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.
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.
Because they're products of nature, every real pearl is slightly different, just like snowflakes or fingerprints. Most pearls won't be perfect spheres — they'll usually be slightly oblong or have minor defects. If your pearls look perfectly round to you, there's a good chance they're artificial.
Authentic Pearls: Natural and Cultured Pearls
First and foremost, both natural pearls and cultured pearls are 100% authentic pearls because both are produced by mollusks such as oysters and mussels. The primary difference between these two types of pearls is how the pearl formation process begins.
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.
Sometimes, you can tell just by looking at the color of the pearl. 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.
It's pretty much impossible to tell the difference between a natural and cultured pearl by just looking at its outer appearance. The only way to make absolute certain whether a pearl is natural or not is to perform an x-ray of the internal structure of the pearl.
The cleaner the surface of the pearl, the more valuable it is. Look for an absence of disfiguring spots, bumps or cracks on the surface of a pearl, also known as "cleanliness." Notice that the highest quality pearls have a sharp, mirror-like reflection.
The value of a pearl can vary dramatically depending on many factors, such as pearl type, size, color, surface quality, and more. A wild pearl will be worth more than a cultured pearl. So, how much are pearls worth? To keep it short, on average, a pearl's value ranges from $300 to $1500.
Due to their rarity and the difficulty of collecting them, they were considered more valuable than gold. The value of pearls depends on many aspects, such as: size, shape, color, luster, surface smoothness, transparency, and if you buy more – their price is also influenced by the fit and similarity of each piece.
The most classic and widely preferred pearl color is white. The white pearl is considered a symbol of purity, and is often associated with wedding and graduation celebrations.
Akoya pearls are the preeminent cultured pearls. They are the pearls that the Mikimoto brand popularized. Prized by royalty and pearl connoisseurs for centuries, Akoya pearls have long been coveted for their perfectly round shape, richness, and deep luster.
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.
Natural pearls are formed in oysters when an irritant enters their shell. The pearl begins to form a sheen around the foreign substance as an act of defense against it. In a similar way, freshwater pearls are created when an irritant enters the oyster, but this irritant is put into the shell by a human.
FTC Jewelry Guidelines refer to the definitions of pearls: Natural pearls are made by oyster and other mollusks. Cultured pearls are grown by mollusks, but with human intervention: an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass, plastic, or organic materials.
Genuine pearls are shinier than fake pearls. You can measure shine in luster, which is the intensity and softness of a pearl's surface, it generally has to do with how bright and clear a pearl looks. Natural pearls have more shine than artificial ones because they're made from natural materials.
The Vinegar Test
A real pearl will dissolve in vinegar or show erosion where the vinegar drop meets its surface. This is because of the chemical reaction between the acid in the vinegar and calcium carbonate, the primary chemical that a real pearl is made of.
South Sea pearls are generally much larger than other pearl types and have a unique luster quality – a soft reflection due to the large aragonite platelets that make up the pearl. They also have the thickest average nacre of all cultured pearls. These factors make South Seas both distinctive and valuable.
Real pearls are cold to the touch. Regardless of the weather, they slowly warm up as you wear them. On the other hand, fake pearls are warm to the touch and don't change temperature. So if you're feeling a cold sensation when you wear your pearls, they're likely real.
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.
Pearl jewelry usually turns yellow as time passes because they dry out. If there is no air circulation and moisture where pearls are kept, their organic composition begins to change, which results in that yellowing.
Because they offer a wider diversity of colors, shapes, and sizes than any other type of pearl, freshwater pearls are often used in fanciful designer jewelry. In addition to the traditional white body color, these pearls come in a rainbow of natural pastel colors such as lavender, pink, and every shade in between.