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.

Cuomo's statement detailed the alleged kickback deals, including internal emails from Intel, Dell, HP and IBM.

The suit claims that some of Intel's illegal practices included paying Dell almost $2 billion in "rebates," threatening to cut off development of an HP server if the company promoted a competitor's products, and paying IBM $130 million not to pearl jewelry launch a rival's server.

Many of the alleged deals included references to Intel's main rival, Advanced Micro Devices. (AMD, Fortune 500)

According to Cuomo's statement, a January 2005 email from a IBM executive said: "I understand the point about the accounts wanting a full AMD portfolio. The question is, can we afford to accept the wrath of Intel...?"

An internal Dell email in February 2004 said Intel was "prepared for jihad if Dell joins the AMD exodus. We get ZERO [rebates] for biwa pearl at least one quarter while Intel 'investigates the details.'"

Cuomo said Intel "attempted to erase the most obvious traces" of illegal activity "by camouflaging language" in written correspondence.

A 2006 Internal email from an Intel executive said: "Let's talk more on the akoya pearl phone as it's so difficult for me to write or explain without considering anti-trust [sic] issue." 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Chrysler Group broke even in September and ended its first post-bankruptcy quarter with more cash on hand than it had at the beginning of the period, the company's new boss said Wednesday.

Sergio Marchionne, the head of the Fiat Group, made the announcement at the beginning of a full-day presentation in Detroit about the Italian automaker's plans to turnaround Chrysler. Marchionne became the new Chrysler CEO when Fiat took a controlling stake in the company in June.

Chrysler is not publicly traded (although Fiat (FIATY) is) and this is the first financial results of any kind that the company has released since filing for bankruptcy.

Marchionne said Chrysler had $5.7 billion on hand at the end of September, up from $4 billion at the end of June. He did not detail where the pearl jewelry increase in cash came from.

The comments come two days after rival Ford Motor Co. (F, Fortune 500) reported a nearly $1 billion profit in the third quarter, bucking expectations of another loss. But Ford sales have been much stronger than those at Chrysler.

Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy on June 10. Fiat holds a 20% stake in the company, and that is due to eventually rise to a 35% stake. U.S. taxpayers own an 8% stake, while trust funds set up to pay for Chrysler retirees' health care coverage control 55% of the stock.

Marchionne said financial targets for Chrysler are being met, despite weak sales. He also said the new product line coming from Fiat will make a significant change in the offerings U.S. customers will see in Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep showrooms. He expects 75% of the product line will be changed within the next 14 months.

"That's the plan. It's comprehensive. It's ambitious," Marchionne said.

Chrysler's chief financial officer Richard Palmer said the company should fall somewhere between break-even and a profit of $500 million (before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization) in the just more than six months from the end of its bankruptcy to the biwa pearl end of the year.

The automaker is even more confident about profits going forward, according to Palmer, due to a rebound in industrywide sales, improved U.S. market share and better access to overseas markets using Fiat's dealership networks in Europe and South America. It sees as much as $3 billion net income by 2014. That would allow it to repay loans it owes to the Treasury Department by that year.

But the sales will have to show significant improvement from 2008 for the profits to return. Palmer said Chrysler will need to ship about 1.65 million vehicles worldwide to break even. Shipments this year will end up being close to 1 million units. Chrysler also expects to eventually reach U.S. market share of 13%, up from only 9% that it has achieved year-to-date this year.

The company, with its large dependence on pickups, minivans and SUVs, got the least help of any major automaker from the government's Cash for Clunkers program, which sparked a four-week spike in industrywide sales from late July through late August.

Chrysler's U.S. sales plunged 23% during the third quarter (and 42% in September alone) compared to a year earlier, far worse than the 10% decline in industrywide U.S. sales. In October, Chrysler's sales fell 30% on a year-over-year basis, even as Ford and General Motors reported sales increases.

Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of auto industry research site Edmunds.com, said Chrysler's break-even performance in September is partly due to akoya pearl the one-time windfall generated by dealers who have been rebuilding their inventory after shortages in the late summer.

