JP
TW
9.5mm
7.0mm
3.0mm
About pearl size
Akoya pearls range in size from about 2.5mm to 10mm, and it is extremely rare to find pearls larger than 10mm. In the case of Akoya pearls, they are generally sorted by 0.5 mm and are reflected in the price. In the case of South Sea pearls, the width is about 8mm to 20mm, and the rarity increases when it exceeds 14mm.
Size and scarcity
The most heavily cultivated size is between 7 and 9mm. Depending on the year, about 5% of the total bids are over 10mm in Uwajima's first-class bids. If the quality is good, the scarcity value increases even more. Even though they are the same size, the thickness of the sowing is different depending on the size of the inner core. Therefore, for the same size pearls, it is easier to produce high quality pearls with small nuclei that have been cultivated for a long time than those with large nuclei that have been cultivated in a short period of time.
What is the pearl nucleus
The core of a pearl is the core of a pearl. This is then inserted into the inside of the shell, and the layer of pearls overlapping each other becomes a pearl. The nucleus is made from the spherical shells of bivalve molluscs, mainly found in the Mississippi River in the United States. Nuclei are also of high quality, and pearls that are round and without blemishes, lines of growth patterns, or colors are considered to be of good quality, which increases the probability of producing good pearls.
About Baby Pearl
Baby pearls are small pearls of 5 mm or less, and those that are about 3 mm in diameter are called "Sairin-dama" .Nowadays, the amount of farmed fish is small, and the price tends to go up, as it is rare. Just because it's a baby doesn't mean it's a growing baby, it's just an extremely fine nucleus. To make a necklace, you'll need more than 100 pearls. For this reason, first-class necklaces are more expensive.
(* There is no clear standard for the size of baby pearls and they may vary from company to company.)
Why are South Sea pearls big?
This is due to the type of mother mussel that nurtures the pearls and the difference in its habitat. South Sea pearls are the pearls produced by white and black pearl oyster that live in the southern seas. Among the white-lipped pearl oyster, those with a strong golden pigment are produced in the waters of Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Those with a strong white pigmentation are mainly produced in the Arafura Sea in northern Australia. The black pearl oyster is cultivated primarily in Tahiti, and the pearl oyster itself has a black pigment. The water temperature in these areas is extremely high, and the mother pearl oyster itself is several times the size of the Akoya pearl oyster.
Australian white-lipped pearl oyster
