Tahitian Pearls

Tahitian Pearls - Queen of Pearls

Tahitian pearls, symbols of luxury and perfection, have long been sought for their exceptional beauty and value. Often called the "queen of pearls" or "creation of the sea". Tahitian pearls have captured the imagination of many buyers.

Tahitian Pearls Quality Control

Tahitian Pearls Quality

Tahitian Pearls Nacre thickness: The most important factor when measuring Tahitian pearls quality. It determines how long the beauty of Tahitian pearls will last. Tahitian pearls with thick nacre will last a lifetime, while Tahitian pearls with thin nacre arent nearly as resilient.

French Polynesia Government has set up a minimum nacre thickness of 0.8mm for Tahitian pearls.

Tahitian Pearls Surface quality: Premium Pearl has four grades to rate the surface quality of Tahitian pearls: AAA, AA, A, B. AAA quality Tahitian pearls are the most valuable.

AAA Quality: Tahitian pearls with very high luster and clean surface (one to a few slight flaws are distributed over less than 10% of the pearl surface)

AA Quality: Tahitian pearls with medium to high luster and slight surface imperfection (some slight flaws are distributed over 30% of the pearl surface)

A Quality: Tahitian pearls with medium luster and medium surface imperfection (some slight flaws are distributed over 60% of the pearl surface. B Quality: Tahitian pearls are heavily spotted (many slight flaws or several deep flaws are distributed over 60% of the pearl surface)

Tahitian Pearls Luster: Luster is the best expression of a pearl's beauty. Luster measures the shine of a pearls surface. High quality Tahitian pearls have high luster and a mirror-like finish. Tahitian pearls with sharp and intense light reflection have high luster and a metal-like steely look.

Tahitian Pearls Size: Most common sizes for Tahitian pearls range from 8mm to 14mm. Some Tahitian pearls are 16mm and very rarely over 18mm. The largest Tahitian pearl in the world is 21mm for a round pearl and 25mm for a semi-round pearl. The larger the pearls, the more valuable the pearls are.

Tahitian Pearls Shape: Tahitian pearls have the following shapes: round semi-round semi-baroque baroque ringed or circled

Among all shapes, round is the most desirable and valuable. Other shapes may have special appeal to jewelry artists.

Round Tahitian pearls are almost perfect spheres. Round Tahitian pearls are rare and the production rate only accounts for 5-10% of Tahitian pearls produced each year.

Semi-baroque Tahitian pearls are subdivided into four shapes: drop, button, pear and oval.

Tahitian Pearls Color: Black-lipped oysters produce the natural black color of Tahitian pearls. Although Tahitian Pearls are famous for their black natural color, they have a wide range of colors including black, gray, blue, green and brown. These colors are referred to as body colors. Body colors are enhanced by at least one overtone colors. Overtone colors include blue, gold, silver, pink and reddish purple.

Different names are given to a combination of overtone and body colors.

Peacock: greenish black Pistachio: greenish gray Cherry: purplish black Champagne: yellowish gray Lavender: bluish black Tahitian gold: golden black Pigeon gray: purplish gray Silver: gray Moon gray: pale gray

Among these colors, peacock and pistachio are the most popular colors. Tahitian pearls with peacock and pistachio colors have a higher value than Tahitian pearls with other colors.

Buying Tahitian Pearls

Real Tahitian Pearls vs. Imitation Tahitian Pearls

Colors of Tahitian Pearls Real Tahitian pearls have body color(black, gray, blue, green and brown) enhanced by at least one overtone colors(blue, gold, silver, pink and reddish purple). Real Tahitian pearls have a faint reddish glow when viewed through crossed filters.

Imitation Tahitian pearls only have one body color; they don't have any overtone colors. The color looks very flat.

Viewed Under 10x Lens When viewed under a 10 x lens, bubbles or mat patterns will be seen under the surface of imitation Tahitian pearls.

Weight of Tahitian Pearls Real Tahitian pearls are heavy to hold, while imitation pearls are light to hold.

Temperature of Tahitian Pearls Some imitation Tahitian pearls are made of plastics. When touching them on your skin, they dont feel cool.

Teeth Test on Tahitian Pearls When rubbed across the teeth, real Tahitian pearls feel gritty while imitation Tahitian pearls feel smooth.

Prices of Tahitian Pearls Since imitation Tahitian pearls are very cheap to make, they usually cost very little. If a well matched Tahitian pearl necklace costs less than $200, they must be imitation Tahitian pearls.

Drilled holes around Tahitian pearls Most imitation Tahitian pearls show roughness around drilled holes due to mass-production of such pearls. For individual loose pearls sold in the market, most real Tahitian pearls are non-drilled. Imitation Tahitian pearls are already drilled.

For more information about Tahitian cultured pearls, please visit Tahitian pearl official web site http://www.perlesdetahiti.net/