Perhaps the best-loved gems of all time, pearls—both natural and modern
Gold Pearls
One of the largest and rarest pearls found around the world is Gold in color. They are Golden South Sea pearls, cultured in the Philippine Islands. Golden South Sea pearls have only been available to pearl lovers since the late 1970s, and are known as the “Rolls Royce” of cultured pearls.
Grey pearls reflect qualities like dignity, patience, wisdom, progress, self-control, focus and security.
Tahitian pearls are harvested from black-lipped oysters in the temperate coastal waters of French Polynesia. They are known for being the only naturally occurring “black pearls” – typically sporting a glossy, metallic, grey colouring.
Grey freshwater pearls, which come from the mollusk Hyriopsis cumingii, are significantly more common (and therefore less valuable) than saltwater pearls, but they are nonetheless extremely beautiful and intriguing.
Dyed pearls can have colors that aren't in the palette of natural pearls. These include neons, bright colors like hot pink and overly metallic lustres and shine on the surface of the pearl. Colours that can occur naturally are white, cream, grey, purple, black, pink, champagne or golden, blue and lavender.
Perhaps the best-loved gems of all time, pearls—both natural and modern cultured pearls—occur in a wide variety of colors. The most familiar colors are white and cream (a light yellowish brown). Black, gray, and silver are also fairly common, but the palette of pearl colors extends to every hue.
Grey pearls
Create a pared back look with a white blouse, navy blazer, simple grey pearl earrings and a single strand grey pearl necklace to tie everything together. For a more casual approach, pair grey pearls with a fine-knit ochre jumper or a teal cardigan with a crisp white t-shirt underneath.
Greyish colors of any depth also require color treatment, as freshwater typical colors include only a few very pale bluish tones. They are on the other hand the most common colors of non-nucleated ocean pearl cultivation by-products, ie ocean keshi pearls.
Clean with a damp cloth only as needed.
If your pearls are visibly stained, you can mix a solution of lukewarm water and mild dish soap, dip a soft cleaning cloth in it and wipe the pearls. Do NOT submerge a pearl necklace in water, as it will weaken the silk thread.
Light grey pearls work brilliantly with jewel tones like purple, red and emerald green. This is because when worn together, these juxtaposing shades create a balanced look - the grey tones down the intensity of the jewel colour.
Akoya Pearl Colors
The most common colors that Akoya pearls come in are white to grey, with pink, green, or silver overtones.
South Sea pearls are often referred to as the Rolls Royce of pearls. They are the largest and most valuable pearls grown today, with average sizes ranging from 10 to 15 millimeters. South Sea pearls grow in a large pearl oyster native to Australia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia.
The Australian South Sea Pearls are the Jewels of the Ocean and are the rarest and most highly prized pearls in the world. They are known as the Queen of Pearls.
Perfectly Round pearls are the rarest and most valuable shape there is! Pearl producing mollusks are usually nucleated with spherical bead nuclei (in the hopes that the resulting pearl will be a perfect Round).
Astrology says that the people whose zodiac signs lords are Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Rahu should never wear pearls. Pearls harm the natives of these zodiac signs. This means that people of Taurus, Gemini, Virgo, Capricorn and Aquarius ascendant should not wear pearls.
When it comes to pearls, certain zodiac signs can benefit from wearing them more than others. Namely, Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are all water signs known for their sensitivity and intuition. Cancer signs are said to be particularly drawn to pearls.
Did you know that pink pearls represent success and good fortune?
White South Sea pearl conchiolin is usually colorless to light grey and pale beige, which allows the pearl to present that “bright white” appearance that is so well-loved.
A natural pearl may show growth lines where concentric layers of nacre have been added. Cultured pearls on the other hand will appear to have a perfectly rounded nucleus that's surrounded by a halo of conchiolin and finally a thin outer layer.
The most revered and highly prized pearl in the world, The Australian South Sea Pearl is cultured in the Pinctada maxima oyster from the pristine coastal waters of northern Western Australia.
The most common color for pearls is white, cream, pink, purple, but they also come in colors such as champagne, chocolate, blue, gold, silver and lavender. Some pearls have stunning overtones that exhibit multicolors.
"All these pearls are coming out of the same oysters in the same water — something must have been done to produce that range of colors," says Ward. Dyed pearls are typically lower-priced than comparable untreated cultured pearls.
Akoya Pearls: These pearls represent some of the best cultured pearls available today. Known for their metallic luster and perfectly round shape, they are regarded as the classic white pearl. While most Akoya pearls are farmed in Japan, China and Vietnam both produce Akoya pearls as well.