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Freshwater pearls are the most common type of pearl.
Their unique shapes and wide variety of colors, combined with their attractive
prices and charming character, have made them a favorite amongst jewelry
designers, shoppers, and pearl connoisseurs alike. While they characteristically
range in shape from very baroque to nearly round, the freshwater pearls we sell are as round as they come, nearly indistinguishable from Akoya
in their shape. Our trademark freshadama line of freshwater pearl jewelry is
gauranteed to be the best in the world. |
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Freshwater pearls are best known for their whimsical
shapes and wide variety of sizes and colors. The character of a freshwater pearl
is found in its distinctive surface texture and the warmth of its luster. The
nacre of a high-quality freshwater pearl does not typically have the glossy
finish found in Akoya pearls, and they are evaluated on separate quality scales.
A single freshwater mollusk is capable of producing up to 50 pearls at a time,
although current production limits each shell to 24-32 pearls; while they are
certainly prolific, these mass-produced pearls are rarely as their saltwater
counterparts produced by Akoya oysters that nurture 1 or 2 precious pearls at a
time. Freshwater pearls are typically tissue-nucleated, meaning they are
composed entirely of nacre; the fragment of mantle tissue disintegrates as the
mollusk coats it, resulting in a pearl made of solid nacre. Amongst the various
types of pearls available, freshwater pearls are prized for their durability,
their diversity and warmth, and above all, their affordability. |
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| Because they offer a wider diversity of colors,
shapes, and sizes than any other type of pearl, freshwater pearls are often used
in fanciful designer jewelry. In addition to the traditional white body color,
these pearls come in a rainbow of natural colors as brilliant as lavender,
tangerine, mauve, aqua-silver, peach, and every shade in between. Their varied
shapes include potato-shaped and stick pearls, rice-shaped and button pearls,
coin-shaped and drop pearls, off-round and round pearls. While a perfectly round
freshwater pearl is extremely rare, Netpearls.co.uk deals with only the roundest,
highest quality freshwater pearls available. Keep in mind that even the roundest
freshwater pearls are almost never perfectly spherical, although they may appear
so to the naked eye. Their sizes range from tiny seed pearls measuring 1 or 2mm
in diameter to 15mm and larger. |
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| Freshwater pearls are produced by Hyriopsis cumingi
(triangle shell) and Hyriopsis schlegeli (Biwa shell) commercially in China, and
other bivalve mollusks that live in lakes, riverbeds, and creek bottoms in Japan
(Biwa pearls and Lake Kasumigaura pearls), as well the United States
(Mississippi River Basin). Although several areas of the world are home to
pearl-producing mussels, the global freshwater market is overwhelmingly
dominated by Chinese pearl farms, which account for nearly all of the freshwater
pearls sold today. At these farms, each mussel is surgically implanted with 24
to 32 tiny pieces of mantle tissue, a process known as nucleation
(pronounced noo-klee-AY-shun). Once they have been nucleated, the mussels
protect their flesh from the irritants by secreting nacre (pronounced
NAY-ker), the calcium-carbonate compound known more commonly as mother-of-pearl.
This is the same beautiful, iridescent substance that lines the inside of
mollusk shells and coats the surface of pearls. Over the course of 2 to 7 years,
the mussels deposit layer upon layer of nacre around the growing gems. By the
time the pearls are harvested, each mussel has produced more than two dozen
pearls densely clustered on the inside of its mantle tissue. This
mass-production can sometimes compromise the quality of the resulting pearls,
and very high quality freshwater pearls are indeed quite rare. During the
harvest, the millions of pearls are sorted carefully and matched for size,
shape, color, and quality. When we visit these farms after a
harvest, we hand-select only the roundest, most lustrous freshwater
pearls. |
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| While freshwater pearls as a whole are the most common
type of pearl, very round and lustrous freshwater pearls are very difficult to
find. Top-of-the-line freshwater pearls, such as the ones you'd find at high-end
jewelry stores and reputable online stores such as Netpearls.co.uk, command a
high retail value. They are dazzling in their rich, bright luster, and their
unique charm will last you a lifetime. |
Go back to
our shop: Freshwater Pearl Jewelry |
