The most important pearls dominating the world market

It can be very confusing today to see lots of different colours and types of pearls and for the unwary it can be difficult to discriminate fact from fiction as the concept of colour is often portrayed incorrectly. Up until comparatively recently,

The South Sea pearl from the Pinctada maxima mollusc, in its natural state comes in a creamy white from the silver lipped mollusc variant, or various yellow to golden colours from the gold lipped variant.

The saltwater pearl which is famed for its dark exotic looks is the Tahitian from the Pinctada margaritifera mollusc, which comes from the farms of Polynesia, Indonesia and the Phillipines. This pearl shows natural colours which can range from silvery grey, dark greys and greens through to almost black shades.
Within the last few years, the Chinese started producing beautiful freshwater pearls from a newly introduced larger mollusc, Hyriopsis cumingii, which can produce up to 40 pearls in a growing period. These are not the same type of pearls as the old rice crispy freshwater pearls. This species of mollusc can naturally produce pearls which range from white, creamy white, peach, pink and a blue-pink. The colour is determined by the type of oyster or mollusc, and also where the inserted pieces of mantle which stimulate pearl production are placed in the mollusc. This exciting development means that you can now own natural coloured, pink peach and lavender pearls which are not treated.

Any other main body colour i.e. red, blue, brown etc. is dyed or irradiated. Unless it is an expensive Tahitian, black pearls are always treated. One of the most useful black treatments used for freshwater pearls is commonly called peacock as it shows iridescent shades of very dark blue, grey, wine, and greens etc and although it looks black from a distance, pure black would be a very dull colour. Most white pearls are also bleached as a good white is hard to come by.

Another issue to consider in the colour of pearls is the overtones which is a type of translucent sheen which sometimes appear on top of the pearl's main body colour giving a tint. A pearl may be white with rose or green overtones. Another colour tone is termed the orient which can be seen by the practiced eye and can give a different iridescence to the main colour by the way that light is reflected.

But as things progress in the industry, today there are also some new exiting developments in pearl farming called exotics and metallics where the surface is super shiny with wonderful iridescent colours, and pondslime where the surface is more matt and dappled with shades of brown green and gold. Enjoy them all.