Freshwater pearls

As the name suggests, freshwater pearls are pearls grown in mussels that live in fresh water, unlike pearls that are cultivated in saltwater oysters or mollusks. Japan, China and the United States are the leading producers of freshwater pearls.

Freshwater pearls harvested from mussels can produce over 50 pearls per each mussel. The shape of freshwater pearls differs from saltwater pearls in that it is extremely rare to find a perfectly round freshwater pearl. Freshwater pearls are typically baroque, slugs or wings and come in white, silvery white, salmon, copper, bronze, red, pink, purple, green, lavender, blue, yellow and off-white. The most common color of freshwater pearl is white but the more expensive and popular colors are pink, lavender, rose and purple. The varying colors are dependant on the species of mussel that houses the freshwater pearl, its genetics, the quality of the water and where the nucleus is positioned within the mussel.

Because of the variety of freshwater pearls in shape and color, these pearls are versatile for jewelry making and wearing.

Freshwater pearls can be naturally processed and are found by pearl divers in non-saltwater bodies. Natural freshwater pearls are found in mollusks or oysters that have accidentally acquired a foreign object and coated the object with layers of nacre, creating the beautiful and unique luster of the freshwater pearl. Inserting organ tissue material into the mollusk by human intervention stimulates the growth of nacre and produces pearls that are cultivated or cultured into freshwater pearls.