Primakov is looking increasingly likely. Assuming the Kremlin doesn't try any funny business, Primakov is the clear favorite to pearl jewelry wholesale become the next president. Uh-oh.

If you have a stake in the future (or recent past) of Russia (think of any journalist in Moscow, every Russian investment bank, Larry Summers and his gang of merry Democrats, etc.), what do you say now? Four years - at least - of utter stagnation isn't much of a selling point.

A drooling Primakov as figurehead for Prime Minister Yury Luzhkov doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Skating on the edge of massive heavy industry subsidization plans, a controlled economy, runaway inflation and other post-Soviet nightmares doesn't sound like much fun.

So, what do you do? You make Primakov palatable. Lend the "do-nothing" image a "hands-off" tint. Turn "state control" on its head by asserting that a strong hand is needed. "Age" becomes "experience." Borrow a few pages from Ronald Reagan's second-term playbook. Look for it soon - at every media outlet you can imagine.

MORE BANKING RESTRUCTURING MADNESS AT ARCO: Central Bank head Viktor Geraschenko was recently replaced by First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko as chairman of ARCO, the agency that pretends to be restructuring Russia's banking sector.

So the government gave the do-nothing Geraschenko a kick in the head, and brought in Khristenko to silver pearl necklace move the heavy furniture - the man responsible for showing those London Club whiners who's boss. The Kremlin has learned its lesson, taken strong medicine from the banking restructuring wizards at the International Monetary Fund, and is finished with messing about. Right?

Hah. More likely, the government wants its own man in the power seat when it comes to deciding which banks are "restructured" with billions of budget rubles. Geraschenko, though no saint and hardly a paragon of free thinking, is sometimes a bit too independent for the government's taste. The answer, clearly, is to demote him, and put someone more pliable - or just more distracted - at the head of the table.

And that's the view from the inside...

UNITED NATIONS - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell consulted on Tuesday with other international mediators on how to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The "quartet" meeting between Powell and officials from the European Union, Russia and the United Nations was a chance to assess a detailed plan drawn up by the EU to promote security, Palestinian reform and a final peace deal.

The EU produced its "road map" to supplement the ideas outlined in a June 24 speech by U.S. President George W. Bush for the creation of a Palestinian state within three years.

While Bush said Israel must eventually end its 35-year-old occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and dismantle its settlements there, he put the onus on the Palestinians to christmas gifts reform their institutions and choose leaders "not compromised by terror" - a reference to President Yasser Arafat.

The quartet was due to meet later in the day with a group of Arab foreign ministers that was expanded this week, when Syria and Lebanon joined Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The change in the Arab delegation could broaden the talks beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding to the agenda Syria's demand for Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Lebanon also has disputes with Israel over a small area near the Israeli-Syrian border and over Lebanese plans to pump more water from springs that also supply Israel.

Lebanon, the current president of the Arab League, hosted an Arab summit in March that endorsed a Saudi offer of peace and normal relations with Israel in return for full withdrawal from the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights.

The Arab ministers met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Monday to coordinate ahead of the talks with the quartet, made up of Powell, top EU officials, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian representative at the meeting, said the Arab delegation must call for an end to pearl strand the Israeli occupation and Israeli restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

"There is a European draft, the details of which we hope have been developed for it to be the basis (for diplomatic action). We don't want just a general meeting," he added.

The United States and Israel have previously preferred to keep the Israeli-Palestinian conflict separate from the dormant Syrian and Lebanese tracks of Middle East diplomacy.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Tuesday the violence of the past two years, since Palestinians rose up against Israeli occupation, could have been avoided if Israel had responded more aggressively to what he called Palestinian violations of interim peace accords.

"This is the Middle East. There is no mercy for any sign of weakness or restraint on the breach of agreements," he said at a Jerusalem ceremony commemorating the 1973 Middle East war.

The Palestinians also accuse Israel of failing to pearl jewelry meet its obligations under the 1993 Oslo interim accords.

MOSCOW - Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Natan Sharansky said Wednesday that he had found understanding among Russian officials for Israel's tough stance toward the Palestinians, but that there was still a strong divide between Tel Aviv and Moscow over providing military
technology to Iran.

"Israel expects tougher steps from Russia to step up control over the flow of technologies to countries such as Iran," Sharansky was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. "Although certain progress has been made here, we believe that Russia can do much more."

The United States and Israel have voiced concern over Russia's ties with Iran, saying they may lead to wheat pearl the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Russia agreed in March to provide Tehran with dlrs 7 billion worth of arms over the next several years. Moscow says it would only supply defensive weapons and promises to avoid sending any dual-purpose technology that may help Iran develop its nuclear weapons program.

There is also concern in Israel and the United States that a nuclear power plant Russia is building in Iran may help Tehran develop nuclear weapons and say Iran has already received some missile know-how from Russia. Russia has dismissed the allegations.

Sharansky met Tuesday with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. He also held a series of meetings with Russian Jewish community leaders and gave several interviews to Russian media in which he defended Israel's position.

Both Russia and the United States are concerned by the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian violence that included the assassination of a nationalist Israeli Cabinet minister and Israeli incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas.

In his meeting with pearl necklace Sharansky, Ivanov "noted the importance of activating efforts for the soonest reduction of tension, overcoming the Palestinian-Israeli consultation on the basis of fulfilling the Mitchell plan," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Sharansky told a news conference that "any talks with the Palestinians at the moment would be a concession to terrorism," Interfax reported.

He said that the Russian side had "shown understanding" on this issue, Interfax said.