Natural vs Cultured Pearls: All you need to know
Pearls are truly unlike any other gemstone. Entirely formed within a living organism, they emerge not from mines but from the ocean after being nurtured by our pearl team, and Mother Nature.
At Broken Bay Pearl Farm, we consider it a great privilege to be marine stewards of this process. But with so many types of pearls in the market, understanding the difference between natural vs cultured pearls is important to help you make the best decision when purchasing your next precious gem.
Together, let’s explore the origins of our pearls, and how our work at Broken Bay Pearl Farm helps carry this ancient story forward.
Key Takeaways
- Australian Akoya and South Sea pearls come from two different pearl shell species, grown in different environments.
- Australian Akoya pearls are cultivated at our Broken Bay Pearl Farm in New South Wales, coming from the Pinctada fucata pearl shell variety.
- Australian South Sea pearls are grown at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm in Western Australia, coming from the Pinctada maxima pearl shell variety.
- Akoya pearls appear in a greater range of colours, from white, silver, cream, gold, blue or pink. This is different to Australian South Sea pearls that are typically a more white, silver and cream tone.
- Akoya oysters are much smaller, therefore producing smaller pearls, while South Sea oysters are the largest pearl producing oysters – prized for their large pearls and stunning Mother of Pearl.
Summarise this article
What are Natural pearls?
Natural pearls are formed entirely without human intervention. This occurs when an irritant accidentally finds itself inside an oyster or mollusk shell. This irritant could be a be a piece of coral or the tip of a crab claw, and when it enters the shell, it activates the defense mechanism of the shell. The defense mechanism of the shell and the way in which it protects itself from this irritant is to secrete layers of a substance called nacre. This layering of nacre coats the irritant that has found its way into the shell and this process slowly creates a pearl over the span of several years.
Historically, pearl divers sourced the seafloor in search of these treasures, but the odds were stacked against them. For every tens of thousands of pearl shell opened, perhaps one would yield a pearl of quality. As explained, pearls are created by a shell as a defense mechanism – to contain and neutralise irritants that have found their way into the shell. When this occurs, the irritant is coated in nacre and then the shell aims to ‘spit’ the irritant out. Therefore, most shell’s aim to expel the irritant once it is covered in nacre and this can make finding a natural pearl more rare.
Today, natural pearls are considered exceptionally rare, and most are only found on the antique market. This brings us to the cultured pearl.
What are Cultured pearls?
Cultured pearls are real, genuine pearls – just like natural pearls. They are formed through the same process, but with a little help from human intervention.
Pearl cultivation involves the process of a pearl farmer carefully inserting an irritant in the form of a tiny bead called a nucleus. This in then followed by a piece of mantle tissue, and both are inserted in the reproductive organ of the shell. In here layers of nacre are formed.
This process of culturing pearls was introduced in the 19th century, and this process occurs at our pearl farms with the process being carried out by skilled pearl farmers and technicians. One of the founders of our very own Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, Lyndon Brown, was one of the first Australian pearl technicians to master the technique of culturing pearls, and then went on to do this in a commercial manner. You can visit the pearl farm today and learn all about the history of pearl farming in Broome.
Types of Cultured pearls
There are two types of cultured pearls: saltwater pearls and freshwater pearls.
Saltwater pearls
Saltwater pearls are grown in saltwater bodies of water, and are typically more valuable than their freshwater counterparts due to their longer cultivation time, rarity, and quality.
These include:
South Sea Pearls – prized for their large size and stunning lustre, these pearls are grown in northern Australia and South East Asia.
Tahitian or Black Lip Pearls – known for their dark colour and beautiful overtones.
Akoya Pearls – grown in Japan and Broken Bay Pearl Farm, these pearls are beloved for their high lustre and variety of colours.
At Broken Bay Pearl Farm, we cultivate Australian Akoya pearls, grown in our pristine marine environment using sustainable pearl farming processes that benefit our surrounding ecosystems.
Freshwater pearls
Grown predominantly in China, freshwater pearls are cultivated in rivers, lakes, and ponds. A single pearl shell can produce many pearls at once, cultured for a shorter time and usually have a thinner nacre.
To enhance their appearance, freshwater pearls are typically treated with chemical processes post-harvest, spending more time in a chemical bath to enhance their colour and lustre than they do growing inside a pearl shell.
They are more affordable, but often lack the same lustre and quality of their saltwater counterparts.
Natural vs Cultured pearls
The primary difference between natural vs cultured pearls is the human intervention. Both pearls are created biologically with the same process of the layering of nacre. In pearls this happens by chance, when an irritant is randomly introduced. In cultured pearls, it is introduced intentionally by a pearl technician.
As a result, both natural and cultured pearls are biologically identical and equally durable. In fact, it takes advanced gemmological testing with an X-ray to tell the difference with certainty.
The overall appearance and colour a pearl is determined by the species of the shell regardless of if the pearl is natural or cultured. In terms of difference in appearance, natural pearls have a more “organic” or baroque appearance and may not be as well-shaped or as round as their cultured pearl counterparts. This is because the nucleus inserted into the oyster is round. However, because the oyster is a living creature, it does not always guarantee a perfectly round pearl, these are very rare!
