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Pearl Types:
Abalone Pearl: A naturally cultivated pearl from an abalone, which is a univalve mollusk.
Akoya Cultured Pearl: Pearls produced by deliberate human intervention in several varieties of saltwater mollusks generally found in the waters around Japan and China. The Akoya pearl ranges in color from cream, white, rose, gold and blue-gray, and remains justly famous in the hierarchy of cultured pearls for its spectacular luster and beauty.
Baroque: A cultured pearl that is asymmetrical and free form in shape.
Biwa Pearl: A cultured pearl cultivated in a freshwater mussel in Lake Biwa, in Japan. Recently, the term has been allowed to refer to any pearl cultivated in a freshwater mussel in Japan.
Conch Pearl: Similar in color to pink coral, these pearls are produced by a conch, which is a saltwater mollusk from tropical waters.
Cultured Pearl: A pearl grown in a mollusk that has been surgically implanted with an irritant, through human intervention.
Cultivated Pearl: A pearl grown in a mollusk that has been surgically implanted with an irritant, through human intervention.
Freshwater Cultured Pearl: A cultured pearl cultivated in a freshwater mollusk from a lake, river or pond.
Imitation Pearl: Man- or machine-made pearls.
Keshii Pearl: Also known as a Seed Pearl. It is a non-nucleated pearl produced accidentally as a by-product of the cultivating process, and consequently not considered a natural pearl.
Mabe Pearl: A dome-shaped cultured pearl cultivated on the inner shell of a mollusk rather than in its body.
South Sea Cultured Pearl: Ranging in hues of white, gold, silver, cream and champagne, these cultured pearls are quite large and are cultivated in the white-lip oyster.
Tahitian Cultured Pearl: Cultured pearls cultivated in the black-lip oyster found in French Polynesia, and producing pearls in natural tints of black, silver, gray, green, orange, gold, blue and purple.
Pearl Industry Terms:
Blemish: A defect found on the surface of the pearl. Non-damaging blemishes include spots, bumps, pits and wrinkles, and can affect a pearl's price. Damaging blemishes -- which may worsen, and can affect the durability of a pearl as well as its price -- include cracks, holes and chips.
Button: A dome-shaped pearl with a flat bottom.
Choker: A pearl necklace that is 16 to 18 inches in length.
Circles: Concave, concentric rings on a pearl's surface.
Clean: Absence of blemishes on a pearl's surface.
Color: An evaluation of quality used to describe the color of a pearl.
Collar: A pearl necklace that is 10 to 13 inches in length.
Grafting: The insertion, through human intervention, of an irritant into the body or the mantle tissue of a mollusk, in order to produce a cultured pearl.
Lustre: The combination of surface shine and the depth of inner light refraction in a pearl. Lustre is one of the great determinants of a pearl's quality.
Mantle Tissue: The layer of thin tissue adhering a mollusk to its inner shell.
Matching: Using luster, surface, shape, color and size to match one pearl with another to create a piece of pearl jewelry, such as a necklace.
Matinee: A pearl necklace that is 20 to 24 inches in length.
Millimeter: The metric measurement used to determine the size of a pearl. One mm equals 1/25 of an inch.
Momme: The weight measurement for pearls in Japan. One momme equals 3.75 grams, or 18.7 carats.
Nacre: A calcium carbonate-based crystalline substance secreted by a mollusk as a defensive device against the intrusion of a foreign irritant into its body.
Nucleus: A small bit of polished shell from an American freshwater mollusk used as an irritant and inserted into the body of a saltwater mollusk. By the same token, a small bit of soft mantle tissue from one freshwater mussel is inserted as an irritant into the body of another freshwater mollusk.
Nucleation: Also called grafting or implementation, this is the process of inserting an irritating nucleus into the body of a mollusk so that it will secrete nacre to cover it, consequently producing a cultured pearl.
Opera: A pearl necklace that is 28 to 32 inches in length.
Princess: A pearl necklace that is 17 to 19 inches in length.
Rope: A pearl necklace over 45 inches in length.
Shape: A quality evaluation, describing the shape of a pearl. Round is the most prized shape in the industry, but saltwater and freshwater pearls are produced in a variety of shapes, just as they exhibit a variety of colors.
Size: The diameter of a pearl measured in millimeters and used as a quality and price evaluation of the pearl.
Sorting: Separating pearls by surface, shape, color and size prior to the jewelry matching process.
Surface: A quality evaluation of the amount of blemishes on a pearl, ranging from clean to heavily blemished.
Oyster Types:
Black-Lip Oyster: An oyster of unusual size and diameter found in the South Pacific, from which is derived the famous black pearls known in the industry as Tahitian Pearls. Other colors produced by this mollusk, besides black, are silver to light gray, dark gray, orange, gold, green, blue, and purple.
Gold-Lip Oyster: The large oyster, found in the waters off Australia, Indonesia, Philippines and Japan, which produces gold-colored South Sea Pearls.
Pinctada Fucata: The industry term for the saltwater mollusk that produces Akoya cultured pearls.
Pinctada Maxima: The industry term for the White-lip oyster that produces South Sea Pearls.
Pinctada Margaritifera: The industry term for the saltwater mollusks that produces Tahitian cultured pearls.
Uniondae Hyriopsis Schlegeli: The freshwater mussel, prevalent in China, which produces a strong pearl with thick nacre and a bright luster. Its pearls come in a palette of colors ranging through plum, lavender, peach, apricot, curry, red pepper, cinnamon, celery and sage.
White-Lip Oyster: Large oysters found in the waters around Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, and producing good-sized South Sea cultured pearls whose tints include silver-white, pink and cream.
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Pearl Glossary of terms