Type of Pearls

The major pearl producing countries are Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, French Polynesia and Malaysia. These are some of the pearls produced:


South Sea Pearls

 

These are the best, rarest and most valuable pearls in the world due to their luxurious sizes and thick layers of nacre, from 2 mm to 6 mm, ( compare to other pearls, rarely have nacre thickness of more than 0.2 mm to 0.6mm ), that result in their exquisite lustre. The Pinctada maxima oysters are also rare as they grow only in a small area of oceans known as the South Seas. This area encompasses warm tropical waters along the north-western coast of Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, east Malaysia and Myanmar.

One oyster only produces a single pearl throughout four to six years of painstaking cultivation. The silver-lipped variety produces white and silver pearls while the gold-lipped oysters give birth to the extraordinary Golden South Sea Pearls that are highly prized for their warm colours, from cream and champagne to intense golden yellow.

Tahitian Pearls

These pearls are valued for their unique shades ranging from peacock blue to green and black. They are exotic and rare and produced by the Pinctada margaritifera oysters in the French Polynesian islands. Although they are exclusive to this region, freshwater pearls are known to be treated to look like Tahitian pearls.

  

Akoya Pearls
 

These cultivated pearls are produced by Akoya oysters or the Pinctada fucata in Japan and China. They are often small, ranging from sizes of 2-8mm in an assortment of colours.

Freshwater Pearls

 
These are popular pearls for their easy availability and low prices. They are produced through the Hyriopsis cumingi, Hyriopsis schlegeli and Cristaria plicata mussels that thrive in freshwater lakes and rivers throughout China and Japan. Each mussel has the ability to produce up to 50 pearls at a time. With modern technology, freshwater pearls can grow to sizes of 12mm. About 97% of the pearls found in the market, including those being colour treated to become golden yellow, black, purple, ect., are Freshwater pearl.