These pearls can be used to make impressive looking jewelry pieces that sell for moderate prices.

Stick, square, coin, diamond and rectangular shapes are other typical freshwater pearl shapes.

Pearl shapes of freshwater and saltwater pearls are determined by a variety of factors:

• The type of irritant causing the pearl-mantle tissue, shell bead plus mantle tissue, or in the case of natural pearls parasite or shell piece. Round pearls are more easily cultivated with shell beads or with beads made from tissue-nucleated freshwater pearls. Most freshwater pearl mussels are implanted only with mantle tissue.

• The shape of the irritant. Pearl shapes tend to conform to that of the irritant. It's relatively easy to cut mantle tissue in a variety of shapes. This is one of the main reasons freshwater pearls come in so many different shapes which make them ideal for creative jewelry designs.

• The length of the cultivation period. Generally the longer the pearl is in the mollusk, the more likely it is to have an irregular shape. With Chinese rice pearls, though, too short of a cultivation period may increase their chances of looking wrinkled and unsymmetrical.

• The position of the irritant in the mollusk. If the pearl is in a spot where it can be turned as the mollusk moves around, it may have a greater chance of growing smoothly and symmetrically.

• The quality of the irritant. For example, baroque shapes are sometimes the result of flaws in the shell bead nuclei.

• The type of mollusk used to culture the pearl. In China, the sankaku mussel is more likely to produce a smoother, more round shape than a kurasu mussel.

SURFACE QUALITY:
Obvious blemishes such as discolorations, pits and cavities can decrease the value of a pearl considerably, especially if the pearl is otherwise of high quality. Normally, though, flaws in freshwater pearls aren't very noticeable, due to their baroque shapes. Consequently, surface imperfections tend to have less of an effect on the value of freshwater pearls than on those of saltwater pearls.

COLOR:
Fresh water pearls come in a wide variety of body colors-white, pink, orange, yellow, lavender, gray Some pearls are even bi-colored. When you ask freshwater pearl dealers what are the most valued body colors, you get a variety of answers. Some price their white pearls higher, others place a higher value ot certain colors such as pink and mauve, some raise the prices as the intensity of the colors increases, white other dealers price all the colors about the same. Since the color grading of freshwater pearls is so flexible, the best way to know how an individual pearl dealer prices color is to ask. Most freshwater pearl dealer would agree on the following:

• The body color does not affect the price of freshwater pearls as much as it does that of saltwater pearls.

• The presence of overtone colors such as pink and silver makes them more valuable.

• Iridescence (orient) increases the value of pearls. Iridescence and high luster are interrelated.

•  Natural color pearls are more highly valued than those which are dyed and/or irradiated.