What kind of pearls are the most valuable

Both white and gold varieties are priced around the same mark. Tahitian Pearls — These and the Sea of Cortez pearls are the only naturally occurring dark pearls on the market.

They have a dark body tone and a range of overtones that vary from peacock to steel-silver. Tahitian pearls average 8mm to 13mm in size and are somewhat smaller than South Sea pearls. They are farmed under stringent conditions around French Polynesia with Tahiti being the hub of the industry. Akoya Pearls — The classic, round white pearls that are highly sought after, Akoya pearls are the most popular pearl variety.

Akoya pearls are typically round and small averaging 6mm to 8mm in size. These pearls strike the perfect balance between quality, sophistication and value. Freshwater Pearls — These offer the best value of all pearls. Check out Edison pearls, which are a testament to this progress. Freshwater pearls come in a variety of shapes, sizes and prices. Most pearl specialist stores have very generous returns policies, sometimes up to 3 months.

Takeaway: Brands and jewelry setting quality significantly add to pearl jewelry price. And finally, the big question — are pearls a good investment? When buying jewelry or any expensive product we like to think that the item gains in value instead of losing value over time. Experts typically recommend avoiding jewelry for investment, but sometimes it can be a good choice.

Vibrant, golden-colored South Sea pearls are very popular and command a high price as does the white rose color. South Sea pearls are the largest cultured pearls of all and - as their size increases - so does the price. Round pearls are the rarest and most expensive shape. Black Tahitian pearls from the black-lip mussel Pinctada margaritifera are the only natural black pearls that exist; all other black pearls are dyed.

The black color can vary from silver to dark gray and may have pink and green overtones. Black pearls can look almost metallic. Keshi are tiny pearls that form spontaneously when a much larger nucleated pearl is cultured in the Akoya oyster. Originally these natural seed pearls were found in Kobe in Japan, when harvesting wild Akoya oysters. As keshi grow without a nucleus they are in effect natural pearls. They have the same coloring as Akoya pearls.

Keshi pearls always have good luster and often an unusual palette of colors like eggplant, vivid purple with green overtones, bronze, peacock with vivid green, and green with purple overtones, pistachio and silver-gray.

Any unused Keshi are sold to India and China for medicinal and calcium content. Biwa pearls are noted for their good quality surface and nice luster. The colors range from creamy white to white-rose, salmon orange, dark wine red and violet. Many freshwater pearls on the market are called Biwa pearls, despite being cultivated in China.

This is most likely done to impress or reassure customers, and to garner higher prices. Chinese freshwater pearls are a popular type of cultured pearl. They are unique because they are nucleated with a small piece of mantle tissue from another oyster. There are over species of freshwater mussels residing in lakes, rivers and streams. Several species have more recently become extinct due to water pollution and over-development of surrounding lands.

However, the Chinese have managed to successfully produce an abundance especially of cultured freshwater pearls using the pearl mussel Hyriopsis cumingii providing an economic staple of the cultured pearl business. South Sea pearls are known for being the very largest pearl types in the world.

These stunning pearls range from 8. Obviously, pearls with cleaner surfaces are more valuable. Pearls with excellent matching with little to no variation in size, shape, color, overtone , or luster are much more valuable than pearls with poor matching within a necklace layout or a pair of earrings.

Pearls with fine color, intensely saturated Overtones and are not dyed are more highly valued than pearls with dull colors and Overtones or are dyed. One of the primary reasons a pearl could be extremely high value is if it is a wild, natural pearl and not cultured.

A natural pearl is a pearl that has formed within the oyster on its own, without any human intervention. The center pearl can be removed and worn as a pendant. With the advent of the techniques to successfully culture pearls , the wild oysters were saved from total extinction. But culturing pearls allows them to be mass produced in a way that had never happened before in history.

Cultured pearls created a splash in the pearl world … and not exactly in a good way! To be fair however, the rarity factor and the historical significance of natural pearls means that they will still be considered more valuable than the newer cultured pearls. As noted earlier, natural pearls are the most valued and expensive pearls in the world … but that said, cultured pearls are certainly no slouches in that department!

Both natural and cultured pearl jewelry can be valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars; but only natural pearls are fetching multi-million-dollar price tags at auction. This stunning Drop-Shaped natural pearl measures an impressive This was one of the famous jewelry items that was packed up and smuggled out of the country before revolutionaries stormed Versailles. She wore La Peregrina on a simple pendant and pearl-studded chain for her role in Anne of a Thousand Days. She later had this stunning pearl, diamond and ruby necklace crafted to showcase the storied gem by Cartier himself.

This incredibly gorgeous wreath-style White South Sea pearl necklace features 17 pearls measuring Even a single pearl pendant can be incredibly expensive! This Golden South Sea drop-shaped pearl measures If you are purchasing a natural pearl necklace with impeccable provenance and history, rare sizes and fine quality, then YES. These are investment pearls, by all measure. A final valuation has not yet been reached on this treasure, but you can be sure that whatever it ends up turning out is will never decrease.

In general , cultured pearls are not investment-grade gems like Burmese Rubies or Kashmiri Sapphires.