South Sea Pearl necklace 11-14 mm Light Purple Color, High Luster, S925 Silver Stunt

Pearls are one of the most impressive gems in the world, because unlike diamonds, rubies or emeralds, they do not come from the ground but have been created by a living being, the oyster.
That is why they are known as an organic gem.

There are several types of pearls: Akoya Pearls, Freshwater Pearls and South Sea Pearls. In this guide we will focus on South Sea Pearls. South Sea pearls are the most valuable type of pearl. This is due to its scarcity, since they only compose 2% of the world pearl production, and it is very complicated to obtain pearls that reunite the characteristics of nice color, round shape, good luster, surface without marks and size >12mm.

What are South Sea Pearls?

South Sea Pearls are a type of pearl produced by the Pinctada Maxima oyster in Australia, Philippines, Myanmar and Indonesia. They are characterized because they are the scarcest type of pearl, the largest in size (from 9mm to 20 mm in exceptional cases) and for their nacre thickness (from 2 to 6mm).
While freshwater pearls take 6 months to be cultivated, South Sea Pearls take more than 3 years.

The main colors are Gold and White, with a multitude of overtones. Perfectly round shapes are the rarest, less than 4% of the production in a common pearl farm.
South Sea Pearls shapes can be round, oval, button, drop, circle and baroque, and their luster is luxurious.

The main characteristic that differentiates South Sea pearls is the nacre, which is thicker than other types of pearls (2-4mm). The nacre is the natural coating with which the pearl covers the nucleus. Another characteristic is the size, that while in Akoya pearls goes from 3-9mm, in South Sea pearls it goes from 8-20mm, in some exceptional cases with 22mm pearls. It also highlights the luster, which has a satin luster compared to akoya or freshwater pearls.