Akoya Pearls are the classic, round white pearls that most people are familiar with. They’re mainly cultivated in Japan and China in a saltwater oyster species called Pinctada fucata martensii. Natural Akoya pearls grown in this species are extremely rare. While those impressive million-dollar pearls may be out of reach, finding the sweet spots of value is actually not that difficult. When buying a piece of pearl jewellery, try using the information discussed in this guide. Remember to balance the rarity of the gems with your preferred styles and desirability. Make sure you buy from reputable or established stores and dealers who are specialised in pearls and pearl grading. If you’re in the market to get a valuation for how much your pearls are worth, always get a few quotes from expert appraisers. When other value factors are the same, the higher the lustre, the more valuable the pearl is. The lustre of some fine quality pearls can be so intense that it is almost metallic. Pearl lustre is the intensity and sharpness of the light reflected from a pearl’s surface. In other words, it shows how bright and shiny a pearl is. Pearl lustre is considered the most important quality attribute of all the 7 pearl value factors. Fine quality pearls will always display high lustre with bright and sharp reflections.

In general, there’re 7 factors that affect the pearl value: shape, size, colour, lustre, surface quality, nacre quality and matching. Like the 4Cs of diamond valuation, the pearl’s 7 value factors are created by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to standardise pearl grading systems. They represent the main components of a pearl’s characteristics and beauty in a more balanced and comprehensive manner. One thing you might not realise is that saltwater pearls like Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian are more likely to be round than freshwater pearls. Why? Because in saltwater pearls a round bead is inserted to encourage pearl to grow into a round shape whereas a piece of tissue is used in freshwater pearl cultivation. Now you can see - it is much rarer for a natural pearl to form a perfectly round shape than its cultured counterpart. One thing to bear in mind – some jewellery intentionally mismatches pearls to achieve a specific look. What matters in this case is the visual harmony of the design rather than the uniformity mentioned above. The Value of Conch Pearls and Melo Pearls It’s worth noting that different pearl type has its own unique characteristics and benchmarks. Therefore, you cannot simply take each value factor and use it to assess two different types of pearls.But hold on – notice we use the word “potentially”. That’s right! Not all natural pearls are worth more than cultured pearls. Why? Because the beauty and value of a pearl relies on many other factors, such as size, shape, colour, lustre and nacre quality.

To begin the process, a skilled technician takes mantle tissue from a sacrificed mollusk of the same species and inserts a shell bead along with a small piece of mantle tissue into a host mollusk’s gonad, or several pieces of mantle tissue without beads into a host mollusk’s mantle. If a bead is used, the mantle tissue grows and forms a sac around it and secretes nacre inward and onto the bead to eventually form a cultured pearl. If no bead is used, nacre forms around the individual implanted mantle tissue pieces. Workers tend the mollusks until the cultured pearls are harvested. Pearl Types If you’re an avid follower of luxury fashion and jewellery, you probably have noticed some of the spectacular record-breaking prices set by natural pearls in recent auctions.Depending on the waters they’re grown in, pearls can be divided into freshwater pearls and saltwater pearls (which are grown in sea water). There’re generally 3 types of saltwater pearls: Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian. Each pearl type, including freshwater, grows in a specific pearl-bearing oyster species in a unique habitat that is indigenous to certain regions of the world.