The most common source of confusion among pearl fans is understanding Cultured Pearls and how they differ from Natural Pearls. Cultured or Natural, all pearls are a rare and beautiful gift of nature. Most gems are fashioned by cutting and polishing, while pearls need only to be helped at the start when natural or man-made irritants are used to begin the growth process.
Natural Pearls form in nature when an accidental irritant such as sand, a parasite or any foreign object enters an oyster. In a defensive response, the mollusk begins secreting nacre, thin layers of calcium carbonate in an attempt to cover the offending object. Due to the varying shapes of natural irritants entering the mollusk, the pearls created by the continual layering of nacre will almost always be misshapen. Only in rare cases will a natural pearl occur in a spherical shape, making it impossible to supply commercial quantities of round necklaces.
A Cultured Pearl is formed in much the same way, but with man supplying the initial irritant to begin the pearl growth process. Pearl farmers use a round mother-of-pearl shell or a piece of mantle tissue, which they insert into the soft tissue of the mollusk or oyster. Pearls are grown over several years (2 to 6 years on average), under the constant care of farmers keeping a watchful eye on their crop. It is important to note that the Cultured Pearls does not refer to one type of pearl, but any pearl that begins by man starting the growth process. While there are several varieties of Cultured Pearls, the most popular types are Akoya, South Sea and Freshwater Pearls.
We will continue to update the site with more detailed information on each variety of Cultured Pearl. If you have any questions, be sure to leave them in the comments section so we can include the answers in future posts.
[...] closest Cultured Pearl to Natural Pearls – Using a tiny irritant has created a cultivation process that closely mimics the Natural Growth [...]
I love pearls so i am very happy to learn how it is produced. howerever I will like to learn more….. like the different kinds of cultured pearls and how to identify them
Hi Jacqueline, The following post covers the major differences between the three varieties of cultured pearls: http://www.honora.com/blog/freshwater-pearls/freshwater-pearls-made-simple-three-types-of-cultured-pearls/
As for identifying them, shape and size are usually your best indications. Something that is perfectly round, on the more expensive side with a more silvery luster is usually Akoya. The Freshwater pearls can be near round, but even at the highest qualities you can see a slight natural shape to them. The luster also tends to be creamier by nature. As for south sea, they are significantly larger and significantly more expensive than both varieties.
With Freshwater you also get the widest range of shapes. This is because there is no bead guiding the growth. You can learn more about all of the Freshwater Shapes here: http://www.honora.com/shapes/coin-pearls/
You will also see variety of shape with South Sea and Akoya. With South Sea you will see drops and ringed shape pearls. With Akoya, you will often see drops, but there is far less variety of shape than you see in Freshwater because of both of these varieties use a bead nucleated process for growth rather than the tissue nucleation you see in Freshwater.
Let me know if you have any additional questions.