Pearls were highly revered by Romans, rulers of Ancient India, and the Chinese. As conquests were made around the world, pearls became introduced to new areas. Pearls jewelry have a tradition of being rare and magnificent. There are two type of pearls as followes:
Akoya pearls are produced from the oyster known as Pinctada fucata martensii, which is the smallest pearl producer known in the oyster family. These pearls are known for their pristine round shapes, which make them an ideal and popular choice for necklaces and matching earrings. However, aside from being consistently round, they can also have a semi-round, baroque and semi-baroqe shape. Although Akoya pearls are also produced in China, they previously were considered the Japanese pearl, and were cultured primarily in Ehime, Mie, Oita, Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures.
To produce akoya pearl, a nucleus is inserted with a mini speck of mantle tissue form previous oyster shells, creating a round bead that the nacre will begin to grow around. Depending on the size of the oyster, usually up to three beads can be placed in it. Once the beads are ready, the oyster is placed in the ocean and left for 6-18 months for cultivation. The longer the Akoya oysters are left in the ocean, the better chance the nacre has of growing and influencing the pearl, resulting in nicer looking and more valued pearls. Unfortunately, the longer period of time also means a higher risk is involved, as the oyster has more potential of dying or becoming damaged from storms and other ailments. The highest quality Akoya pearls are left in the ocean for close to two years.
However, cultured Freshwater Pearls, are farmed in freshwater, and are grown within mussels. As the irritants introduced into the mussels are much smaller than the ones injected into oysters in saltwater pearls, freshwater pearls tend to be much smaller than saltwater pearls. However, the technique for cultivating freshwater pearl allows for the fact that any given mussel may produce twenty pearls or more within one year.
Chinese freshwater cultured pearls in striking artificial colors have been seen on the market since the nineteen eighties. In addition to yellow, there are red, pink, orange brown blue green purple and lilac although rice crispies, baroques and flats were used mainly in the beginning; there have been more rounded shapes also over recent years. Intensely blue, green, yellow, pink, red and purple nearly round pearls, no doubt dyed with chemical agents, have been seen at international trade shows since the late nineteen nineties. No detailed in?formation is available as to the methods used. The colors seem to be permanent and — needless to say — fall into the lowest price range. They can be identified.
