Pearls - June's Birthstone
- nottingham27
- Jun 9
- 3 min read
by
While sapphires, rubies and diamonds develop as mineral underground, PEARLS form organically within various freshwater and saltwater mollusks. The formation of the June birth stone is caused by an irritation within the oyster that stimulates it to pour out a fluid which encases the foreign body in nacre creating the layers of the pearl. Cultured pearls have the irritant manually inserted to promote the production of nacre.
Pearls are said to show vitality, beauty and innocence. In History it is said that Julius Caeser banned women below a certain rank from wearing pearls as they were considered to be the prized emblems of nobility.
Different types of pearls means that they come in a vast range of colours shapes and sizes, here are a few:
The Akoya pearl is a saltwater cultured pearl from the akoya oyster, with the vast majority being farmed in Japan they are considered to be the classic pearl used for most pearl jewellery. Due to its perfect round shapes, bright mirror like luster and neutral colours.
Unlike other freshwater mussels akoya oysters rarely produce more than two pearls per harvest. The oysters are nucleated with a bead which becomes the nucleus of the pearl and is the reason that akoya pearls are often perfectly round. The shape combines with the high luster give akoya pearls a higher perceived value.
Unlike the more common pearl types, Tahitian pearls typically have a naturally dark appearance with a remarkable colour range from light creamy white and grey to greens, iridescent peacock and black, making the task of matching these pearls into a complete strand an enormous one.
Tahitian pearls were only popularised as early as the mid-1900s but have become some of the most expensive pearls in the world. They are farmed in French Polynesia and are formed in black-lip pearl oysters which have a rainbowlike mantle which exhibits all natural colours, different to black freshwater and black akoya pearls, which have been irradiated or dyed, Tahitians get their colour naturally.
Although freshwater pearls are the most commonly produced pearls their unique shapes and wide range of colours combined with their attractive prices make them a favourite among jewellers.
A single freshwater pearl mussel can produce up to 50 pearls at a time! Freshwater pearls are produced by Triangle and Biwa shells commercially in China and other bivalve mussels that live in lakes, riverbeds and creek bottoms in Japan and the United States. In addition to white, these pearls come in a rainbow of natural pastel colours such as lavender and pink, most come in coin shapes, buttons, rice off round and potato shapes with round being the most valuable
South Sea pearls are among the most valuable pearls produced today. The warm golden tones of the Golden South Sea pearls are completely natural, the deeper the golden colour the more valuable the pearl will be. Produced by the gold-lip south sea pearl oyster and the silver-lipped variety, South Sea pearls are quite large and have a growth period of 2-4 years. Not all pearls will be as perfectly spherical as other saltwater pearls therefore a typical harvest will have a large number of drop, button and baroque pearls.
Attempts to expand the South Sea pearl farming haven’t been successful because the oysters do no thrive outside their native environment, this has lead to limited amounts of South Sea pearls adding to their value.
Both our Groby and Nottingham stores have a large selection of Pearl jewellery to view and we are always happy to source the perfect pearl or pearls for your unique piece.
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