Pearls have been treasured for thousands of years, and today they come in several distinct types, each grown by a different mollusc in a different part of the world. This guide covers the four main types, freshwater, akoya, South Sea and Tahitian, along with a little of the remarkable history that made pearls what they are, how they grow, and how to choose the type that suits you.
The main types of cultured pearl are freshwater, akoya, South Sea and Tahitian, named for where and how they grow. Freshwater are the most common and affordable, akoya the classic round white, South Sea the largest and most luxurious in white and gold, and Tahitian the naturally dark ones. Baroque and keshi describe a pearl's shape rather than its type.
A short history of pearls
Pearls are among the oldest treasured gems, worn and prized for at least four thousand years, long before anyone learned to cut a diamond. For most of that time a pearl was one of the rarest things on earth, because a natural pearl forms only by chance, when an irritant happens to lodge inside a wild oyster, and only a tiny fraction of oysters ever produce one worth wearing. That rarity made pearls the jewels of emperors, queens and pharaohs.
The stories that survive show just how prized they were. Legend has it that Cleopatra, to win a wager with Mark Antony over who could host the most extravagant banquet, dropped one of her enormous pearl earrings into a glass of wine, let it dissolve, and drank it. Centuries later, in 1513, a pearl was found in a lagoon off Panama that became known as La Peregrina, the wanderer. Roughly the size of a large grape, it passed through the Spanish crown, was given to Queen Mary I of England, travelled through European royalty for four hundred years, and in modern times was bought by the actor Richard Burton for Elizabeth Taylor. It sold at auction in 2011 for around 11.8 million US dollars.
La Pereginra, the 50 carat pear shaped natural pearl.
Everything changed at the very end of the nineteenth century. In Japan, a man named Kōkichi Mikimoto spent years trying to persuade an oyster to grow a pearl on purpose, and in 1893 he succeeded with his first cultured pearl. By the 1920s his perfected round cultured pearls had reached the world, and for the first time in history a beautiful pearl was something ordinary people could own, not just royalty. Almost every pearl worn today is a cultured pearl, a direct descendant of Mikimoto's breakthrough, and our guide to cultured vs natural pearls explains exactly how that works.
Left: Kōkichi Mikimoto, pioneer of the cultured pearl, who produced the first cultured pearl in 1893. Right: Ama divers, the traditional free-divers who harvested oysters for his enterprise.
How pearls grow, and how long it takes
A pearl grows when a mollusc coats an intruder inside its shell with layer upon layer of nacre, the same lustrous material that lines the shell itself. In a cultured pearl, a technician gently places a small bead or a piece of tissue inside the mollusc to begin the process, and then nature does the rest, wrapping it in nacre over months and years. The longer a pearl grows, the thicker its nacre and, usually, the deeper its lustre.
Different pearls take very different lengths of time. An akoya pearl grows for about one to two years and builds a relatively thin skin of nacre, while a South Sea pearl grows for two to four years and lays down nacre several times thicker, which is exactly what gives it that deep, satiny glow. A Tahitian pearl takes around eighteen months to two years. This is also why the type of pearl, and the mollusc that made it, shapes everything about how it looks.
Freshwater pearls
Freshwater pearls are the most common and the most affordable pearls, and the ones most people meet first. They are grown not in oysters but in freshwater mussels, in lakes, rivers and ponds, with China by far the largest producer today. A single mussel can grow many pearls at once, which is part of why they are more accessible than saltwater pearls.
Because most freshwater pearls are grown from a small piece of tissue rather than a bead, they are often solid nacre all the way through, which makes them durable and long-lasting. They come in the widest range of natural shapes, from near-round to oval and free-form, and in the softest colours, white, cream, and gentle pastel pinks, peaches and lavenders. Their lustre tends to be soft and satiny rather than sharp, and their easy price makes them perfect for everyday pieces.
Akoya pearls
The akoya is the classic pearl, the round, white, mirror-bright pearl that most people picture when they think of a pearl necklace. It is a saltwater pearl, grown mainly in Japan and China in the small akoya oyster, and it was the akoya that Mikimoto first cultured. Akoya pearls are usually modest in size, around 2 to 10mm, but they are famous for their lustre, which is sharper and more reflective than any other pearl, a bright, almost metallic shine.
