Abalone Pearls are natural pearls found in the gastropod mollusk Haliotis. The pearls are most often an iridescent blue color and the most common shape is the horn.
Akoya Pearls
Akoya pearls are bead-nucleated cultured pearls produced in the Pinctada fucata martensii and Pinctada fucata chemnitzii primarily in Japan, China, Vietnam, South Korea and Australia.
Caring for Pearls
Pearls are the world's only organic gem and are composed of calcium carbonate. This means special attention is required to ensure pearls will stay beautiful and last a lifetime.
Conch Pearls
A Conch Pearl is a non-nacreous, calcareous concretion produced primarily by the Queen Conch (Strombus gigas). Conch pearls often exhibit a flame-like pattern due to concentrically arranged calcium carbonate plateles in a lamellar fasion.
Cortez Pearls
Cortez pearls are pearls grown in the Pinctada maxima and Pteria sterna mollusks in the Gulf of California.
Cultured Pearls
A cultured pearl is any pearl grown with the influence of human intervention.
Famous Pearls
Freshwater Pearls
Freshwater pearls are pearls which grow in non-saline environment in freshwater mussels.
GIA 7 Pearl Value Factors
Grading Pearls
Pearl Grading is the practice of assigning degrees of quality to a pearl or a piece of pearl jewellery based of the quality attributes designated by industry best practices and authority groups such as GIA and EGL.
History of Pearls
The 4000 Year History of Pearls
Pearls have been prized and collected for more than 4000 years, giving them the title of the world's oldest gem.
Keshi Pearls
A keshi pearl is a non-beaded pearl formed by accident as a by-product of a pearl culturing operation.
Kokichi Mikimoto
Kokichi Mikimoto (1858-1954) was the first to successfully market cultured pearls. Using a technique developed by William Sawville-Kent and brought to Japan by Tatushei Mise and Tokishi Nishikawa he successfully cultured whole akoya pearls and founded the modern cultured pearl industry.
Mabe Pearls
A mabe pearl is a worked and assembled blister pearl (attached to the shell).
Melo Melo Pearls
A melo melo pearl is a non-nacreous, natural calcareous concretion by the marine gastropod melo melo.
By far, the hardest to obtain pearls on Earth are those of the marine "baler" snail, found in the Indo-Pacific region: round, smooth and sometimes quite large.