Another point of difference is the rarity between natural and cultured pearls. Today, almost any pearl that is encountered is a cultured pearl. Natural pearls are extremely rare, and most natural beds of pearl-producing shells have been depleted due to over-harvesting in the past – with almost all natural pearls worldwide already harvested!
Although natural pearls are extremely rare, saltwater pearls are also rare. This is especially true for South Sea pearls, which each take an average of four years to grow a single pearl, making South Sea pearls approximately 1000 times rarer than diamonds.
On this note, cultured pearls are therefore considered a more environmentally conscious approach to the pearling industry as farming can be done without the depletion of wild oyster populations. Studies provided by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) show that for every hectare of oyster reef each year each pearl farm allows for the filtration of 2.7 billion litres of water, the removal of 225kg of nitrogen and phosphate, 375kg of new fish to catch and eat, the provision of a new home for 100+ marine species and the removal of 10,000kg of carbon.
Natural vs cultured pearls: What is the difference in pearl quality?
As discussed above, once the irritant is placed inside the shell, the rest of the process is the same between natural and cultured pearls. This means that quality and durability between natural and cultured pearls are the same.
Our locally and sustainably grown South Sea and Akoya pearls are amongst the finest quality pearls grown anywhere in the world. Carefully cultured by our dedicated team of highly skilled pearl farmers over many years, not only are our pearls rare, pure, and completely stunning to look at, they also happen to be one of the few precious gems on the planet that contain regenerative and restorative qualities for our oceanic environment.
This means when you purchase a pearl from Broken Bay Pearl Farm or Pearls of Australia, you’re not only purchasing one of the rarest and most beautiful gifts of mother nature, but you’re also helping to facilitate the restoration of our pristine Australian waterways in either of Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm or Broken Bay Pearl Farm.
How rare are cultured pearls?
While natural pearls are now vanishingly rare, Saltwater cultured pearls are also considered rare due to the time, precision, and skill required to grow them.
How is quality of pearls determined?
The quality of a pearl, whether natural or cultured, is determined by several factors:
- Lustre
- Surface Quality
- Shape and Symmetry
- Size
- Colour
- Nacre
Because the nacre-building process is the same, a cultured pearl is just as lustrous as a natural pearl. The key lies in careful farming, something we take pride in everyday at our Broken Bay Pearl Farm.
Why Choose Australian-grown pearls?
When you purchase a pearl from Broken Bay Pearl Farm, you’re investing in more than a piece of pearl jewellery. You’re supporting a sustainable, traceable, and local business that endeavours to honour the ocean, and our oysters.
From the pristine waterways of our lower Hawkesbury River to your hands, every one of our pearls carries a story of care and craftsmanship.
Natural Pearls vs Cultured Pearls FAQs
The main difference between natural pearls and cultured pearls is how the pearl formation process begins.
Natural pearls are formed in the wild, inside a pearl shell, when an irritant enters the pearl shell by chance. The pearl shell then coats this irritant with layers of nacre with the intent to be expelled. This occurs without any human intervention, and is extremely rare.
Cultured pearls are real pearls, also formed within a pearl shell like natural pearls. Their formation is initiated through human intervention through a process called seeding. This is when a pearl technician takes a nucleus (or seed) and a piece of mantle tissue from a donor pearl shell and inserts both within the pearl shell. The pearl shell then begins the process of coating the nucleus with nacre.
At Broken Bay Pearl Farm, cultured Akoya pearls are grown using careful cultivation techniques and a care for our ocean farms.
Natural and cultured pearls look the same from the outside as both are formed by the nacre of a pearl shell. Visual inspection alone makes this quite difficult to identify the difference between natural pearls versus cultured pearls.
Proper identification requires gemological testing, typically using X-ray imaging to examine the internal structure, and to essentially see if there is an internal nucleus at the centre of the pearl.
The most reliable way is to buy from a trusted pearl farm or pearl specialist that can provide information around the pearl type, species and origin. At Broken Bay Pearl Farm our Australian Akoya pearls each come with a Certificate of Authenticity to disclose those details to our customers, so they know exactly what they are purchasing with confidence and clarity.
Australian pearl farms, like Broken Bay Pearl Farm, produce cultured pearls using a careful seeding process done by a trained pearl technician. Once the pearl technician seeds the Akoya pearl, it is returned to its baskets, monitored and cleaned to produce stunning Australian Akoya pearls.
This question is often misunderstood because most freshwater pearls are also cultured. “Cultured” refers to how the pearl begins forming, while “freshwater” refers to the growing environment.
Freshwater pearls are cultured in freshwater pearl shell in freshwater bodies of water like lakes and ponds.
Our Australian Akoya pearls grown at Broken Bay Pearl Farm in NSW are cultured in the Pinctada fucata pearl shell, which are saltwater pearl shell. Neither is automatically better, they differ in quality, lustre, size, rarity and value. Saltwater cultured pearls, like our Akoya pearls, are more highly valued than freshwater pearls.