Pearl Varieties & Origins

Classifying Pearls

Broadly speaking, pearls fall into two main categories based on their origin: Freshwater Pearls and Saltwater Pearls.

• Freshwater Pearls: Formed in rivers and lakes, these pearls often display unique, non-spherical shapes. It's worth noting that China produces a whopping 95% of the world's freshwater pearls. The city of Zhuji in Zhejiang Province holds the title "Pearl Capital of China" and is the nation's largest freshwater pearl hub, accounting for over half of its total output.
• Saltwater Pearls: Cultivated in oceans and bays, these include well-known types like Japanese Akoya pearls and Hepu pearls from China.

From a cultivation perspective, we have Natural Pearls and Cultured Pearls. Interestingly, beyond the initial nucleus implantation step, natural and cultured pearls form in essentially the same way and environment. Culturing simply jumpstarts the process – it doesn't significantly harm the pearl's ultimate quality.

Looking at shape, pearls come in several distinct forms: Round, Oval, Button, Mabe, and Baroque.

Round Pearls
These are the classic spherical pearls. We further grade their roundness:

• Perfectly Round: The pinnacle of roundness! Also called "walking pearls" because they roll perfectly. Their diameter ratio (max diameter divided by min diameter) is within 1% variance.
• Round: Diameter ratio variance is between 1% and 5%.
• Near-Round: Diameter ratio variance falls between 5% and 10%.

Oval Pearls
As the name suggests, these are elongated spheres with a length-to-width ratio exceeding 10%. They can be:

• Short Oval: Less pronounced elongation.
• Long Oval: More distinctly elongated shape.

Button Pearls
These pearls are flattened, featuring one or two relatively flat sides. Common shapes include flattened circles, ovals, disc-like forms, diamonds, and squares.

Mabe Pearls
Mabe pearls (pronounced "mah-bay") are distinctive half-pearls. Cultivators create them by inserting a dome-shaped nucleus against the inside of the oyster's shell. The pearl grows attached to the shell, resulting in a stunning half-dome gem. Australia is renowned for producing the largest and highest-quality Mabe pearls, prized for their impressive size and brilliant luster.

Baroque Pearls
This is the "everything else" category! Baroque pearls encompass all uniquely shaped pearls that aren't round, oval, button, or Mabe. Expect to see captivating shapes like pears, teardrops, rice grains, potatoes, or beans.