Three essential tips for finding your favourite cultured pearls

Become familiar with the nuances and considerations of different cultured pearls to heighten your jewellery shopping experience. Modern artistry embodies the pearl jewellery collection by TVRRINI. Immerse yourself in the world of Freshwater Pearls, Tahitian Pearls, and South Sea Pearls.

1. Defining cultured pearls

Pearls are organic gems that are generated in pearl oysters. When foreign material, such as a piece of shell, enters the oyster and cannot be expelled, the mussel inside the oyster shields itself from irritation by secreting nacre around the material. Those layers result in a pearl over time.

Pearls that form in the wild are incredibly rare, no matter where they originate. You are far likelier to come across cultured pearls and there is a key difference between these. Unlike those that occur in nature, cultured pearls get formed with human intervention and care. This process takes place on a farm that specialises in harvesting gem-quality pearls. At these farms, workers keep up high standards of sustainability; this includes ensuring the conditions of the water are consistently optimal and looking after the freshwater oyster so it stays healthy. They carefully create openings in the soft mantle tissue and place tiny shell pieces inside. This prompts the oyster to react, rolling the shell pieces around to form a pearl.

While formed in this way, cultured pearls are genuine organic gems, as they are created by living pearl oysters in freshwater or saltwater.

2. Choose pearls based on origin, colour, and size

Whether you prefer light, creamy colours or dark accents, pearls can differ considerably based on appearance alone. TVRRINI draws from an extensive array of freshwater, Tahitian, and South Sea pearls to craft one-of-a-kind, exquisite jewellery. Understanding the desired traits allows you to narrow down your options when buying cultured pearl jewellery.

Freshwater pearls are harvested from oysters living in lakes and rivers. Generally, freshwater pearls have a body colour of white, cream, yellow, orange, pink or purple. The market tends to offer specimens ranging from 3.0 mm up to 10.0 mm, and ones that are any larger are considered to be extraordinary. Currently, much of the world’s supply comes from China.

Tahitian pearls are named for their cultivation around Tahiti, an island of French Polynesia. Formed inside the black lip oyster, Tahitian pearls are formed in many body colours, varying from green — lime, pistachio, peacock — to a cherry-like red to bronze to grey to purple. Overtones in Tahitian pearls can be pink, green and blue. Sizes range from 8 mm to 18 mm which makes them among the largest pearl varieties. Some producers chemically dye non-Tahitian pearls to appear black, which weakens the nacre and hence one should take caution of any imitations. In our commiment to uphold our values, we use natural, high-quality pearls only.

The largest variety, South Sea pearls are harvested in the warm climates around Australia, Indonesia, and the Phillippines. They grow inside white-lipped and gold-lipped oysters, and the thick nacre gives the impression of a soft glow distinct from other types.  Pearls from Australia, in particular, are known for a creamy white body colour with overtones ranging from silver to blue. Pearls from Indonesia and the Phillippines come in shades of honey, champagne and gold. Most South Sea pearls reach about 12 mm with some achieving 20 mm.

3. Get inspired by different shapes

In addition to colours, pearls are made in a breathtaking variety of shapes. No two pearls are identical, which makes the hunt for your desired piece all the more an adventure.

Round pearls, while popularly regarded as the classic shape partly due to its prominence in cinema and royalty, is worn by people across ages in ways that break tradition. They may be the rarest and most valuable of all pearl shapes, however their ongoing reinvention (as seen on fashion trailblazers who layer multiple strands in stylish outfits) is truly exciting. Semi-round pearls, although similar, appear flatter. The difference is that they are not symmetrical like round pearls, often resembling an egg or oval shape. 

Other shapes have their own idiosyncracies to consider. Drop pearls are symmetrical, elongated shapes - as the name suggests, they look very much like teardrops! More irregular variations, like baroque pearls, are highly asymmetrical. Bumps, dents, and concentric rings around the body are a few of the visual features that may be showcase on baroque pearls, making them ideal for unique fine jewellery designs.

Our commitment to artisan-made pearl jewellery

Choosing cultured pearls involves a number of considerations as the gifter or wearer: the type, colour, size, and shape. Whether you're shopping semi-round freshwater pearls in unconventional pendant settings or a bracelet of Tahitian pearls with intricate, hand-crafted patterns, TVRRINI has extraordinary jewellery designs that will let your individual style shine.

Start browsing ready-to-ship pearl jewellery on our website shop.