About Pearl Types

Akoya Pearl

AKOYA PEARL

 These pearls come from the "Akoya oyster," which lives in the waters around Japan. In Japan they are also called "wadama" (Japanese pearls), and their beautiful luster has captivated people in every era.

 They are produced in a wide range of sizes, from about 2.5 to 10 mm in diameter. Pearls larger than 10 mm are extremely rare, and because of their scarcity they almost never reach the market.

South Sea Tahitian (Black-Lip) Pearl

NANYO KUROCHO PEARL

 These pearls use the "black-lip pearl oyster," cultivated in the waters around Tahiti, as the mother oyster, and are produced in a variety of colors ranging from pale silver tones to black. Those with good luster that show greenish interference colors around a reddish-black body are called "peacock color" (the color of a peacock's feathers) and are especially rare and valuable.

South Sea White-Lip Pearl

NANYO

SHIROCHO PEARL

 These are large pearls, mainly over 10 mm in diameter, taken from the "white-lip pearl oyster" cultivated in the waters around Australia and Indonesia. Australian pearls are often silvery white, while in the fishing grounds of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, golden-colored pearls and others are produced from gold-colored mother oysters called "gold-lip." They come in many shapes, and baroque pearls with beautifully irregular shapes and keshi pearls, which contain no pearl nucleus, are also produced.

 

Freshwater Ikecho Pearl

TANSUI PEARL

 These pearls use the Hyriopsis cumingii mussel (hire-ikecho mussel), cultivated in lakes and rivers in China, as the mother shell. Generally no pearl nucleus is inserted; only tissue cells are inserted into the mother shell, so pearls of various shapes are produced. In Japan they are cultivated mainly in Lake Biwa and Lake Kasumigaura, and in recent years large nucleated pearls have also been cultivated and produced.

 

Mabe Pearl

MABE PEARL

These are cultivated by attaching a hemispherical nucleus to the inner surface of the shell of a mother oyster called the mabe oyster. Shapes vary widely, from dome shapes to teardrop and heart shapes. In Japan they are cultivated in fishing grounds near Amami Oshima, and come in colors such as white, blue and purple tones.