• Saltwater pearls typically substantially more than freshwater.
• Freshwater pearls come in a wide variety of fancy colors.
• Don’t confuse half or three-quarter pearls, which are cut, with the natural dome shape of Mabe pearls.

You can either have saltwater pearls, or freshwater pearls, or both! Here’s a couple critical details about each:

Saltwater Pearls:

1. The most popular, and arguably the best, sea pearls are the Akoya Japanese pearls (famous for the quality of their classic whites,) and the South Sea variety, which are typically much larger than Akoyas. There are also the naturally black Tahitian types as well.

2. Saltwater pearls are usually more costly than freshwater because of higher production costs.

1. Freshwater pearls are grown in Mussels in lakes and rivers and each mussel can yield up to 30 pearls per harvest!

2. Lake Biwa in Japan has long been known as the king of freshwater pearls, to such an extent that Biwa has become synonymous with freshwater pearls. But Lake Biwa has dried up, so finding authentic Biwa’s is very difficult.

3. Freshwater pearls are grown in many countries and don’t require a nucleus for production. Rather, a tissue graft from the mantel of the mussel begins the process. This means that these pearls are almost completely nacre.

4. Freshwater pearls are available in a far wider color range than saltwater, including purple, violet, orange, blue and gray.

5. Except for round pearls, freshwater cost quite a bit less than their salty relatives.

American Freshwater Pearls:

1. Mainly from Tennessee, these unique freshwater gems are produced like the saltwater variety, with a nucleus.

2. American freshwater’s are allowed to mature for much longer than all other cultured pearls (up to 5 years, compared to 1 year for most others.) And, again, the longer the growth, the thicker the nacre. Giving American pearls an unusually high luster and orient.

There are other types of pearls as well, like the saltwater Mabe variety, which are dome shaped. Solid Blister Pearls are also dome shaped, but from freshwater. Then there are Seed, or Keshi pearls which are tiny gems typically found in antique jewelry. Ringed pearls are naturally occurring rings around the gem and can make for a unique style statement. Half, and Three-quarter pearls are gems that have been cut and placed on borders of jewelry. They are not the same as Mabe or Solid Blister’s which grow in the dome shape naturally.