Perhaps while surfing on the internet looking to buy a pearl necklace for your special occasion, you have come across various pearl names like Akoya, Tahitian, Freshwater & saltwater cultured pearls jewellery.  Maybe you get a bit hesitant to buy the beautiful pearl ring or not? You would question the authenticity of the pearl used on this jewellery.

Well, in fact, cultured pearl jewellery is of real pearls, as cultured pearls are real pearls created inside the oyster. We refer to them as cultured because these have been cultivated on pearl farms.

So, if the cultured pearls are real pearls, what is the difference between natural pearls & cultured pearls that make natural pearls available at a higher value?

The answer is simple, the pearl used in your Akoya pearl bracelet has been grown inside water farms that are either natural or manmade, but controlled by pearl farmers who interfere in the pearl formation.

To make it clearer, we need to clarify how pearls are formed. 

Pearls are formed as a reaction to protect the mollusc from irritants that manage their way to enter the oyster, mussel or clam. Mollusc secrets a fluid to coat the irritant, and lay by lay the pearl is formed.

The way pearls are formed in cultured & natural pearls is the same, except that in natural pearls the irritants enter without any human interference, whereas in cultured pearls, humans interfere with this. The rest of the process is identical.

However, the reason that makes natural pearl earrings more expensive than cultured pearl earrings is the rarity of natural pearls nothing more.

Pearl diving is a dangerous task, and it is getting abandoned more and more. Adding to this, the possibility of creating pearls naturally inside the oyster is also little due to many factors. Therefore, natural pearls are rare in the jewellery market, unlike cultured pearls at much more reasonable affordable costs than natural pearls.

It is important to mention also that cultured pearls may be more popular and preferred not only due to their affordable prices but also to the varieties we can get from cultured pearls.

Since these pearls are formed and grown inside controlled farms, the rate of survival of the mollusc is higher than in its natural environment. Also, with the highly developed techniques used inside the farms, these farms are able to produce various pearls in different sizes and colours.

After understanding the difference between natural and cultural pearls, and assuring you that cultured pearls are real pearls, you can go ahead and buy a gold opera necklace, cluster ring, or earrings embellished with pearls.