Pearl

Pearl is the birthstone for June and the gem of the third and thirtieth anniversaries. Pearl shares birthstone rights with both with alexandrite and moonstone for much of the world.

Fine quality, natural pearls are very rare jewels. The value of a pearl is determined similarly to those of other precious gems, according to size, shape, color, quality of surface, orient and luster. 

Natural pearls were found in many parts of the world, but today natural pearling is rare, Australia has one of the world's last remaining fleets of pearl diving ships. Australian pearl divers dive for south sea pearl oysters to be used in the cultured south sea pearl industry, hence significant numbers of natural pearls are still found in the Australian Indian Ocean waters from wild oysters. In 1893,  Kokichi Mikimoto successfully cultured a pearl in Japan, which began the world of cultured pearls.

There are four types of cultured pearls, Akoya, South Sea, Tahitian and Freshwater. 

• Akoya pearls  are produced by Japan’s Akoya oysters, they are the most popular of all pearl types. Depending on the size of the oyster, they grow from 3-10mm. 
• South Sea pearls are generally much larger than other types and have a unique luster quality, they also have the thickest average nacre of all cultured pearls. South Sea pearls have the highest value and command the highest prices of all types of pearls. 
• Tahitian pearls are also known simply as black pearls. Tahitian pearls consist of hundreds of colors, such as peacock green, silver green, blue, and eggplant. These pearls are produced by the Pinctada Margaritifera oyster, which is found only in Tahiti and other French Polynesian islands. 
• Freshwater pearls are the most commonly produced pearls. They characteristically range in shape from very baroque to near-round. A single freshwater pearl mussel is capable of producing up to 50 pearls at a time!

Each type of pearl has a separate grading scale they are judged against. There are several names for the blemishes a pearl will contain, the colors and overtones are graded, the shapes vary, the luster and the orient can all be subject to opinion. Grading pearls is a very difficult process! To add to the confusion, there are fake pearls all over the marketplace... plastic, glass, coated, dyed, it's unfortunate that it's not easy to be a smart buyer.

To see the top ten of the most famous pearls, click here.
 

The Parable of the Pearl is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in Matthew 13:45-46. The pearl is also mentioned in Job 28:18,  "Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls."