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About Freshwater Pearls

Although originally produced in Japan, 90% of the world's freshwater pearls now come from China.

Freshwater pearls are the "odd man out" of cultured pearling as they are not produced by the saltwater "Pinctada" family of pearl oysters. In fact, they are not produced by an oyster at all. In China, most cultured pearls are farmed in varieties of freshwater mussels such as Hyriopsis and Cristaria. Each shell can produce up to 100 pearls simultaneously.

Most freshwater cultured pearls are nucleated with pieces of mantle tissue ­rather than a round nucleus - placed directly into a mussel's mantle to initiate nacre production. As with Akoya pearls, freshwater pearls are not marketable for jewelry in their natural state, and require artificial enhancements such as bleaching, coloring, and polishing. As with Akoya pearls, the artificial color and luster can diminish quite quickly.

lVlost cultured freshwater pearls grow, irregularly shaped, to between two and five millimeters but, with improving production techniques, China now produces round white freshwater pearls up to 9.5 millimeters that compete with Akoya pearls. New farming and pearl-enhancement technology has enabled the Chinese to produce more round pearls and a whole new array of colors. Supply is plentiful and quality highly variable, with the volume of production measured in hundreds and sometimes thousands of tons. Consequently the price of freshwater pearls is much lower than other cultured pearls.

 

About Akoya Pearls

Early last century, Kokichi Mikimoto made cultured pearls from Japan famous.

The Akoya (Pinctada fucata martensii ­average size three to four inches) is one of those abundant oysters whose shell traditionally had no value, but occasionally produced small, fine natural pearls. Mikimoto pioneered pearl culture technology resulting in the first cultured Akoya pearls on the world market. He is consequently regarded as the originator of the cultured pearl.
Mikimoto's original techniques required the Akoya oyster be farmed four to five years to deposit sufficient nacre (approximately one millimeter thick) to form a pearl averaging three to six millimeters. Pearl shapes and colors varied greatly.

Industrial pollution of Japan's seas meant that from the 1960s, the Akoya could no longer survive so long in the ocean and the industry changed direction. Culturing time was reduced drastically to six to twelve months. Ways to achieve pearl quality have necessarily shifted the emphasis from thickness of nacre to artificial enhancements, bleaching, and color dyeing.

As a consequence, the appearance of today's Akoya pearl is probably much more desirable to the consumer. It can now be produced in larger sizes from two to nine millimeters. Color and luster are bright and almost all pearls are round, allowing more easily produced, well­matched strands of pearls. Colors range from cream to blue, with the best quality pearls being dyed white-pink. Adequate nacre thickness is generally regarded as a minimum of a tenth of a millimeter.

The downside is that artificial pearl enhancements are only temporary. You may notice a gradual reduction of pearl luster and color after two to three years.

Akoya shells can support the growth of up to five pearls at once in each shell, but the pearls are less valuable than South Sea and Tahitian pearls.

 

About Black Tahitian Pearls

In most warm tropical oceans there are thriving populations of the Black lip PINCTADA MARGARITIFERA. Throughout history this oyster, although substantially smaller and more abundant than PINCTADA MAXIMA, has been highly sought after for the beauty of its black mother of pearl shell. Pinctada margaritifera produces the world's finest and largest black natural pearls, their nacre displaying wonderful "peacock" greens and other exotic colors.

Following the successful culturing of the white South Sea pearl, a substantial industry has been developed around this black oyster. Unlimited by the availability of oysters, black pearl production far surpasses the white South Sea pearl. However, the total value of production is still substantially below that of the white South Sea pearl industry.

The black pearl industry began in Tahiti, where the finest examples of Pinctada margaritifera were thought to grow. However, following the success in Tahiti, and due to the abundant shell stocks throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the industry has now spread throughout French Polynesia, the Marshall and Cook Islands, and also recently the Solomon Islands and North Australia.

Due to their origins, these pearls are known as "Tahitian pearls" or "Tahitian Blacks", although they are sometimes mistakenly referred to as black South Sea pearls.

Tahitian pearls generally range from eight to 13 millimeters; however, some farms produce pearls up to 20 millimeters. Shapes are similar to white South Sea pearls, from rounds and drops to circles and baroques.

Significant advertising and promotion by the Tahitian Government and industry has dramatically raised demand for black pearls. However, as production is virtually unlimited, prices have fallen. As a consequence, pearl farmers have stayed with "low-tech" production systems, resulting in quality problems. To address this, the Tahitian Government has instituted export requirements tied to quality standards. Tahiti now requires a minimum of 0.8 millimeters of nacre before pearls can be exported. However, there are no such controls on black pearl production outside Tahiti.

Nacre quality, as is the case with white South Sea pearls, is the defining element in a top-quality Tahitian black pearl. Similarly, the quality of pearls varies from region to region and from farmer to farmer. The value of Tahitian pearls is significantly less than high-quality South Sea pearls.

 

About South Sea Cultured Pearls

From the 1800s, Australia was the primary source of the world's most valuable natural pearl - the South Sea pearl - product of the world's largest pearl producing oyster, the Pinctada maxima.

Major beds of Pinctada maxima were discovered off Australia's north coast in the early 1800s. Only limited Pinctada maxima pearl grounds were previously known in the region. Following the discovery, Australia produced about 75% of the world's mother-of-pearl. Many of the finest natural pearls known to man came from this region.

