The beautiful birthstone of June starts the Winter season with a glowing shimmer. Forming naturally when a foreign object such as a grain of sand or parasite finds its way into the oyster, a striking pearl is then created from the irritant layers of coating nacre.
The gold and silver lipped oysters that produce white South Sea pearls with silvery, cram, pink and golden undertones thrive in Australia’s northern waters because of its pristine and isolated location. This type of pearl is regarded around the world as the most beautiful of all varieties, consistently the largest and most luminous, possessing the highest quality in natural colour.
Every pearl family has unique characteristics that define its beauty from the others;
South Sea Pearls:
- Primarily found in the northern waters of Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia
- The black pearls are found over a wider area stretching from the Cook Islands, eastward through Tahiti and beyond
- Do not require bleaching, tinting, or dying
- White and black in colour
- Ranging in size from 8mm to 20mm, and are available in various shapes
Tahitian Pearls:
- Refined in the lagoons of the south Pacific, and resemble a tea drop shape
- More expensive than Akoya Pearls, but cheaper than South Sea varieties
- Pearl colour varies from light grey to black with shades of green and purple
- The rarest colour is peacock green
- Size varies from 7mm to 15mm
Akoya Pearls:
- Farmed mainly in Japan and China
- The most used pearl for necklace strands worldwide
- Primarily round or oval in shape
- Pearl ranges in colour from pinkish white to cream and silvery blue
- Measure relatively small from 2mm to 10mm
Freshwater Pearls:
- Found in bays and rivers in Japan, China and the US
- Cultivated from freshwater molluscs and less lustrous than salt water cultured pearls
- The price of the Freshwater Pearl is low, yet the unique colours and shapes have attributed to its popularity
Kasuminga pearls:
- A recent type of pearl that comes from a lake northeast of Tokyo
- The mussels are a crossbreed between Japanese and Chinese freshwater mussels, implanted with round or flat seeds
- The colour varies from rosy hues of light to dark pink
All varieties of the pearl have distinctive characteristics, and each pearl of the same family is truly unique. Although all pearls are single treasures that cannot be naturally replicated, the most sought after continues to be a round luminous pearl with high lustre and a beautiful pink hue.
More coming soon…