While reported auto sales reflect purchases by consumers, the automakers actually book revenue when cars are sold first to dealers, not to the final customer.

Nonetheless, Chrysler said that its relationship with Fiat will allow it to cut costs dramatically. Chrysler head of purchasing Daniel Knott said that new purchase systems and the use of common parts with Fiat will allow Chrysler to save about $3 billion in vehicle parts and another $400 million in "indirect" purchases (stuff that doesn't go into a car or truck) by 2014.

The Viper is made at Chrysler's Conner Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit, which has only 100 employees. The company looked at possibly selling the product and the plant during the bankruptcy but held onto it instead.

The Jeep Patriot and Compass will go away in 2012 and be replaced by Fiat-based products in 2013.

Chrysler also said it will shift more towards smaller, more fuel efficient engines in the coming years as it plans to have smaller cars Fiat now sells in pearl jewelry Europe available in the U.S.

The company projected that vehicles with 8-cylinder engines will fall to 11% of its sales in 2014, down from 18% next year, and that cars and trucks with V-6 engines will decline to 37% from 54% over the same period.

Meanwhile, Chrysler expects that sales of autos with 4-cylinder engines will more than double to 38% from only 17% next year.

Along those lines, Chrysler unveiled plans to make the Fiat 500 subcompact car, a hot seller in Europe, available in the U.S. by the end of biwa pearl next year.

The Fiat 500 will be sold in sold separate "salons" inside select Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealerships in metro areas. The car will also have a dedicated sales staff.

"Saving on fuel never looked so good," said Peter Grady, Chrysler's vice president of network development.

Chrysler also said it plans to invest over $500 million in its retail network over the next five years, with more than $120 million of that taking place next year.

The company said that a dedicated team of 150 people at Chrysler will be committed to improving the network, with the goal of improving sales per dealership from 342 vehicles per year to 785 in five years.

Chrysler will also implement new regional dealership set-ups in which a main dealership will have separate "satellite" locations for akoya pearl things like service and parts. They could also have smaller satellite sales boutiques that could cater to individual brands.

The company added that it plans to cater more to small business owners and contractors as well with the new Ram truck brand.

Tesla Motors is already well-known for its all-electric two-seat Tesla Roadster sports car, which has received tons of media attention. The $100,000 vehicle recently went on sale, and so far about 900 have been sold -- many to wealthy Silicon Valley types.

Tesla is just one of a handful of pearl jewelry start-ups trying to muscle their way into the big leagues with plug-in cars. But they'll all have to take on the major automakers like Ford, General Motors and Nissan, each of which are working on their own electric cars.

Now, Tesla is going after the mass market with a plug-in electric sedan dubbed the Model S. The car is slated for production in biwa pearl late 2011 and will cost about $57,000, but anyone who buys an electric car is eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit.

Tesla's making some big promises for the Model S, including sporty driving dynamics as well as the ability to go from zero to 60 in under six seconds. It will be able to drive up to 300 miles on a single charge, depending on the battery pack a buyer chooses. (The base version will have a range of 160 miles.)

Tesla says the car can seat seven -- five adults plus two children -- if akoya pearl you get an optional third row of rear-facing seats. There are two trunks for luggage, one in the front and one in the back.

The company said the job cuts will be spread across multiple businesses and locations across the globe, but Microsoft would not specify when the layoffs would occur.

Those job cuts come on top of the 5,000 jobs the pearl jewelry company said it was slashing earlier this year, in what was Microsoft's first mass job cut announcement in its 34-year history as a public company.

The company also confirmed that it has completed those layoffs ahead of schedule. Microsoft initially said the 5,000 job cuts would be done by June 2010.

"We continue to hire in priority areas, but also understand that continuing to biwa pearl manage our businesses closely, as we always do, can mean additional headcount adjustments," said a Microsoft spokesman.

Cost-cutting helped the company impress investors late last month, when the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant reported quarterly sales and profit that easily beat Wall Street's forecasts.

Microsoft's headcount was down 4% in the akoya pearl past quarter from the same period year ago -- the largest yearly staffing decline in the company's history. Microsoft employs some 90,000 people worldwide.