Deciding Between Adorning Yourself with Pearls Cultivated in Freshwater and Saltwater

Pearls never go out of style. They are elegant and symbolize purity. Jewelleries made of pearl are in huge demand. Regardless of whether they are man-made or natural, pearls are formed when many layers of nacre are produced by molluscs inside a shell. This is caused by the presence of an irritant.  In natural pearls, irritants are some type of organism while in cultured ones; a tissue is placed as a substitute for irritant.

Pearls can be classified in many ways. The quality and price of a pearl is dictated by where it is grown. The two main types are fresh water and saltwater pearls. Though the advances in technology work on narrowing the differences between both, each of these has specific characteristics with respect to appearance, durability and price.

How are both the types created?

Owing to the rarity, both of these are mostly cultured and not natural. The mussels are implanted with tiny pieces of mantle tissue in freshwater pearl farms while in the case of pearls cultured from saltwater, a perfectly round nucleus is inserted into an oyster. Over a period of several months to 7 years, pearls are formed. The quality of nacre gets better with the time period for cultivating the pearl. The ones with a higher time period are expensive which is why pearls cultured in saltwater are costly.

Difference between both the types:

Due to the thicker nacre coating of freshwater pearls, they are less prone to chipping and more durable. In terms of lustre, saltwater ones are more lustrous and glossier. Freshwater pearls are come in various colours and round and oval shapes while the latter is usually round which have higher demand.

Choose freshwater ones if:

• You are worried that it may be handled roughly or lost
• You are looking for cost-effective pearls
• You aren’t bothered about the slight variations in shape
• You are going to be using it for daily-use

Choose saltwater ones if:

• You are looking for perfectly round pearls with excellent lustre
• You are willing to invest more
• You are looking for a treasured piece and want to pass it down for generations
• You are going to be wearing it for special occasions

Pearl jewelleries have been modernized and look chic than ever. Add it to your jewellery collection.