Saltwater or Freshwater Pearls? How to Tell the Difference
Most people when they imagine a pearl are picturing perfect large round spherical gems, creamy white in colour with a shimmery iridescent surface. The reality is that pearls are usually irregular in shape, each one is different and to find a perfectly round one is rare, not to mention trying to make a whole necklace of pearls that are all more or less the same. Natural pearls are the rarest and most highly valued variety, but nowadays most pearl jewellery is made from cultured or farmed pearls, which are grown on pearl farms across the world by inserting a bead nucleus inside an oyster or mussel shell to encourage the formation of a pearl. Apart from whether a pearl is cultured or natural the other major varieties are the saltwater or freshwater pearl, which both have their own different properties.
Saltwater pearls are found in pearl oysters which live in the ocean, and produce the classic round white or cream pearls that have remained so desirable and sought after throughout history. Cultured saltwater pearls are more likely to be round than those grown in freshwater farms as they are usually formed by artificially placing a rounded nucleus inside the oyster’s shell to enhance the shape. The Japanese Akoya is the most popular type of cultured saltwater pearl and is much sought after for its large size and relatively regular shape, making them more expensive than the freshwater variety. Although there are still some natural saltwater pearls, they are becoming more and more rare because of increased levels of pollution.
The most common type of pearl available today are freshwater pearls, which are mostly produced in China using freshwater mussels and come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes and colours. The natural colours of freshwater pearls are various shades of white, pink, cream and lilac but they can be easily dyed any other colour to be used for jewellery. It is easier to farm freshwater pearls than saltwater, making them cheaper to buy as jewellery, though it is rare for them to be perfectly round and a necklace of cultured freshwater pearls will hardly ever be all the same size and shape.
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