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.
This Melo Melo pearl possesses what is perhaps the most beautiful feature of these exquisite pearls, something only 1 percent of Melo Melo pearls exhibit: the flamelike markings that dance across the surface. Melo Melo pearls take decades to grow in these sea snails—and they occur only naturally.
The most famous pearl in art history is undoubtedly the one worn in Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring (c 1665), which is about the same dimensions as La Peregrina. However, it was impossible that the impoverished Vermeer could have gained access to a pearl even remotely as big as that.
Currently, the largest confirmed gem pearl, the Pearl of Allah, also known as the Pearl of Lao Tze, weighs 14 pounds and its estimated worth is a mere $35 million. This pearl was also found off the coast of Palawan Island, Philippines, in 1934.
If an oyster that typically produces white pearls has an unusual black coloring in its nacre, it too can create a blackish pearl. This, however, is rare; it occurs in only one in 10,000 pearls.
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.
Because mother of pearl is much less rare than pearl gemstones, it does not hold value as well. Considering that there is a much larger supply of mother of pearl, it's easy to understand why it is so affordable. While pearl jewelry will retain its value forever, this isn't necessarily true for mother of pearl jewelry.
Typical Price Range: Low: below US$100. Average: US$150 – US$300. Fine Quality: US$400 – US$6,000 or more.
Low quality freshwater pearls can be bought for as little as $20, while average quality pearls sell for anywhere between $30 and $50. Fine quality freshwater pearls can fetch between $65 and $5,000, or more in certain cases.
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.
They are “exceptionally rare” — occurring in about one in 5,000 shells — according to the International Gem Society.
These pearls have become some of the most sought-after, expensive pearls in the world. Because of their vast color range, matching these pearls into a finished strand is an enormous task requiring thousands of loose pearls to create a single strand.
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.
Some of the world's most expensive pearls are so notoriously difficult to successfully produce and harvest that they are 'rarer than gold'.
The world's oldest natural pearl has been discovered on an island off Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The 8,000-year-old pearl was found during excavations at Marawah Island which also revealed the earliest architecture in the UAE.
Related Stories. The Color: Their colors range from peach to pastel pink—dark pink is the rarest and most coveted.
Excellent examples of mother of pearl have recently sold for thousands of dollars, with some of the most exquisite antique pieces fetching upwards of $10,000.
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.
Harvesting Pearls
Some oysters can produce two to three pearls over the course of their lifetime, but only an oyster with pearls of good quality will repeat the process of producing a pearl.
The natural golden colour is said to be the rarest. A Pearl can double in price from one millimeter size to the next. For example a 12mm Perfect South Sea Pearl may be $1,000 and a 13mm Pearl with exactly the same characteristics might be $2,000 the increase in one mm in size literally makes that much difference.
Pearl powder is edible and can be mixed in drinks, including smoothies, water, coffee, or tea.
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.
The shiny nacre that develops on the inside of the shell and essentially “gives birth” to a pearl by transferring that nacre to the foreign object is the mother of pearl.
Gemmologists consider pearls to be as rare and precious as diamonds. Pearls are found all over the world, but natural pearling is now confined to the Persian Gulf. Australia is also a source for pearls, and fleets of diving boats harvest these from the Indian Ocean.
So, the simple answer of whether pearl farms kill the oyster is.. yes. The end goal of a pearl farm is to breed the mollusks, produce the pearl and ultimately kill the oyster. The mussel meat is then eaten and the shell is repurposed into mother of pearl inlay and other decorative accessories.