Which Pearl Type Should I Choose For Christmas?

There are four pearl types: Freshwater pearls, Akoya Pearls, Tahitian Pearls and South sea Pearls.


Which pearl types should I choose for Christmas? There are some tips for you:


A: Price.

Generally speaking, south sea pearls are the most expensive Under the same conditions (same size, same grade etc.), freshwater pearls are the least but also beautiful. You can choose the right pearl type according to your budget. E.g, freshwater pearl jewelry set below, only $71. Great choice for Christmas.

B: Love

Love means your heart here. Choose what you love if you have no budget limit.

South sea pearls are stunning, Tahitian pearl are charming, Akoya pearls are exquisite, Freshwater pearls are family members in my heart.


Wish you all Merry Christmas!

The Distinctions between Freshwater and Saltwater Pearls

Generally speaking, saltwater pearls refer to Akoya pearls, south sea pearls and Tahitian pearls. Freshwater and saltwater pearls are differentiated by several aspects. 

1. Shape

Saltwater pearls are nuclear and the shapes are mostly very round. The various shapes, such as drop, off-round, and baroque are often attributed to one kind of freshwater pearls which are cultivated without nuclear.

2. Origin and color

Saltwater pearls

Akoya pearls---Japan and China

South pearls---Hepu city, Guangxi province, China

South Sea pearls--- Australia and Indonesia

Tahitian pearls---- French Polynesia

Saltwater pearls vary white, golden from black and silver

Freshwater pearls are mainly from the lakes in Zhejiang and Hunan provinces, which are located in the middle and lower areas of Yangtze River in China. White, pink and lavender are common.


3. blemish

Spiral is uncommon for saltwater pearls, which is very often seen in freshwater pearls. The blemishes on saltwater pearls are generally like needle-eyes.

4. Luster

Due to the different growing years, their lusters are special. It usually takes 2-3 years for freshwater pearls and 3-4 years for saltwater pearls. The high density leads to sharp and bright luster for saltwater pearls. And freshwater pearls look shiny and mild.

5. Yield

The advanced cultivation skills and easy growing environment request offer high freshwater pearl yield, which reach to 1500 tons annually. It is said that an oyster produces more than 10 freshwater pearls each years. However, saltwater pearls are easily affected by circumstance and hard to control the growing surroundings. The longer growing year and high requirement on the circumstance make saltwater pearls expensive. Plus, each oyster in saltwater only produces a pearl.

The Treatments for Beautifying Pearls

Pearl is a born beauty, always keep that loveliness and charm which God gave her. However, with some treatments and improvement, she can turn to be more desirable and attractive.

Pearls processing technology Preliminary treatment: Soaking pearls in mixed liquor of ammonia and benzoylate so as to loosen the texture, and take pure glycerin as dehydrating agent to remove the water inside the pearls.

Bleaching: With an average temperature from 20-30 degrees Celsius, the pearls are placed in Hydrogen peroxide, which is at concentration of 5% and ph7-8. Exposing them to sunlight or ultraviolet radiation for 7-10 days, the pearls will change to off white, silver or pure white. The bleaching is actually an old-aged pearl processing method and is used wildly by pearl dealers in the world.

Dyeing: The pearls are immersed for a period of several days in diluted special chemical solutions and heated under an average temperature from 40-50 degrees Celsius. Blue, green, red, purple, black, silver and brown hues all can be dyed. It needs few weeks for coloring agent to intrude into pearls. Temperature, light source and pearl structures all determine the resulting colors.

Polishing: Polishing is one of important processing skills and is needed after bleaching. It increases the bleaching effect greatly. Tiny pieces of walnut shell, bamboo chips, wax, diatomite and salt particle are crucial materials for polishing.

Others: γ-ray radiation is a reliable and safe processing method of changing pearls colors. Peeling is another processing method for getting of the surface defects. Due to the difficulty in manual operation, it is not used often nowadays.

How to buy pearl rings from an online jeweler

Pearls can be reckoned as one kind of special jewelry. Diamond is actually a semi-precious stone. And it is expensive just because DeBeers owns 90% of the diamond mines in the world. While to make a pearl, an oyster has to die. Pearl is formed out of oyster's tears. What could be more special than frozen tears? As a matter of fact, the natural pearl is chosen as the ladies’ favorite jewelry, which can make them look so innocent and classy.

I am often asked by my customers how to buy a suitable pearl ring. It is actually a good and useful subject for us to learn. Before you buy a pearl ring, ask your family members, friends or neighbors who are familiar with or have similar purchasing experience. More or less, they will give you some practical tips.

Two options are available for purchasing pearl rings—local store and online shopping. It sometimes makes huge price differences for same type of pearls rings. We need to build in time to get enough research on it. Several factors dominate their price.

First of all, pearl type and grade. Generally speaking, South sea pearls with glowing skin and perfect roundness are the most valuable ones. They take years and years to be formed in the ocean. Some large South Sea pearls in flaws can be much expensive than other pearl types due to their unique and very strict growth requirement. The black Tahitian pearls rank second because how chic and special they look. And Akoya and freshwater pearls with good quality are usually in a nice and acceptable price. So they are adopted to diverse pearl jewelry and very popular. Do remember to get a certificate and have the pearl appraised by jeweler is a good idea.

Secondly, metal circle of pearl ring. This is very crucial part in deciding the price and you should always make sure which metal you want. Normally, 18K yellow/white gold, 14K yellow/ white gold and sterling silver are three basically metal circles for pearl rings. Sterling silver post is most economical while the K gold pearl rings are more shining and expensive. For those who are allergic to gold, you might be interested to sterling silver post.

Finally, online shopping is usually cheaper than real stores because less cost on labors and shop rent. You'll need to know what exactly the real ring look like and make sure the seller sends you real pictures when shopping online.