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| Pearl Types |
| Pearl Price Factors |
| Imitation or Not |
| Pearl Treatments |
Pearl Types
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colored pearls in the Gulf of California. In the late 1700's and early 1800's, La Paz in Baja California became the black pearl center of the world. Natural black pearls in the South Seas were also being fished at this time. Gradually black pearls grew quite popular, especially among European royalty, such as Empress Eugenie of France. But the oyster beds were overfished and black pearls became scarce. Then in the 1940's, a large percentage of the black pearl oysters in the Gulf of California died for unknown reasons. Within the last 15 years, there has been a gradual redevelopment of black pearl fishing and culturing in the Gulf of California between Baja California and Mainland Mexico. As a result, a few natural pearls are now being found and cultured whole and mabe black pearls are being produced there.
Price Factors
Black pearls are priced according to their luster, color, shape, surface perfection, size and nacre thickness as follows:
LUSTER: Black pearls can look almost metallic. You should expect a higher and different luster from them than you would from white South Sea pearls. Dark nacre does not reflect light in the same way that white nacre does. The best way to learn the luster potential of a black pearl is to look at some black pearls ranging from very low to very high in luster. After you compare them, you probably won't be satisfied with a black pearl of low luster, and you shouldn't be. Good luster is an essential ingredient for pearl beauty. Keep in mind that lighting can affect black pearls in the same way it does white pearls, so compare pearls under equivalent lighting conditions.
Low luster in black pearls is often correlated with thin nacre, as is the case with white pearls. But thin-nacre black pearls can have good luster and thick-nacre pearls may have low luster. Consequently, it's best to treat luster and nacre thickness as two separate value factors.
COLOR: Twenty years ago, the preferred coloration for black pearls was dark gray with green and pink overtones (peacock colored). Tastes have changed. Lighter colored black pearls have become very popular and so have multicolored necklaces. Today, there's not much difference in price between dark "peacock-colored" pearls and the pastel-colored pearls. Brownish colors, however, are not as highly valued and neither are solid black pearls with no overtone colors.
Other overtone colors on black pearls are blue, gold, silver and a reddish purple called "aubergine,"
which is the French word for eggplant. Overtones may be present in a variety of combinations such as pink and green, and they are considered a plus factor. It's easiest to see the overtone colors in black pearls when the lighting is diffused and at a distance from the pearl. Bare lights close-up (e.g. '/z meter away) tend to mask the overtones in black pearls even though they bring out the overtones of white pearls.
There is no standardized system throughout the pearl industry for classifying or valuing the color of black pearls, and considering the complexity of it, there may
Price Factors
Black pearls are priced according to their luster, color, shape, surface perfection, size and nacre thickness as follows:
LUSTER: Black pearls can look almost metallic. You should expect a higher and different luster from them than you would from white South Sea pearls. Dark nacre does not reflect light in the same way that white nacre does. The best way to learn the luster potential of a black pearl is to look at some black pearls ranging from very low to very high in luster. After you compare them, you probably won't be satisfied with a black pearl of low luster, and you shouldn't be. Good luster is an essential ingredient for pearl beauty. Keep in mind that lighting can affect black pearls in the same way it does white pearls, so compare pearls under equivalent lighting conditions.
Low luster in black pearls is often correlated with thin nacre, as is the case with white pearls. But thin-nacre black pearls can have good luster and thick-nacre pearls may have low luster. Consequently, it's best to treat luster and nacre thickness as two separate value factors.
COLOR: Twenty years ago, the preferred coloration for black pearls was dark gray with green and pink overtones (peacock colored). Tastes have changed. Lighter colored black pearls have become very popular and so have multicolored necklaces. Today, there's not much difference in price between dark "peacock-colored" pearls and the pastel-colored pearls. Brownish colors, however, are not as highly valued and neither are solid black pearls with no overtone colors.
Other overtone colors on black pearls are blue, gold, silver and a reddish purple called "aubergine,"
which is the French word for eggplant. Overtones may be present in a variety of combinations such as pink and green, and they are considered a plus factor. It's easiest to see the overtone colors in black pearls when the lighting is diffused and at a distance from the pearl. Bare lights close-up (e.g. '/z meter away) tend to mask the overtones in black pearls even though they bring out the overtones of white pearls.There is no standardized system throughout the pearl industry for classifying or valuing the color of black pearls, and considering the complexity of it, there may
identify a natural-color black pearl is to send it to a lab and have it tested. It's only been within the last 25 to 30 years that cultured black pearls have become commercially important. Most of them are cultivated in Tahiti (French Polynesia to be more accurate) and others are produced in places like Okinawa, Fiji, the Cook Islands and Baja California.
