Pearl Colors

Color

Pearls are commonly imagined as "white," but in reality a variety of hues appear depending on factors such as the species of oyster and the condition of the nacre.

Even pearls produced by the same species of oyster do not all turn out exactly the same color, one by one.

Akoya pearls come in a variety of hues, including white, pink, cream, yellow, and blue tones.

White-lip pearls show a wide range of hues such as white, silver, and gold tones, and black-lip pearls such as black, gray, and green tones.

The color of a pearl is not simply a single color.

The pearl's own "body color" and the "interference color" produced from light by the structure of the nacre, among others, overlap to create the deep, distinctive hues unique to pearls.

Which color one finds beautiful varies from person to person, and choosing according to your own preference is one of the pleasures of selecting pearls.

About Pearl Pigments

The pigments of the oyster are also involved in the color of a pearl.

Body color is produced by pigments contained in the organic matter and other components that make up the nacre.

For example, yellowish pigments in Akoya pearls and blackish pigments in black-lip pearls influence the pearl's hue.

In pearl cultivation, the color tendency of the pearls produced can be taken into account to some extent through the selection of the donor oysters (piece oysters) used, among other things.

However, because pearls grow inside living oysters, it is impossible to fully predict what color and luster a pearl will actually have.

Only after harvest can the color, luster, shape, blemishes, and so on of each individual pearl be confirmed.

Interference Color and Body Color

What is important in understanding pearl color is "interference color" and "body color".

What is interference color?

Interference color is color that appears when light entering the nacre is reflected, refracted, and interferes.

In Akoya pearls, colors such as pink and green may be perceived.

This does not mean the surface of the pearl has been painted pink or green; it is a color of light created by the structure of the many overlapping layers of nacre.

Interference color is closely linked to the deep glow unique to pearls, and is also closely related to luster.

What is body color?

Body color is the pearl's own hue, arising from the pigments contained in the components that make up the pearl.

In Akoya pearls, body colors such as white tones or cream/yellow tones may be seen.

In black-lip pearls, white-lip pearls, and others, different body colors appear depending on the species of oyster.

Because the color of a pearl is seen as a complex overlap of body color, interference color, and other factors, each individual pearl has a different expression.

In addition, how a pearl's color looks also changes depending on the light source, the viewing angle, the background, skin tone, and so on.

Color Treatment and Natural Color

Akoya pearls may be "color-treated" or "natural color."

What is color treatment?

Color treatment is processing carried out to adjust the color tone of Akoya pearls.

After harvest, Akoya pearls go through processes such as pretreatment and bleaching as needed, after which color treatment to adjust the color tone may be carried out.

Color treatment is different from processing that simply paints color onto the surface of a pearl.

Therefore, it is not the case that "color painted on the surface peels off."

Also, color treatment does not create the pearl's luster itself.

It is processing that finishes the pearl by adjusting its color tone while making the most of the luster and quality the pearl originally has.

What does natural color mean?

Natural color refers to pearls that, in the processing of Akoya pearls, have undergone pretreatment, bleaching, and so on, but have not undergone color treatment or dyeing to adjust their hue.

Therefore, "natural color" does not mean "as harvested" or "unprocessed."

With natural color pearls, you can enjoy hues that make the most of the body color and interference color the pearl originally has.

Being natural color does not mean a pearl will always be white; in addition to white tones, there are a variety of hues such as blue and yellow tones.

In addition, being natural color does not in itself mean higher quality than color-treated pearls.

Regardless of whether a pearl is color-treated or natural color, its quality is judged by looking comprehensively at luster, nacre thickness, blemishes, shape, color, and so on.

Which is better, natural color or color-treated?

Neither one is better than the other.

Some people prefer natural color pearls that make the most of natural hues, while others prefer color-treated pearls with an adjusted color tone.

What matters is not just the labels "color-treated" or "natural color," but checking the actual luster, hue, and quality of the pearls and choosing pearls that suit your own taste.

About Rensō

"Rensō" refers to how well the pearls throughout a necklace are matched and harmonized when pearls are strung into a necklace.

Because pearls grow in nature, the color, luster, shape, size, and so on of each pearl differ slightly.

Therefore, when assembling a necklace, from among many pearls we check

• Hue

• Luster

• Shape

• Size

• Overall balance

and so on, combining them one pearl at a time.

A necklace with good rensō has a natural overall sense of unity when worn, even if there are slight individual differences between pearls.

Conversely, if pearls with large differences in color, luster, size, and so on are mixed in, only some of the pearls stand out, and the balance of the necklace as a whole may look poor.

When assessing the quality of a necklace, it is also important not to look at just one pearl, but at how beautifully it harmonizes as a single necklace.

Every Pearl Differs in Color

Pearls are not industrial products; they are gems created by living oysters in the natural sea.

Even Akoya pearls from the same production area, of the same type and the same size, differ one by one in color, luster, shape, blemishes, and so on.

Those differences, too, are a characteristic unique to pearls.

At Tensei Pearl, we check the color and luster of each individual pearl and combine them so that the necklace as a whole looks beautiful.