It may be very confusing today to see lots of different colours and types of pearls and to the unwary it can be difficult to discriminate fact from fiction as the concept of colour is usually portrayed incorrectly. Up until comparatively recently, an important pearls dominating everything market were saltwater pearls of which there are 3 main types, the South Sea, the Tahitian and also the Akoya.

The South Sea pearl from the Pinctada maxima mollusc, in its natural state also comes in a creamy white from the silver lipped mollusc variant, or various yellow to golden colours from the gold lipped variant.

The saltwater pearl that is famed because of its dark exotic looks could be the Tahitian from the Pinctada margaritifera mollusc, which comes from the farms of Polynesia, Indonesia and also the Phillipines. This pearl shows natural colours which often range from silvery grey, dark greys and greens through to almost black shades.

Another important saltwater pearl could be the Japonese akoya from the Pinctada fucata martensii mollusc which produces creamy white pearls with pale pinkish overtones and very pale blue. The akoya pearl is the sort that is most commonly related to the typical white pearl necklace.

Within the last few years, the Chinese started producing beautiful freshwater pearls at a newly introduced larger mollusc, Hyriopsis cumingii, which often produce as much as 40 pearls in the growing period. These are not the same kind of pearls as the old rice crispy freshwater pearls. This species of mollusc can naturally produce pearls which range from white, creamy white, peach, pink and a blue-pink. The colour is set by the sort of oyster or mollusc, as well as where the inserted pieces of mantle which stimulate pearl production are placed within the mollusc. This exciting development means that you can now own natural coloured, pink peach and lavender pearls which are not treated.

Some other main body colour i.e. red, blue, brown etc. is dyed or irradiated. Unless it is an expensive Tahitian, black pearls will always be treated. One of the most useful black treatments used for freshwater pearls is usually called peacock since it shows iridescent shades of very dark blue, grey, wine, and greens etc and although it looks black at a distance, pure black will be a really dull colour. Most white pearls are bleached as an excellent white is hard to come by.

Another issue to consider in the color of pearls could be the overtones that is a kind of translucent sheen which sometimes appear on top of the pearl's main body colour giving a tint. A pearl is usually white with rose or green overtones. Another colour tone is termed the orient which often be seen by the practiced eye and may give a different iridescence to the main colour by how that light is reflected.

But as things progress within the industry, today there are also some new exiting developments in pearl farming called exotics and metallics where the surface is super shiny with wonderful iridescent colours, and pondslime where the surface is more matt and dappled with shades of brown green and gold. Enjoy them all.
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