EDUCATION

PEARL EDUCATION
Overview
Akoya Pearls
Freshwater Pearls

There are two basic varieties of cultured pearls; freshwater pearls and saltwater pearls. Freshwater pearls are grown primarily in man-made lakes and reservoirs in China. Saltwater pearls, which include Akoya, Tahitian and South Sea, are grown in bays, inlets and atolls in many places around the world. Saltwater pearls are considered more valuable than freshwater pearls, although rare and very high-quality freshwater pearls can be exceedingly valuable.

Pearl grading is one of the most difficult aspects of pearl selection to understand. There is no officially recognized, standard system for grading pearls, except in the case of Tahitian pearls, where grading and export is controlled by the French Polynesian government.
Akoya Pearls Characteristics and Terms

The Akoya pearl is a saltwater cultured pearl from the Akoya oyster (Pinctada fucata martensii). The most popular type of saltwater pearl, they are considered to be the classic pearl used for necklaces and other pearl jewelry, with their perfect round shapes, bright mirror-like luster, and soft neutral colors. Akoya pearls favored by most retailers, consumers, and others in the pearling industry.

Unlike their freshwater cousins, akoya oysters rarely produce more than 2 pearls per harvest. The oysters are nucleated with a bead composed of mother-of-pearl and mantle tissue. This bead is the basis of the pearl and is the reason Akoya pearls are more often perfectly round. This shape, combined with the high-luster found on top-quality akoya pearls, and their relative rarity compared to freshwater pearls, give akoya pearls both a higher perceived and actual value.

Akoya pearls, unless color-treated, have soft, neutral colors and overtones. Most pearls are white to grey, with pink, green, or silver overtones. Occasionally, akoya pearls are blue with silver and pink overtones, but these colors are rare except in the baroque variety. They are never naturally black – black Akoya pearls have undergone either a radiation or dye treatment.

Akoya pearls are currently farmed in China, Japan, and to a lesser extent, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and a few other areas. The vast majority of the world's akoya pearls sized 8 mm and larger are produced in Japan, which was once the undisputed akoya pearl producing center of the world, but has recently lost that title to China, where in the last 5 years pearls of equivalent quality have been produced in a much greater abundance.

While the akoya pearl is undoubtedly more rare and valuable than the freshwater pearl, it is only the third most valuable commercially produced pearl, falling behind South Sea pearls and Tahitian pearls.
Freshwater Pearls Characteristics and Terms

Freshwater pearls are the most common type of pearl produced today. Their unique shapes and wide variety of colors combined with their attractive prices and charming character, have made them a favorite amongst jewelry designers, shoppers, and pearl connoisseurs alike.

Because they offer a wider diversity of colors, shapes, and sizes than any other type of pearl, freshwater pearls are often used in fanciful designer jewelry. In addition to the traditional white body color, these pearls come in a rainbow of natural pastel colors such as lavender, pink, and every shade in between. Most freshwater pearl information notes their varied shapes, including potato-shaped and stick pearls, rice-shaped and button pearls, coin-shaped and drop pearls, off-round and round pearls.

Freshwater pearls are produced by Hyriopsis cumingi (triangle shell) and Hyriopsis schlegeli (Biwa shell) commercially in China, and other bivalve mussels that live in lakes, riverbeds, and creek bottoms in Japan (Biwa pearls and Lake Kasumigaura pearls), as well the United States (Mississippi River Basin). Although several areas of the world are home to pearl-producing mussels, the global freshwater market is overwhelmingly dominated by Chinese pearl farms, which account for nearly all of the freshwater pearls sold today.

At freshwater pearl farms, each mussel is surgically implanted with 24 to 32 tiny pieces of mantle tissue, a process known as nucleation. Once they have been nucleated, the mussels protect their flesh from the irritants by secreting nacre (pronounced NAY-ker), the calcium-carbonate compound known more commonly as mother-of-pearl. Over the course of 2 to 7 years, the mussels deposit layer upon layer of nacre around the growing gems, generally producing more than two dozen pearls densely clustered on the inside of its mantle tissue. During the harvest, the millions of pearls are sorted carefully and matched for size, shape, color, and quality.

While freshwater pearls as a variety are the most common type of pearl, very round and lustrous freshwater pearls are very difficult to find. Top-of-the-line freshwater pearls, such as the ones you'd find at fine jewelry stores, command a high retail value. They are dazzling in their rich, bright luster, and their unique charm will last you a lifetime.

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