Akoya Pearl Jewelry

       When people think of cultured pearls, the image that generally comes to mind looks very much like the Akoya Pearl.  There are many other varieties of cultured pearls in just about any color, size and shape you can imagine. Generally speaking, the well matched, brilliant white or ivory colored, and spherical Akoya Cultured Pearls are available almost anywhere. You will find these Akoya Pearls strung into the time-honored single strand necklace.

       The reason that Akoya Cultured Pearl jewelry is so popular is that the Akoya Pearl was the first spherical cultured pearl. The Akoya Pearl was first introduced in the beginning of the Twentieth Century. It was and still is the Japanese farmers who created the Akoya Cultured Pearl and the huge market for this beautiful gem. The Japanese continue to hold a large share of this business today.

       Akoya pearls come from the oyster with the scientific name of Pinctata fucata martensii. It is not uncommon to hear of different names for this species. The Akoya oyster grows around the Pacific Ocean , Mediterranean Sea , the Persian Gulf , the Atlantic Ocean , Indian Ocean and the Caribbean . But for some reason the Japanese akoya oyster produces the splendid, lustrous cultured pearl that we have come to know. This is probably due to the moderate winters and generally moderate weather that has.

       The Akoya Oyster is fairly small compared to other saltwater, bivalve, mollusks that produce cultured pearls. The Akoya oyster measures just 3 to 5 inches, small when you compare this to the South Sea Oysters, which can grow to 12 inches.

       Since the Akoya Oyster is small so are the pearls relatively small. Akoya Cultured Pearls can be anywhere from 2mm to 11mm; however, any pearl 10mm and above is very rare. The average size is 6 mm to 7 mm.

       Most of what you will see in the Akoya Pearl is spherical shaped pearls with a low percentage of drops shaped and baroque. The Akoya Pearl’s body color ranges from white to an ivory white, with some pearls in the yellow, pink and blue colors. Akoya Pearl overtones can be colored Rose’ to silver or no overtone at all. Luster is the value that Akoyas are known for and you will see this run from Excellent to good, to fair. The surface quality of Akoya Pearls is from clean, to slightly blemished to moderately blemished. Nacre quality is what gives the pearl its luster, and in the Akoya Pearl this can be anywhere from an acceptable range to the lower grades of Akoya Pearls having a chalky look to them.