Black Pearls

How is the Black Pearl made?

Black Freshwater Pearls are formed within the mantle under rare conditions, making them exquisitely unique. Generally, only two types can be found on the market Black Tahitian Pearls and Black Akoya Pearls. While the dark mystique of Black Tahitian comes naturally from the black-lipped Pinctada margaritifera, Akoya Pearls are manually treated.

Tahitian Black Pearls

The only naturally black pearls on the planet are from the Tahitian family of gems. Black Tahitian pearls get their color naturally and come from the French Polynesian waters.

Naturally colored black pearls arent black, but have hues of various dark colors, such as gray, purple, blue, or green, giving the illusion of black. The Tahitian's pearlcolor is created by the tissue of its mantle, which is determined by the colors within the donor mollusks shell. These gems will also display strong overtones of peacock, red, green, or eggplant (dark purple).

Tahitian pearls are generally about 9mm to 15mm large. Some cultured Tahitian pearls have been known to be as large as 20mm in size. The larger the gem, the rarer it is, making it even more valuable on the pearl jewelry market.