Their colours are the traditional ones, white and cream with delicate rose, silver or ivory overtones. If you want the timeless, elegant pearl of a classic strand or a pair of studs, the akoya is it. There is a nice piece of history here too: it was the appetite for wild akoya pearls that nearly wiped out the oyster in the nineteenth century, and Mikimoto's culturing that ultimately saved it.
South Sea pearls
South Sea pearls are the largest and most luxurious of all, grown in the big Pinctada maxima oyster in the warm waters of Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Where an akoya is measured in single millimetres, South Sea pearls commonly run from 8 to 20mm, with a wonderful presence on the ear or at the neck. Because their oyster lays down very thick nacre over two to four years, their lustre is a soft, deep, satiny glow rather than a sharp shine.
They come in two great colours, each from a different variety of the oyster. The silver-lipped oyster produces white and silver pearls, while the gold-lipped oyster produces the rich, warm golden South Sea pearls that are among the most prized and valuable pearls in the world. Their size, their rarity and their long growing time make South Sea pearls the most expensive type.
Tahitian pearls
Tahitian pearls are the famous black pearls, and they are the only pearls that are naturally dark rather than dyed. They grow in the black-lipped oyster, Pinctada margaritifera, in the lagoons of French Polynesia around Tahiti, and despite the name they are rarely a flat black. Instead they shimmer in an extraordinary range of dark tones, grey, silver, deep green, aubergine and blue, with the most prized showing a shifting mix of colours known as peacock.
They are a relatively recent addition to the pearl world. Although European sailors had long known of wild black pearls, they were not successfully cultured until the 1960s, when the first crop was grown in the lagoon at Bora Bora using techniques borrowed from Japan. Today they are among the most sought-after pearls of all, usually 8 to 14mm, dramatic and unmistakable.
Baroque and keshi pearls
Two more words are worth knowing, because they describe a pearl's shape or origin rather than a place. A baroque pearl is simply one with an irregular, non-round shape, and any type of pearl can be baroque. Far from being lesser, baroque pearls are loved for their character and their often exceptional lustre, and no two are alike, which makes each piece one of a kind.
A keshi pearl is a small pearl made of solid nacre with no bead at its centre, formed as a natural byproduct of the culturing process when the mollusc rejects its bead but keeps growing nacre. Keshi pearls have wonderfully organic shapes and, because they are all nacre, an unusually bright lustre. They occur in both freshwater and saltwater.
| Type | Source, size and character | |
|---|---|---|
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Freshwater | Mussels, lakes and rivers. Varied shapes, white and pastel. The most affordable, soft satiny lustre. |
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Akoya | Saltwater oyster, Japan. Round, 2 to 10mm, white with rose overtones. The classic, sharp bright lustre. |
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South Sea | Pinctada maxima, Australia and Southeast Asia. 8 to 20mm, white and golden. The largest and most valuable. |
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Tahitian | Black-lipped oyster, French Polynesia. 8 to 14mm, naturally dark grey to peacock. Dramatic. |
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Baroque | Any type, irregular shape. Full of character, often high lustre, each one unique. |
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Keshi | Any water, solid nacre with no bead. Organic shapes, exceptionally bright. |
Which type of pearl should you choose?
There is no single best pearl, only the one that suits the piece, the occasion and the budget.
Choose freshwater pearls for beautiful everyday value, akoya for the classic round white pearl of a strand or studs, South Sea for a large, luxurious statement in white or gold, and Tahitian for something naturally dark and dramatic. Baroque and keshi pearls suit anyone who loves character and one-of-a-kind shapes. Whichever type you choose, follow the lustre first, since a pearl's glow matters more than its size or its name.
Types of pearls sit within our wider guide to pearls, alongside our guides to telling a real pearl and caring for pearls. You will find cultured pearls set in solid gold across our pearl bracelets, pearl studs and pearl pendants.
