When buying Pearls, the customer is presented with terminology they are not always familiar with. Akoya, Freshwater, Tahitian, South Sea… What do all these mean? In order to make the best decision when buying pearls, it is important to know the differences between these type of pearls and why some are more expensive than others. Listed here are the different types of Cultured Pearls and how they are cultured.South Sea PearlsSouth Sea Pearls are primarily cultured in the waters of Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia. Some will mistakenly include pearls found from the waters of Tahiti and French Polynesia and call them Black South Sea Pearls. The distinction between these two types of pearls are the oyster they are cultivated in. The South Sea Pearls are cultured in the silver or gold-lipped pearl oyster and the color of the South Sea Pearls are usually white or silver col fullfast ored, but they can also come in shades of yellow or blue-gray with pink or green overtones.The gold-lipped pearl oyster used to culture these pearls (Pinctada maxima) is the world’s largest pearl mother and is considered by experts to produce the best pearls in the world. The sizes of the pearls produced range in size from 10 to 20 millimeters, though pearls larger than 16 millimeters are rare. Their rarity and exceptional sizes make them highly prized. These are some of the largest and most expensive pearls available.Tahitian Pearls or Black South Sea PearlsSometimes referred to as Black South Sea Pearls, ‘Tahitian pearls’ are cultured in areas stretching from the Cook Islands, eastward through Tahiti to the Tuamotu Archipelago and the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. The are grown in the black-lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera) found in the atolls of these areas.
