Akoya pearl Vs Tahitian Pearl

Akoya pearls can come from China or Japan and are salt water pearls. These pearls are small, white, round and are what most shoppers visualize when they think about buying pearls. Akoya pearls are very expensive as compared to freshwater pearls. Akoya pearls are of a higher quality than freshwater. Additionally, akoya pearls from Japan are thought to be of higher quality than those from China. The thickness of the nacre, lack of surface blemishes and the luster of the pearl will dictate its quality. Natural akoyas usually have either a silver or pink overtone – so select the strand with the overtone that compliments your particular facial tones. Akoya pearls are typically roundish. Their body colors range from light pink to white or creamy. Sizes range from 3mm – 9mm. Round Akoya pearls larger than10 mm are very rare, if there are, their price will be much higher than the same size South sea pearls.

Tahitian pearls are very expensive due to the fact that the Tahitian government limits the exporting of its pearls to those that have at least 8mm nacre thickness. Most Tahitian pearls come from French Polynesia, which is a part of the island of Tahiti. And while Tahitian pearls will have varying colored undertones. The most expensive of Tahitian pearls will have one that is greenish. Black pearls might not be suitable to be worn with a white wedding gown but they would certainly combine very well and be quite stylish worn with a non-white wedding dress. Tahitian Pearls are all natural and organic so they logically come in all shapes and sizes, from Pearl that are perfectly round or “Spherical,” such as the "classic" pearl shape that we all are so commonly most familiar with, to those that are known as “Symmetrical,” meaning that these pearls are not necessarily round, but definitely have a delightfully regular shape that is noticeably balanced and visually regular in appearance, where, if one were to carefully slice the pearl in half, each separate half would be an exact, equal  “mirror image” of the other half. Pearl Jewellery manufactured from Tahitian pearl are more expensive than pearl jewellery from akoya pearl  because tahitian pearl are very rare found.

Akoya pearl Vs Tahitian Pearl

Akoya Pearls

Akoya pearls are bead-nucleated cultured pearls produced in the Pinctada fucata martensii and Pinctada fucata chemnitzii primarily in Japan, China, Vietnam, South Korea and Australia.Saltwater Akoya pearls are the classic pearl. They were the first variety of pearl to ever be cultured in the early 1900s.


Pearl producers cultivate akoya pearls in a bivalve mollusk of the Pinctada genus. The primary species used in cultivation are the Pinctada fucata (specifically the sub-species martensii) and the Pinctada chemnizti. The Pinctada fucata martensi is native to the coastal waters of Japan, while the Pinctada chemnitzi is more prolific in the Gulf of Tonkin and along the coast of China. Today, most akoya pearl producers in both China and Japan cultivate with a hybridization of the two species. As with all cultured pearls, Akoya oysters are nucleated with a hard-shell bead and mantle tissue from an oyster that has produced a high-quality pearl in the past. But compared with the other species of saltwater cultured pearl oysters, many more Akoya oysters are nucleated. Generally, Akoya cultured pearls take 10 to 18 months from the time they are nucleated to the point they're ready for harvest. Now, there are so many experts like Real Shoppee believe that Akoya pearls have the highest lustre of all cultured pearls, and it has to do with their nacre coating.

The akoya oyster is the smallest pearl-producing oyster used in pearl culture today, so akoya pearls also tend to be small, ranging in size from about 2 to 11 millimeters. They also tend to be the most consistently round and near-round pearls, making them ideal in terms of matching for multi-pearl jewelry such as strands, Pearl bracelets and Pearl Necklace.

Akoya Pearls