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.
