Cultured or Freshwater

Q: What is the difference between freshwater and cultured pearls?

A: The vast majority of pearls on the market for the past 100 years have been cultured pearls. Natural pearls were the norm until the oyster and mussel beds were over harvested and nearly sent both these mollusk genii into extinction. Several resourceful individuals were developing the culturing process at about the same time and by the early part of the 20th century, the process was being used in all arenas of pearl farming. Freshwater pearls are cultured pearls as are Akoya and South Sea pearls. Culturing means that a nucleus of either a mother-of-pearl bead and a small piece of mantle tissue, or in the case of freshwater pearls simply a piece of mantle tissue, is surgically implanted into the mollusk. The nuclei act as an irritant so that the mollusk begins to deposit layers of nacre to protect itself. In this way the pearls are developed, the size and quality depending on a variety of factors including the amount of time the mollusk is allowed to gestate.
Many people confuse freshwater pearls with natural pearls because freshwater pearls do no have a bead nucleus. When freshwaters are x-rayed, they appear much the same as natural pearls for this reason. When one is buying natural pearls, it is a known entity and is done with purpose since they are the most rare and valuable of pearls. Generally, natural pearls are of interest to collectors, investors, and sometimes designers. We do offer a small selection of natural pearls on our site in their own category, the link to this page can be found in the top right-hand corner of our home page.