Understanding Pearl Types

Pearls are classic jewels that come from nature, and these beloved gems are as versatile as they are diverse. While pearl jewelry styles range from the most classic and conservative to the most creative and unusual, there are also a wide range of pearl types. The differences between natural, cultured, and imitation pearls– and the subtypes therein– are often misunderstood. The certified pearl experts at Secrete Fine Jewelry in Washington, DC, and Bethesda, MD, have created this guide to understanding the difference.

 

 

Natural pearls

For most of the history of jewelry, pearls were formed by accident in mollusks, and divers retrieved them. Divers in Asia, the Near East, Latin America, and Australia risked dangerous conditions to dive in open bodies of water before the invention of SCUBA technology to hunt for saltwater pearls. Divers had to descend over 100 feet on a single breath, leading to death or serious illness and injury. 

 

Because of the expense and risk of natural pearl hunting, and because of the varying quality of the pearls found, high quality natural pearls were incredibly expensive. Ancient Roman historians wrote about the incredible value of pearls. Seneca wrote in On Benefits that Roman women were not satisfied by their pearls unless they were worth “two or three estates” hanging from each earlobe. Martial wrote in Epigrams about a Roman woman who swore by her pearls, not the gods, because she loved her pearls even more than her sons and even more than the gods. The Gospel of Matthew compares the kingdom of heaven to a merchant of fine pearls who sells everything he ever owned to buy that one perfect pearl. 

 

If you think that these ancient sources are a little hyperbolic, it’s worth noting that when Cartier couldn’t afford to buy the store’s enormous Manhattan mansion on Fifth Avenue, he traded a pearl necklace for the real estate. A double strand natural pearl necklace known as the Baroda pearls sold for over $7 million at Christies in 2007. La Peregrina pearl, a 500 year old natural teardrop shaped pearl owned by the likes of Spanish queens, English Duchesses, and even Elizabeth Taylor, sold for over $11 million in 2011. 

 

One reason that natural sea pearls are so costly is their rarity. Not only does the diver have to find them in nature, many natural pearls are blemished or unattractively shaped. Once a beautiful round pearl is found, it may take years to find a good match. When you think about matching 40-100 pearls for a necklace, it can take decades upon decades of risky, labor-intensive work to complete the piece. Natural pearls were sewn into the clothing of kings and queens, bedecked the headdresses of shahs and maharajas, and draped in ropes around the necks of tsarinas and princesses. They were the emblems of royals because few others could afford them. 

 

Freshwater pearls are another category, and, like sea pearls, can be natural or cultured. Natural freshwater  pearls have been harvested for centuries, with evidence of ancient freshwater pearl trades found in many parts of the world.  Records of Native American freshwater pearl hunting goes back to pre-Colonial times. These pearls are often small and irregularly shaped, and they are very affordable as compared to other pearls. 

 

Cultured pearls

 

Cultured pearls are real pearls made by real living mollusks with the help of a little human intervention. The first cultured pearls were what we call blister pearls, or mabe-pearls. These are made when a bead or blister is introduced on the shell of a mollusk and the nacre (the shiny pretty stuff that coats the inside of a shell) grows over the bead. Chinese pearl makers had discovered the technique to implant a freshwater mollusk with a form to create these half pearls as early as the thirteenth century. 

Kokichi Mikimoto invented cultured pearls as we know them in the beginning of the 20th Century. Using knowledge of Chinese freshwater perliculture, experimentation, and dogged dedication, he discovered a way to force a mollusk to grow a fully round pearl in its mantle, where natural round pearls are found, instead of on the shell, where they could only be half-pearls. Small beads made from natural mollusk shells as the nuclei (the centers of the pearls) and inserted into the center of the mollusk with a small piece of the mantle (where the nacre-producing epithelial cells are), and then the creatures are returned to the water. After several seasons, depending on the pearl size and quality desired, the pearls are harvested and graded.

“Cultured pearl,” as a term, was determined in the 1920s when natural pearl hunters were in dispute with Mikimoto. Because these pearls are created with interference from man, they’re not exactly wild or found-in-nature. However, these pearls only contain natural elements and are formed by nature, they aren’t imitations either. 

 

Cultured pearls formed in Japan using Mikimoto’s techniques are called Akoya pearls, because of the use of the Akoya oyster in their production. Other regions and developers have expanded on Mikimoto’s perliculture techniques to create variants of cultured pearls suited to different mollusks and climates. South Sea pearls from Australia are well known for their large size and glossy white appearance. Tahitian pearls from French Polynesia, Cortez pearls from Mexico, and Fiji pearls are treasured for their impressive size and beautiful array of natural colors– especially shades of iridescent gray and gold. 

Cultured pearls are farmed in natural bodies of water and depend on steady ecosystems, so pearl producers have become leaders in oceanic conservation causes to prevent pollution and protect ecosystems from over-fishing. 

 

Because cultured pearls are more easily harvested than natural pearls, they are more affordable than the wild counterparts which are prohibitively expensive to all but the wealthiest jewelry collectors. That is not to say that all cultured pearls are what you would call “affordable.” With any pearls, quality factors play a huge role in pricing, and matching strands can be a timely and laborious process. 

 

Cultured freshwater pearls are considered to be in a category separate from cultured saltwater pearls. These pearls can be grown without a nucleus (the center bead) and are available in a variety of natural (undyed) pastel colors with a very shiny luster. Many are referred to as “Rice Krispy” because of their shape and size, but near-round and nucleated round varieties are available as well. These are great for fashion applications because of their low prices. Often mass-produced in China, they are readily available for projects like embellishing wedding dresses or other gowns, for costume jewelry, or for jewelry for children. 

 

There is a new generation of cultured freshwater pearls emerging over the last few years thanks to innovations in Chinese perliculture. By experimenting with nucleus materials, new exciting shapes and sizes in freshwater pearls are possible.

Imitation pearls

 

There are many imitations for pearls, made from materials like glass and plastic. To the untrained eye, it can be difficult to evaluate pearls for authenticity. Many people know of the “tooth test” for pearls– a real pearl will feel gritty when rubbed against your tooth, while a faux pearl will feel smooth against the tooth. This test is useful to eliminate obvious fakes, but it doesn’t definitively assert authenticity, as a few clever faux pearl manufacturers have introduced a gritty paste into the paints and finishes they use in production. 

 

Mallorca pearls are known to be good-looking artificial pearls, named for the Spanish island on which they’re made. Many stylish people have worn good quality costume jewelry like Mallorca pearls for the affordability or for sentimental reasons. On Grace Kelly’s honeymoon, Prince Ranier bought her a strand of faux-pearls while they were in Mallorca (but soon replaced them with an exquisite genuine cultured pearl suite from Cartier). 

 

Finding the right pearls for you

Choosing the right pearls for you is a task best done in person, where you can compare lusters in colors in real lighting, as the sheen and character of pearls are difficult to capture in photographs. At Secrete Fine Jewlery, we can help you find just the right piece for you, whether you’re interested in a classic white graduated strand or something a little more modern or avant garde. 

 

The Secrete team includes CPAA (Cultured Pearl Association of America) certified pearl experts who can help answer the questions you may have about pearls. We employ a specialty pearl stringer whose sole attention is in the creation and restoration of pearls, from stringing to matching to restoring. Our expertise in pearls makes us uniquely positioned to create just the right pearl jewelry for you. 

 

Stop by one of our locations, in DuPont Circle in Washington, DC, or in the Wildwood Shopping Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to learn more and start creating today.