Freshwater versus Saltwater

At The Pearl Girls we absolutely love freshwater pearls. Although we use some saltwater pearls in our pieces, we love freshwater because they are the closest rival to natural pearls. We know that some people misunderstand freshwater pearls. After Mikimoto started culturing saltwater pearls in the early 1900s, he tried the same process in freshwater yet he could not produce gem quality pearls! The freshwater pearls looked like pieces of rice. So, the name freshwater pearls became synonymous with off sized, lower quality pearls. How times have changed!

World War II halted the efforts to culture freshwater pearls in Japan and led to the Chinese taking over perfecting this process. They have come leaps and bounds in the past decades producing large, beautiful and round freshwater pearls. So, what is the difference in freshwater and saltwater pearls? To answer this, we turn to Pearls: A Natural History which was a huge exhibit on pearls at the American Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, this exhibit is no longer available but the book from the exhibit remains a valuable resource.

Although the composition of pearls remains the same, there are five differences in the process of culturing freshwater pearls versus saltwater pearls. First, to get the freshwater mussels, their larvae must survive. This is a difficult process because the larvae attach to a fish host before they metamorphose. So, survival of the mollusk becomes an issue of culturing fish as well as the mussels used for pearls.

Inside the saltwater oyster or the freshwater mussel, the placement of the nucleus is different. In saltwater pearls, a bead or shell is inserted in the gonad of the oyster. This is not possible in freshwater mollusks because of its different composition. In freshwater mollusks a small piece of tissue is placed in the soft mantle tissue which lines the shell. A piece of shell would

never fit in this thin lining so a piece of tissue is used instead. This leads to our third difference..

I have said before that freshwater pearls are the closest rivals to natural pearls. Because the nucleus is just a piece of tissue, these tissue-nucleated freshwater pearls are 100% nacre and are difficult to distinguish from freshwater pearls which have no nucleus at all. They are all pearl and tend to be heavier than their saltwater counterparts.

Freshwater pearls can be nucleated many times meaning that the yield from a freshwater mollusk is higher than that of a saltwater oyster.

Freshwater environments are easier to maintain than saltwater environments. In the ocean there tend to be more pollutants which harm the pearl production. Saltwater pearl farms must expend a lot of energy to clean their oysters both before and after nucleation.

Finally, saltwater pearl productions cost more money than freshwater. Saltwater farms require divers, ships, boats and complex equipment to access and maintain their saltwater pearl oysters. Freshwater farms are able to maintain their productions on a smaller scale. The total cost put into producing a saltwater pearl is considerable higher that what it takes to produce a freshwater pearl.

I hope this helps you understand the differences in these pearl processes. Let us know if you have any questions!

About The Pearl Girls

Our mission at The Pearl Girls is to provide the best quality pearls in a variety of amazing designs. Under the direction of Certified Pearl Grader, India Rows, each year we travel to Hong Kong and hand select the finest cultured pearls to create our jewelry collections. We carry a dazzling Classic Collection. Each year we develop two Seasonal Collections featuring modern designs of these classic gems. Each collection is rich with a variety of cultured pearls from classic round pearls to baroque pearls. We also keep

up with the latest advances in pearl culturing practices and designs.

The Pearl Girls jewelry is available online at www.ThePearlGirls.com and through fine retailers nationwide.

All pieces in The Pearl Girls line come with a Certificate of Authenticity.

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