TAHITIAN OR BLACK SOUTH SEA PEARLS

Tahitian pearls are some of the most treasured pearls in the world, highly valued due to their rarity. They are cherished for their incredible exotic colours and mirror-like lustre.

Because they are usually dark coloured, Tahitian pearls are often called black pearls. But in fact they present a wide spectrum of colours including peacock green, silver green, blue, aubergine, silver, and charcoal.

They are produced by the saltwater black-lipped oyster Pinctada Margaritifera, which is found in French Polynesian islands. Tahitian pearls are bead-nucleated and come in sizes ranging from 7mm to 14 mm, the 14mm pearls being the rarest and most valuable.

All Tahitian pearls intended for export are inspected and x-rayed by the local marine resource department to make sure they have a minimum nacre layer thickness of 0.8mm distributed over 80% of the pearl. Pearls that do not match these criteria are not permitted for export and are destroyed.

Tahitian pearls are thought to be exclusively produced in Tahiti, but there are no pearl farms actually located on the island. Tahiti is in fact the commercial centre for the pearl industry. Pearl farms are located all over French Polynesia, as far east as the Gambier Islands, and stretching west into the Micronesian and Cook Islands.

WHITE/GOLD SOUTH SEA PEARLS

White South Sea pearls are known for their extraordinary beauty. They come in an array of shades that includes white with overtones of ivory, silver and rose. Perfect round shaped pearls are the best and rarest kind of White South Sea pearls.

They come in sizes that range from 10mm to 20mm and are produced by the giant silver-lip and gold-lip PinctadaMaxima oysters. White South Sea Pearls are primarily farmed in the world's most prolific pearl beds, in the pristine oceanic environment of northwest Australia. The rarest and largest pearl oysters in the world can also be found in Indonesia, the Philippines and other Pacific Islands.

MABE PEARLS

Mabe are attractive hemispherical shaped pearls that grow against the inside of the oyster’s shell, rather than within its tissue.Blister pearls are ‘worked’ by cutting the pearl out of the shell with a circle-bit drill. The nucleus is then removed and replaced with a resin. The back of the pearl is capped with a piece of mother-of-pearl to complete the mabe pearl.

Mabe pearls are often used for jewellery items such as rings, earrings and pendants, rather than for stringing on necklaces. They tend to be very beautiful with high lustre and orient.

KEISHI PEARLS

Keishi are non-beaded pearls formed by accident as a by-product of the pearl culturing operation. They are formed when the oyster rejects and spits out the implanted nucleus before the culturing process is complete.

Keishi pearls are generally small in size, and because there is no nucleus, their shapes vary. They have a unique charm and are renowned for their high lustre and shimmering surface due to their solid-nacre composition. Keishi pearls are typically baroque in shape and are used mainly to decorate earrings, bracelets, and necklaces.