Akoya, Freshwater and South Sea pearls: when to choose one or the other

Introduction

Akoya, Freshwater and South Sea are the main types of pearl used in contemporary jewellery. They share the same organic origin, and they differ in appearance, size, use and effect.

Knowing these differences helps in choosing a pearl with awareness, according to the style of the jewel, the setting in which it will be worn, and personal preference.

What follows rests on gemmological criteria shared internationally and on the experience gathered in selecting and working pearls in fine jewellery.

Akoya pearls

Akoya pearls are cultured in Japan, in the cold bays of the archipelago. They have been prized for a century for two qualities: the sharpness of their lustre, that is, the light the surface sends back, and the regularity of their shape. To these is added a lively orient: the iridescence that surfaces from beneath, a property distinct from lustre. Diameters stay contained, usually between seven and eight millimetres.

They are the pearl of the classic strand, where every gem must resemble the one beside it, and they are chosen for necklaces, earrings and jewels of a refined language.

Freshwater pearls

Freshwater pearls are cultured in China. They stand out for their wide range of shapes, sizes and natural colours: the colour runs from white to pink, to purple, to peach, to lavender. Diameters reach twenty millimetres and beyond, and the large-diameter Freshwater pearls are the ones the market calls Edison.

The freshwater pearl is made almost entirely of pearl material, and from that structure comes its compactness. Its variety makes it suited to jewels of a creative, everyday character, in which the singularity of the gem is part of the aesthetic value.

South Sea pearls

South Sea pearls are among the rarest and most precious. The white ones are cultured in Australia. They are recognised by their considerable size — starting at eight millimetres and reaching sixteen, up to twenty-two for the Australian whites — and by a warm colour that descends from the inner rim of the shell. Every pearl calls for long growing times and careful selection.

They are chosen for important jewels, in which the pearl is the protagonist and becomes the centre of the composition.

How to choose the most suitable pearl

The choice between Akoya, Freshwater and South Sea depends on the style of the jewel, the occasion, the size desired and the overall aesthetic language.

Each type has a merit of its own: the question is which suits a given project and the person who will wear it. The baroque shape, for example, runs across every type of pearl, and opens the way to a design built around the single gem.