Curiosity about Pearls – Roman Jesolo and Rossano Veneto Jewelery
Fresh water pearls
Fresh water pearls are pearls that have formed inside oysters that live in fresh water. They are larger in size than Akoya oysters which live in the sea and therefore are able to produce a greater quantity of pearls.
The main cultivation sites of these molluscs are in China, Vietnam and East Asia.
Akoya pearls
By far the best known of these pearls are produced mostly in the seas of Japan from Pinctada Martensi oysters also called Akoya.
They are usually of a very high quality thanks to the cold temperatures of the sea in which they live. The colder the water, the slower the oyster secretes mother-of-pearl for the benefit of the sheen of the pearl layer and therefore of the quality. For example, in Australia, pearl oyster farmers usually move the oysters to areas with colder currents before harvesting, to ensure that the pearls acquire a higher degree of sheen.
Akoya pearls can reach 10 millimeters in size, very rarely larger, and come in colors such as white, pink and cream.
Australian or South Sea pearls
Australian pearls are sea pearls that grow in the seas of northern Australia and on the coasts of Burma. The mollusc is called Pinctada Maxima and thanks to its size it can produce large pearls up to a maximum of 20 millimeters. This type of oyster can be seeded up to 3 times.
They are highly sought-after and highly prized pearls and can have a white, yellow or golden colour.
Tahitian pearls
Beautiful Tahitian pearls are dark grey or black pearls with silver to blue and grey-green to purplish-gray shimmer. The mollusc is called Pinctada Margaritifera and has a grey mother-of-pearl responsible for the elegant and particular color of the pearls it produces.
The dimensions of these sea gems range from 8 to 16/17 mm. However, they usually range from 8 to 14/15 millimeters. The production areas are mainly the seas of French Polynesia.