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Freshwater pearls (go direct to our Freshwater Pearl products (below)) come in many shapes from round to button shapes, from flat flakes to rice shapes and in many colors. The round shapes are generally more expensive.
Baroque pearls are natural free shaped pearls with rugged surface These are nugget shaped pearls (with one side flat) at sizes 5-6mm. Although these pearls have relatively very smooth surface, they are still free formed.
Button pearls are in button shapes. They are usually side drilled from their shorter length. Button pearls have various sizes and relatively regular shapes.
Rice pearls are oval shaped and drilled lengthwise. They are great for necklaces and bracelets.
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How do I choose a freshwater pearl? - Shape, Luster, Size, Surface
Shape: Usually the closer to a perfect round the more expensive the pearl
Luster: Luster is the sheen on the pearls, a high quality luster will not scratch or rub off and last for many years
Size: The larger the pearl the more it will cost
Surface: Is the surface smooth or are there blemishes.
Of course with Freshwater pearls not everyone wants a smooth finish, many freshwater pearls have a rough or rugged finish and are highly desired. It all depends on the look you want for your jewelry.
Have fun and choose the pearls you like best. |
What are freshwater pearls?
Freshwater pearls are from freshwater while Akoya or saltwater pearls are from saltwater. The process of natural freshwater pearls occurring is pretty much for the same reason that saltwater, except one occurs in mussels and the other in oysters. The catalyst inserted to the oyster is just a very tiny piece of another oyster's mantle tissue instead of shell beads. This foreign material would be entered into a mussel, and to reduce and resist the irritation, the mollusk coats the intruder with the same secretion it uses for shell-building, nacre.
How freshwater pearls are cultured?
Because of scarcity and rareness for natural freshwater pearls, Japanese originated the first cultured freshwater pearls originated in Japan. To culture freshwater waters, workers would slightly open mussels shells, cut small slits into the mantle tissue inside both shells, and insert small pieces of live mantle tissue from another mussel into those slits. In freshwater mussels that insertion alone is sufficient to start nacre production.
Most cultured freshwater pearls are composed entirely of nacre, just like their natural freshwater and natural saltwater counterparts.
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| In 1950s, the Japanese experimented with freshwater mussels in a large lake near Kyoto. The all-nacre Biwa pearls formed in colors unseen in saltwater pearls. Almost instantly appealing, their luster and luminescent depth rivaled naturals because they were pearls throughout, just like natural freshwater pearls.
The Chinese are nucleating mussels with their own tissue-cultured freshwater pearls, which result in all-nacre round or almost round pearls. "Aiming for an even higher percentage of rounds, the Chinese are even reshaping reject freshwater pearls into spheres, then nucleating mussels with them. That process and technique has radically altered freshwater culturing, making saltwater and freshwater techniques indistinguishable."
They have also introduced a new type of culturing, nucleating with small tissue-nucleated pearls. As freshwater pearls selling from OrientalPearls.net, are all-nacre, some have nacre-coated nuclei.
"After one experimenter used small off-round naturals as nuclei, he sent the resulting freshwater pearls to a gem lab and received a report identifying them as "naturals."
"If pearl farmers can grow cultured pearls that test as naturals, the market may be in for a wild ride."
Special thanks to Fred Ward, who is a gemologist and author of the book "Pearls" (Gem Book Publishers, Bethesda, Maryland, 1998) |
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