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.
The color pearl is a pale tint of off-white.
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.
While pearls can naturally occur in every hue and be very saturated in color, pearl colors can be treated to alter their appearance. The most common color treatment is dyeing, and it is more common with freshwater pearls than saltwater pearls.
Pearls are often dyed green, silver, black, or dark gold to meet market demand. Saltwater Akoya oysters, on the other hand, can produce exquisite pearl colors, such as silver-blue, but these are very expensive due to their high quality and scarcity.
The important distinction with these types of pearls is that black is not a naturally occurring color, and the dark colorations are achieved through the use of an organic dye. Black freshwater and black akoya pearls do not naturally. The color is always the product of treatment.
Freshwater cultured pearls come in a breathtaking variety of colors: pink, gold, blue, green, peach, lavender, gray, white and cream. Because they are so abundant (and often inexpensive), freshwater pearls are also often dyed bolder, fashionable colors such as black, copper, red or other bright colors.
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.
How are natural pearls identified? Natural pearls have a thicker nacre or “skin” when compared to cultured pearls. When held against a concentrated light source, a pearl with a thick nacre will show concentric growth lines, where layer after layer of nacre was added over time as described above.
Observe how the color looks around and inside the drill hole. If the pearl is natural, the color of the pearl will go all the way through, but if you notice that the nacre inside is white, while the surface of the pearl is another color, then it's likely been dyed.
Some of the world's most expensive pearls are so notoriously difficult to successfully produce and harvest that they are 'rarer than gold'.
White and Golden South Sea pearls are the largest and most luxurious of all cultured pearl types on the market today. Often called the “Queen of Pearls”, South Sea pearls feature a gorgeous palette of natural Golden and White colors that shimmer with delicate overtones and are simply unmistakable.
A black pearl can also be formed from a white pearl-producing oyster that has an unusual black colouring in its nacre. This, however, is very rare and occurs in only one in 10,000 pearls.
South Sea. 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.
How Much Are Real Pearls Worth? A traditional strand of white pearls can range from $100 (Freshwater pearl necklace) to $10,000 (Akoya pearl necklace). A strand of large, flawless South Sea pearls could even be valued as high as $100,000+ .
Pearls are made by marine oysters and freshwater mussels as a natural defence against an irritant such as a parasite entering their shell or damage to their fragile body. The oyster or mussel slowly secretes layers of aragonite and conchiolin, materials that also make up its shell.
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.
The pearl tooth test involves taking a pearl and rubbing it along the biting edge of your teeth. If the pearl is natural, it should feel gritty. A fake pearl will feel slippery and smooth. Some fake pearls will not even massage because they have been created using glass or synthetic materials.
Pearls tend to be significantly less expensive in comparison to diamonds, offering a more affordable option for budget-conscious couples.
Today, natural pearls are extremely rare. Only 1 in about 10,000 wild oysters will yield a pearl and of those, only a small percentage achieve the size, shape and colour desirable to the jewellery industry.
The Pearling Trail in Bahrain, which is an important part of the country's culture, has been formally recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Due to these above-mentioned factors, we can say that: 'Bahrain' is the country known to be the 'Island of pearls'. Thus the correct answer is 'Bahrain'.
Freshwater pearls are cheaper because they are easier to extract, making sea pearls more valued. Why? Sea pearls are larger, more beautiful in shape, luster, smoother surface and, of course, much more expensive than freshwater pearls.
Like many things in life, pearls age. As these precious gems age, they go through a natural process that changes the composition of the organic substances that make them up. This causes them to change color. Yellow pearls typically indicate that pearls are real, since artificial pearls don't normally change color.
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.