South Sea pearls
- the large exclusive pearls!
The scientific name of the pearl mussel that the pearl comes from is Pinctada Maxima.
Earrings with South Sea Earrings set in gold adorned with diamonds.
The South Sea pearls are appreciated both by the big fashion houses, designers and jewellers, but perhaps most by those who have the privilege of wearing the pearls as jewellery!
The colours of the South Sea pearl range from White South Sea pearls to Silver shades and to Golden South Sea pearls.
Pearl necklace with golden South Sea pearls.
The colour of the South Sea pearl is soft and fabulously beautiful, regardless of whether they are white or golden.
Only a small proportion of pearls are of a quality that meets the requirements for beautiful surface, roundness and size.
A South Sea pearl necklace with large, well-matched pearls of high quality is extremely rare.
The large size, the limited cultivation area, the long time for a pearl to grow, the large natural loss and the strict quality requirements together make the South Sea pearl one of the rarest of all pearl types.
In general, it is said that the South Sea pearl is the most exclusive and most expensive pearl.
What makes the South Sea pearls so special?
South Sea pearls are generally much larger than pearls of other species and have a unique luster - a soft reflection due to the large calcium crystal plates that the pearl is made of. Although other pearl mussel species also have white pearls, the South Sea pearls differ from these.
The gold-coloured pearls are unique to the South Sea pearl and are very beautiful.
Of course, when it comes to something used in jewellery, it is something as subjective as the beauty of the pearl that is the deciding factor.
The shape of the South Sea pearl:
South Sea pearls are available in the range of 8 to 20mm, with an average of 12 mm. Although it is extremely rare, there are pearls that are larger than 20 mm. Only 10-30% of the pearls harvested will be round or close to round.
Baroque and drop-shaped pearls are often used in advanced design jewellery to show off their unique shapes and luster.
By Baroque pearls is meant pearls that are not symmetrical. These pearls often have beautiful varying colours and very beautiful luster due to reflections in the irregular surface.
White, Silver lip pearl mussel and Gold lip pearl mussel:
The names comes from a coloured border on the outer edge of the inside of the mussel shell that resembles a pair of lips.
The colours in the mother of pearl reappear in the pearls that are formed and therefore mussels are crossed with the most beautiful matching colours in the mother of pearl so you then hopefully harvest pearls with the most beautiful colours.
The mussels for cultivation are selected very carefully. Because the loss is so large, the care of the mussels is very labor intensive and the growth time is 4-7 years, the growers want the best result and increase the chances of harvesting the most beautiful pearls.
South Sea pearls with silver-colored mother-of-pearl ribbon usually produce pearls with white, silver and blue of harmonics. The gold-lipped variety produces cream-colored, champagne-colored, golden pearls and deep gold-colored pearls.
Of course, you can not completely control what the mussels produce for pearls and there are not two pearls among all the pearls that are completely identical, even though it may look like that to the eye.
Earrings with white South Sea pearls set with gold and diamonds.
The South Sea pearl mussel Pinctada Maxima is a sensitive organism, which is one reason why the cultivation area for South Sea pearls is quite limited. Attempts to expand the pearl farming areas have had little success as they do not thrive outside their original natural environment.
The town of Broome on Australia's northwest coast has been the commercial center for South Sea pearls since the 19th century. Cultivation of pearls began in earnest in the 1950s and has grown steadily since then. Broome is still the world center for South Sea pearl farming.
The technology used in the cultivation is taken from the Japanese pearl cultivation. Japanese specialists applied the methods developed in the cultivation of Akoya pearls in the early 20th century to the South Sea pearl mussels.