North Jersey has a taste for pearls, and Iridesse, a division of tiffany and co, is hoping to cultivate that with a new jewelry store opening today at Garden State Plaza in Paramus. Iridesse, a three-year-old retail unit of tiffany, sells only pearl jewelry and doesn't carry the diamond solitaires and silver charm bracelets sold by its parent company. The chain was born as Tiffany Necklaces executives were looking to diversify out of the crowded diamond-selling market and do something no one else had thought of -- create a mall-based chain of jewelry stores specializing in pearls. Tiffany is looking to restore luster to its earnings, which were flat last year at $253.9 million after falling 16 percent in 2005. The New York company reported sales of $2.65 billion last year, up 11 percent from 2005. Some investors believe activist shareholder Nelson Peltz, whose Trian Fund is the biggest stockholder in Tiffany, will seek changes to improve shareholder value. Peltz parlayed his stakes in H.J. Heinz Co. and Wendy's International Inc. to push for board changes and management initiatives that boosted stock prices. Banc of America Securities analyst Dana Cohen, in a note to investors last month, said one possible change is the sale of Tiffany's specialty retail division, which consists of Iridesse and Little Switzerland, a chain of tourist-oriented boutiques mostly in the Caribbean. Iridesse gets its name from the word iridescence -- the play of colors and light on the surface of a pearl. James Hurley, an analyst who follows luxury retailers for the Telsey Advisory Group in New York, believes it's more likely Tiffany will hold on to Iridesse and continue to expand it. "It's still in the testing phase," Hurley said, "but it's a neat concept. It is taking pearls, which are thought to be a much more classic and traditional jewelry item and they're taking a more modern approach to it and creating some fashionable merchandise." Tiffany does not break out revenue for its Iridesse chain. Hurley said pearls are generally a higher profit-margin business. He added that lower prices for pearls, compared with gemstones, makes them something women will buy for themselves. Vicky Hahn, vice president of retail stores for Iridesse, said the "self-purchase" market for pearls has "absolutely" become more important in recent years. She said the wide range of prices at Iridesse, from $100 freshwater pearl earrings to $50,000 strands of exotic pearls, lets the store reach a wide variety of customers. The 1,450-square-foot Paramus shop will be the chain's third in New Jersey, and the 14th Iridesse store in the country. Tiffany said in a statement in November it will open at least 20 Iridesse stores in the United States within the next few years. Tiffany introduced the Iridesse division in 2004 by opening its first two stores at The Mall at Short Hills and Tysons Galleria in Virginia. Hahn said the positive response to the concept in Short Hills led the company to open a second New Jersey store at The Pier Shops at Caesars shopping center in Atlantic City in 2006, and to seek a third New Jersey location. Some of the jewelry combines gemstones with pearls, but the starring player in every piece is the pearl. The Paramus store will have a "pearl bar" in the back of the store, Hahn said. That is a place where customers can sit down with a pearl specialist and discuss their pearl needs. The pearl consultant can speak to the customer about whether "