Proud to be beautiful, large and lustrous in white, silvery white and gold
These would be South Sea pearls they are mainly 9-16mm in diameter although they can be well over 20mm in diameter; their nucleus is made from a mother of pearl bead, or resin. Their nacre covering thickness can start from 1mm and is usually 2.5mm thick or thicker.
South Sea pearls are produced in White lipped, Silver lipped and Gold lipped oysters or Pinctada Maxima, One of the largest pearl bearing oysters in the world, hence the maxima part of their name! The oyster shell hosts can be as large as 12 inches across, they inhabit the waters of Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Burma.
These oysters produce pearls whose nacre is coloured according to the mother of pearl coloration of its host shell, so white and silver lipped oysters birth pearls that are mainly strong white in colour with a range of overtones that range from silver to pale pink and green, or any combination of these. Whereas gold lipped oysters will create pearls that go from a warm creamy white to a deep orange gold hue, through a stunning light creamy gold hue, there are often green and peach overtones.
Luscious multi-coloured orbs
These would be cultured Tahitian pearls, they are mainly 8mm to 18mm in diameter although they can grow to 21mm. The nucleus is a resin or mother of pearl bead and their nacre thickness starts at .9mm it is usually 2.5mm thick and can be thicker.
12 Diamond Shepherd Crook with Large Tahitian Pearl
Tahitian pearls grow in the Pinctada Margaritifera otherwise called the Black lipped oyster which produces black pigment and are found in the surrounding area of the archipelago of French Polynesia, Panama and Mexico. The colours of Tahitian pearls are naturally dark and normally range from grey to black and peacock green to aubergine; however, they can sometimes be very unusual colours like white with grey overtones, gold, copper, pistachio green, sky blue and pink, there is one clue to spotting if a pearl is created in a black lipped oyster and that is … a grey overtone.
1, Single strand Tahitian pearl necklace 2, Tahitian and Sapphire necklace 3, Tahitian pearl and Amethyst white gold ring
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