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 Types
of Pearls
Pearls may be rice-shaped, round, pear-shaped,
button-shaped, or irregular (baroque) and are valued in
that order. Pearls found attached to the inner surface
of the shell are known as blister Pearls. The best
Pearls are usually white, sometimes with a creamy or
pinkish tinge, but may be tinted with yellow, green,
blue, brown, or black.
Although there are many varieties of Pearls available
today, there are 5 basic types of Pearls:
1. Natural Pearls
2. Freshwater
Pearls
3. Saltwater Pearls
4. Cultured Pearls
(Including Akoya Pearls)
5. Japanese
Cultured Pearls
6. Keshi Pearls
7. Black and South
Sea Pearls (Including Tahiti Pearls)
8. Mabe Pearls
9. Mother of Pearl
Black Pearls, because of their rarity, are often highly
valued. The unique luster, or orient, of Pearls depends
upon the reflection and refraction of light from the
translucent layers and is finer in proportion as the
layers are thinner and more numerous. The iridescence
which some Pearls display is caused by the overlapping
of successive layers, which breaks up light falling on
the surface. Pearls are not cut or polished like other
gems. They are very soft and are injured by acids and
heat; as organic products, they are subject to decay.
Natural Pearls
A natural Pearl is a Pearl that forms in nature with no
human intervention. Natural Pearls, What is a Natural
Pearl Natural Pearls are grown in wild oysters. The
process begins when an irritant, such as a grain of sand
or a piece of shell, gets inside an oyster's shell...
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Freshwater Pearls
Freshwater Pearls are a kind of Pearl that comes from
freshwater mussels. They are produced in Japan and the
United States on a limited scale, but are now almost
exclusive to China The U.S. Federal Trade Commission
requires that freshwater Pearls are referred to as..
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Biwa Pearls
Biwa Pearl is a freshwater Pearl cultivated in a mollusk
only in Japan's Lake Biwa. Biwa Pearls are produced at
lake Biwa, Japan using freshwater clams. They are
irregular in shape but have good color and luster.
Instead of a bead a small square of mother of...
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Saltwater Pearls
Although freshwater Pearls can be grown in mussels and
other mollusks, saltwater Pearls are always grown in
oysters. Most saltwater Pearls are harvested in the Red
Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the coastal waters of India
and Japan. Generally, saltwater Pearls...
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Cultured Pearls
Cultured Pearls are those in which humans take a helping
hand. By actually inserting a foreign object into the
tissue of an oyster or mollusk, Pearl farmers can induce
the creation of a Pearl. The same natural process of
Pearl creation takes place...
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South Sea Pearls
South Sea Pearls is a generic name for the Pearls, usually 9mm-16mm in
size, produced by the two groups of large Pearl producing oysters. These
oysters can grow to 25-30 cm in size, and are much rarer than their
Akoya counterparts....
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Tahiti Cultured Pearls
Tahiti cultured Pearls are Pearl concretions that are secreted inside
the black-lipped Pinctada Margaritifera species of Pearl oysters
cultivated mainly in the lagoons of French Polynesia. They consist of
thick Pearly layers containing organic substances..
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Akoya Pearls
Akoya Pearls are found only in Japan, China, and Vietnam. Japanese Akoya
Pearl farms are shifting towards the warmer Chinese waters, where these
Pearls take only half as long to grow. Overtone colors of Akoya Pearls
include white, cream, rose, silver, and green...
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Mabe Pearls
Mabe Pearls are large, hemispherical cultured Pearls that grow attached
to the inside shells of oysters. Mabe Pearls are of hemispherical shape,
grown against the inside of the oyster's shell, rather than within its
tissue. Mabes occasionally appear in nature...
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Blister Pearls
A blister Pearl (also called a button Pearl) is a Pearl that developed
attached to the inside of a mollusk's shell. This type of Pearl must be
cut off the shell, and is therefore hemispherical. Because of their
shape, blister Pearls are mostly used for earrings...
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Rainbow Mabe Pearls
In general, you would think that all Pearls are round
shaped or spherical. However, Mabe Pearls are not
completely round. They come in various shapes. The
subtle hues give it a unique presence, a quality that
can't be found in other Pearls. Mabe Pearls are suitable
for...
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Mother of Pearl
Mother of Pearl, also called nacre, is an iridescent layer of material
which forms the shell lining of many mollusks. The Pearly internal layer
of certain mollusk shells, used to make decorative objects. Also called
nacre. Pearl oysters and abalone are both sources of mother of...
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Keshi Pearls
Tiny Pearls, some a little bigger than a grain of sand, which form
naturally in many cultured Pearl oysters. Keshi is a Japanese word for
"poppy seed". Thus, keshi is also called the seed Pearl deriving the
name from its size. Keshi Pearls are irregularly shaped...
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Back to 'All About Pearls' Summary
Ever since the ancient Egyptians first started creating
jewelry, Pearls have become one of the highest regarded gemstones. Even
today Pearls still hold their value due to the rarity of "mother nature"
creating this form of jewelry. Pearls are created from a core. The core
of a natural Pearl is simply a fragment of shell or fishbone, or a grain
of sand that strays into the unsuspecting Pearl oyster's shell. To
protect itself from this irritant the oyster secretes multiple layers of
nacre, forming a Pearl...
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Types of Pearls
