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Imperial Deltah photo

Pastel, multi-colored freshwater pearl strands from Imperial Deltah, New York

Pearl Jewelry

It's a brave new world of freshwater pearls

If you've always been in love with pearls but not so much in love with the price tag on a typical strand of perfect pink-and-cream akoyas, you're in luck. The pearl has been through a major transition over the past decade; Chinese producers have begun culturing and marketing  a whole new segment of freshwater pearls that are beautiful, colorful and best of all, affordable. Freshwaters, as their name suggests, are grown in freshwater lakes as opposed to saltwater, where traditional akoyas are cultured, mainly in Japanese waters. This change in pearl farming has meant profound differences in the variety of pearls available on the market. Chinese freshwaters offer greater choice, higher quality and lower prices.

Once considered a white gem, like diamonds, the cultured pearl is now being positioned by many dealers as a colored stone, with almost as many hues as sapphire or tourmaline. Mauve, brown or orange pearls from China now seem more common than classic white akoya pearls from Japan. The vast majority - probably 95% - of pearls produced today come from the fresh waters of China, most of which are natural white, peach and lilac. Many farmers expand the range of color by dyeing freshwater pearls, but if they are white, mauve or peach, the color is usually natural. Plenty of white pearls now come from China, too, and they're grown in freshwater lakes, not saltwater bays, using mussels rather than oysters, where traditional akoya pearls come from.

The emergence of China as the world's leading pearl producer has brought unprecedented pearl diversity. Ask your jewellery retailer about Chinese freshwater pearls, and read this primer on pearls before you shop:

Cultured pearls are cultivated by inserting a nucleus into a mollusk living in either freshwater or saltwater.

Freshwater pearls are any pearls from freshwater mollusks.

Akoya pearls are cultured saltwater pearls from the akoya oyster.

Nacre (also known as mother of pearl) is the compound secreted by the oyster that forms the pearl. Cultured freshwater pearls are solid nacre. Cultured saltwater pearls have a nucleus and then many layers of nacre, the number and thickness of which influence the quality of the pearl. Solid nacre is not necessarily better; freshwater pearls are still inexpensive despite being solid nacre since they are easy to cultivate and are often baroque instead of round.

Color: Body color refers to the main color (white, pink, black, etc.), while overtone refers to washes of color that augment the body color (ie: gold or rose overtones). Color is a factor in matching for strands, although mixed-color strands are becoming very popular, as are mixed-species (combining fresh and saltwater pearls).

Shape: Round or near-round pearls are the most desirable according to tradition, but this preference is changing.  Off-round or irregular shapes (baroque) are just as beautiful. Ask your jeweler also about "petal pearls" and "keshi" (spontaneous-growth pearls with free-form shapes).