Mother-of-pearl was for decades the material of choice for buttons but demand was decimated in the 1950s with the invention of plastic buttons. The last two surviving Australian pearling masters turned their hands from diving for natural pearls to pearl culture. The Australians knew their pearls would be highly sought after should they successfully coax the Pinctada maxima into yielding a cultured pearl. Their efforts led to Australia pioneering the cultured South Sea pearl.

Cultured South Sea pearls range from 10 to 15 millimeters, but larger examples can reach between 16 and 20 millimeters. Only cultured pearls from the Pinctada maxima possess the beautiful transparency and color overtone known as "orient," with rainbow hues which can range from white pink, to silver pink, through to dark gold.

Originally exclusive to Australia, South Sea pearls are now also farmed in Indonesia, Burma, and the Philippines. However the characteristics and quality of pearls from these regions can vary greatly. Australian oysters and ocean conditions are generally credited with producing the highest quality, largest pearls. Australian pearls can throw fancy colors, including red-gold - extremely rare and highly regarded. Indonesia and Burma produce mainly white to yellow and also gold while the Philippines produces mainly yellow and gold.

The Pinctada maxima shell is rare and will not survive outside the small areas of its natural environment, making it extremely difficult to cultivate. Highly labor intensive, Pinctada maxima farms are by necessity situated in remote locations. To protect the wild natural stocks of oysters in Australia, governments strictly enforce production quotas.

Not every Pinctada maxima shell will produce a pearl and each oyster can grow only one pearl at a time. Good-quality, 10 to 15 millimeter pearls usually take two years to grow. Larger pearls are generally found only after the fourth to sixth year of the farming cycle.

What sets South Sea pearls apart is the unique beauty of their nacre. As with natural South Sea pearls, it is the quality and thickness of nacre that gives the pearls incredible luster that will last for generations. In high-quality pearls, nacre thickness tends to be at least three millimeters, and in many cases will reach over six millimeters.

Quality is the defining factor in the rarity and value of the finest cultured South Sea pearls. Pearl color and luster are the primary influences on a pearl's quality and value. These in turn are determined by the pearl nacre so, the finer the nacre the better color and luster - and the more valuable the pearl.

Producing quality pearls with thick, high-quality nacre as opposed to "average" or "coarse" nacre depends much on the experience, skills, and farming infrastructure of individual pearlers. As was the case in the days of natural pearls, today's cultured South Sea pearls vary greatly in quality and value from region to region and from farmer to farmer.

 

About Mabe Cultured Half Pearls

Otherwise known as a "mabe" or "cultured blisters," the cultured half-pearl forms on the inside lip of the host shell.

 

Why Are South Sea Pearls So Precious?

The pristine environment of the South Seas is home to the world's largest and rarest pearl oyster, Pinctada Maxima, the mother of the South Sea pearl. This oyster is rarely found in nature, and its pearl is rarer still.

To protect its delicate body, the Pinctada Maxima coats the interior of its shell with layers of "nacre" or mother of pearl. A pearl is formed when a nucleus is introduced into the shell, and the oyster coats it with layers of this opalescent material to create the giant pearls we find so alluring.

 

The most important thing to remember when selecting a pearl is that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” as most elements used to assess a pearl will depend on individual taste. Therefore, the most important test is subjective. The “Five-Virtues” of South Sea cultured pearls will assist you in selecting your ideal pearl.

Luster

Luster describes the beauty you see as light travels through the nacre of the pearl. Luster is not to be confused with surface shine. Luster comes from deep within the nacre, much as light filters from the depth of the clear blue sea. Only South Sea cultured pearls have the depth and, more importantly, the quality and richness of nacre for the light to be so perfectly refracted to produce true luster.

Complexion

Pearls may have surface characteristics which may or may not detract from the pearls’ beauty depending on the quality, depth, or visibility or the blemishes. Pearls are graded into 4 complexion categories: Statement, Fine, Fashion, and Foundation.

Size

South Sea cultured pearls dominate the pearl world in quality and size, and are generally found in sizes between 10mm and 15mm. When found, rarer pearls from 16mm to in excess of 20mm are highly prized by connoisseurs.

Shape

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this is certainly the case when it comes to pearl shapes.  Due to the thickness of their nacre, South Sea cultured pearls are found in an interesting variety of shapes.  The shape of a pearl does not affect its quality.  For convenience, South Sea cultured pearls are graded into twelve shape categories.  Examples include:

The photographs of the shapes shown are representative samples of the various shapes and qualities available.  As a product of nature, each pearl is rare and unique.  The pearls you purchase may not look exactly like the images shown.

Color

The most popular color is white or white with slight overtones.  The overtone colors of the South Sea cultured pearl are the natural colors of the South Sea pearl shell and cover the full spectrum of the rainbow including pink.  It should be noted that all of our South Sea cultured pearls are of natural color and luster and are not enhanced by any artificial means.

While the Pinctada Maxima produces the finest quality cultured pearls, it is extremely difficult to grow.

Initiated by a hemispherical nucleus, attached in the inside of the shell, the half-pearl grows into a domed blister as the shell secretes pearl nacre in its normal process of shell growth. At the end of the growing period, the blister is removed from the shell and then backed with mother of pearl.

 

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