Today, cultured pearls are still the preferred adornment for every occasion. In this education section, we want to introduce you the wonderful and lustrous world of pearls.

Akoya Pearls

Throughout history, pearls have always been highly cherished as symbols of perfection, purity, beauty and elegance. 

Akoya pearls are the classic round white pearl made famous by the most elegant women of our times. In addition, Akoya are the first round pearls to be successfully cultured.

Before successful cultivation, rare natural pearls were naturally formed within oysters or other mollusks. Early pearls were found by people harvesting oysters for food and decorative shells. These pearls were prized by royalty and the very wealthy.

In the late 1800’s to early 1900’s pearl cultivation technology was developed in Japan and Akoya saltwater pearls became a part of the worldwide jewelry market. Click below to learn more about the history of saltwater Akoya pearls.

Today, as nearly a century of technology and experience have been earned, Akoya cultured pearls have seen a resurgence in the world find jewelry market.

Many of the techniques remain similar - from oyster cultivation, nucleation, oyster tending, harvesting and post processes. Click below to learn more about how the process began.

White Akoya is the classic pearl. Within the classic white pearl color there are also overtones. This is the subtle color the pearl reflects. The pearls themselves have an inner glow that reflects ambient light in a very complementary way so they literally reflect the wearer's radiance.

Recently, darker pearls with more of a metallic, satiny sheen have also become popular. Akoya pearls are now available in these darker colors as well. Click below to learn more about Akoya pearl colors, color alteration processes and overtones.

Freshwater Pearls

Freshwater pearls are the first to be successfully cultured with records dating back over 700 years. Today cultured freshwater pearls are closest to natural pearls in growth. The lower cost and increasingly higher quality of freshwater pearls makes them a popular choice.

Early Chinese history show that freshwater blister pearls were successful cultured about 700 hundred years ago. Prior to this, natural pearls were formed within freshwater mussels and found during harvest. The mussels were harvested mainly for food in these early days.

One of the largest pearls known to exist today is a freshwater blister pearl.

Today, freshwater pearls are a major product in the fine jewelry market. Their continued quality improvement allow some to almost rival their Akoya saltwater counterparts.

White pearls are considered the classic pearl color. Freshwater pearls are cultured and do grow in white and other light pastels colors. 

As more colors have become popular, freshwater pearls are available in pink and lavender as well. In addition, treated black and very dark freshwater pearls are now becoming ever popular.