a
Contact Us

Contact Info x

Pearls

Pearls

Pearls are formed when a mollusk produces layers of nacre around an irritant embedded inside its shell. In natural pearls, the irritant may be another organism from the water. In cultured pearls, a mother-of-pearl bead or a piece of tissue is intentionally inserted into a mollusk to start the process.

Natural pearls are extremely rare and costly. Cultured pearls are grown on pearl farms. In both cases, the quality of the nacre dictates a pearl’s value. A good pearl is smooth, uniform in color and lustrous.

Pearls can be round, oval, pear-shaped, or baroque. Necklaces are classified as either uniform, where all pearls are approximately the same size, or graduated, where the size of the pearls changes uniformly from both ends toward the center.

Saltwater Pearls

Saltwater pearls include the akoya cultured pearls grown in Japanese and Chinese waters. They range in size from 2mm to 10mm and are usually white or cream in color and round in shape. Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines produce the South Sea pearl, the largest of all pearls. They range in size from 9mm to 20mm and can be naturally white, cream, or golden in color. Tahitian pearls are grown in several of the islands of French Polynesia, including Tahiti. Their size ranges from 8mm to 16mm. Though collectively called black pearls, they may be grey, blue, green or purple.

Freshwater Pearls

Freshwater pearls are grown in freshwater lakes, rivers, and ponds predominately in China. Although many are white and resemble the akoya cultured pearls in shape and size, they can also be produced in various shapes and in an array of pastel colors. Many freshwater pearls don’t have a bead nucleus — only a piece of tissue — resulting in a pearl with thicker nacre than the akoya.

Immitation Pearls

Imitation pearls are usually a coated glass bead. Most have a high luster, but not the depth of luster seen on high quality cultured pearls. Also, real pearls occasionally undergo treatments to enhance their luster or alter their color. When in doubt, ask the experts at Corinne Jewelers to identify pearls that have been treated, or to separate cultured and natural pearls from imitations.