Pearl on a Necklace

A strand is formalwear and reads that way. One pearl on a thin chain doesn't — it's the version that works with a t-shirt, layers under a longer chain, and doesn't need restringing every few years. It's also considerably cheaper, since you're buying one pearl rather than sixty.

Yes, and more comfortably than a strand — there's no silk to stretch and no knots to loosen. The one habit that matters: last thing on, first thing off. Perfume and hairspray dull nacre permanently, and that's what ages a pearl rather than wear.

Briefly. Pearls are organic and porous, so repeated soaking dulls the surface. Shower water alone won't ruin it, but shampoo and soap film will over months. Never an ultrasonic cleaner.

Better than most pendants, because a pearl is small, round and doesn't compete. Put the pearl at 16 inches and a plain chain at 18 or 20. Mixing pearls with gold is fine — the rule about wearing pearls alone comes from formalwear, not from jewelry.

As jewelry, it's worth what it costs; as an asset, very little. Freshwater pearls are real pearls, grown by a mussel over years, but they aren't rare. Natural pearls formed without human help are the valuable ones and are essentially auction-only.

16 or 18 inches. A single pearl is small, so it needs to sit where it can be seen — at 20 it disappears into a neckline. 14 works as the top layer above a longer chain.