Pearl Types

Pearls used in jewelry fall into three categories – natural pearl, cultured Pearl and simulated pearl.

Commercially, cultured pearls are of far greater important than natural pearls. A necklace of cultured saltwater pearls of similar size is within reach of a wide range of jewelry wearers. The modern improvements in the production of cultured freshwater pearls extend the price range even further. There are two types of cultured pearl: nucleus cultured pearls and non-nucleus cultured pearls.

The cross section pictures of them can tell the differences between them easily:

The most important commercial cultured pearls include freshwater cultured pearls, South Sea cultured pearls, Akoya cultured pearls and Tahitian cultured pearls.

The natural pearls are not common in commercial pearl market because of the high price, so when we mention freshwater pearls, South Sea pearls, Akoya pearls and Tahitian pearls, we refer to cultured pearls.

The chart below shows the important commercial cultured pearl types.