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Pearl Education
Types of Pearls
Freshwater Pearls
Freshwater Pearls are found in freshwater bodies of water like lakes and rivers in China. Freshwater pearls are easier to farm because one oyster will produce dozens to hundreds of pearls in one culturing process and will be cultured in months rather than years. Due to the fact that these pearls are mass produced, they are popular for their affordability as well as the variety of shapes, colors, and sizes available. Freshwater pearl sizes range from 3mm to 12mm, but in recent years can be found larger than 12mm.
Akoya Pearls
Japanese Akoya Pearls are most synonymous with the word "pearl" due to the Japanese being the first to culture pearls in 1893. Japanese Akoya Pearls are farmed in salt water and are most known for their quality since one oyster will produce one to a few pearls per culturing process. They are produced by a small oyster called the Pinctada Fucata off the seas of Japan. Due to the small size of the oyster, Akoya Pearl sizes range from 2mm to 10mm. Akoya pearls are most known for their roundness and distinct luster. These pearls offer the best quality to price point.
Tahitian Pearls
Tahitian Pearls are sought after for their exotic colors and metallic like luster. In addition, they are the only pearls that can be found naturally black. These pearls consist of hundreds of overtones, colors, and shades that range from peacock green, to eggplant, to silver, to gunmetal, amongst others. Tahitian Pearls are produced by the Pinctada Margaritifera oyster, which can naturally be found in the salt waters of Tahiti and the surrounding French Polynesian islands.
White & Golden South Sea Pearls
White and Golden South Sea Pearls are adored for their classic colors as well as their remarkable sizes. These pearls are farmed in salt waters from the Pinctada Mixima Oysters and sizes can range from 8mm to 18mm where Baraoque shapes can even be found in 20mm and larger. White South Sea pearls are typically farmed off the shores of Australia and produce creamy white, white, and silver pearls. Golden South Sea Pearls are usually farmed off the shores of the Philippines and Indonesia and like Tahitian Pearls offer a variety of colors and shades in the yellow to golden colors.
Mabe Pearls
Mabe Pearls are renowned for their dome shape where the rounded top of the dome is pearl and the bottom flat portion is mother of pearl. They are sought after in jewelry due to their relative size and because they can sit flush in jewelry pieces due to the flat mother of pearl bottoms. Most pearls are spherical in shape, but mabe pearls have a half spherical shape due to the fact that these pearls are grown on the shell of the oyster as opposed to the mollusk’s body. Mabe Pearls can be grown in the same oysters that produce Freshwater, Akoya, Tahitian, and South Sea pearls. In addition they can range from 8mm to larger than 20mm in size.
Keshi Pearls
Keshi Pearls are sought after for their uniqueness in shape. These pearls have not been nucleated by the pearl farmer and are simply by products of the culturing process. They will not have a nucleus and because of this will develop extremely free formed shapes. Typically, pearls have a nucleus which help form the shape of the pearl. These nucleus’s are normally a small fragment of mother of pearl and will provide the base shape that the pearl will become. Keshi pearls are desired because of their one of a kind shapes where no two keshi pearls will be exactly the same and due to the fact that they are formed by chance, making them rare. These pearls can be formed in all oysters that produce pearls.