Freshwater pearl farmers have improved their techniques and are now creating a pearl that is much less expensive, yet its quality rivals that of the more expensive saltwater pearls. Differences between the two types of pearls occur in color, shape, cultivation period, size and quality. Freshwater Cultured Pearls, are farmed in freshwater and grown in mussels. The irritants and the oysters used in making freshwater pearls are smaller than saltwater pearls. Freshwater pearls cultivating technique usually produce twenty or more pearls in one oyster. Saltwater Cultured Pearls, are farmed in saltwater, and grown in oysters. Only one pearl is grown per oyster. This makes salt-water pearls more expensive than freshwater pearls. Countries known as producer of saltwater pearl are Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines in South East Asia; Australia and Tahiti in South Pacific, especially in Tahiti, you'll find the beautiful black pearls. Find pearl styles
	Tahitian pearls are produced by the black-lipped oyster. These pearls are traditionally called "black," but their color can range from a metallic silver, to the color of graphite. This oyster itself is quite large and can get to over 12 inches across and weigh as much as 10 pounds. This oyster is very sensitive to the pearl culturing process, which makes the pearls very costly to produce. Tahitian pearls are among the most beautiful pearls in the world. Find Tahitian pearl styles
	South Sea pearls are among the largest commercially harvested cultured pearls in the world. The average size of a South Sea pearl is 13 mm. Most harvests produce a range of sizes from 9 mm to 20 mm. The South Seas lie between the northern coast of Australia and the southern coast of China. These waters are the native habitat of a large oyster known as Pinctada maxima. South Sea pearls have several distinct characteristics that are unique. The nacre is unusually thick, ranging from 2 - 6 mm, compared to the 0.35 - 0.7 mm of an akoya pearl. They also have a unique satiny luster that comes from the rapidly deposited nacre and warm waters of the South Seas. Colors can be found in white, silver, and golden. South Sea pearls are harvested after a minimum of two years allowing for a larger size. Find South Sea pearl styles
	Akoya pearls are cultured in the Pinctada fucata martensii, also known as the akoya oyster. It is found and farmed primarily in Japan and China. Renowned for their luster, akoya are considered the classic and most popular. They are generally white or cream colored, with overtone colors of rose, silver, or cream. The akoya oyster is the smallest oyster used in cultivating pearls todayAkoya Pearls rang in size from about 2 to 11 millimeters. In recent years the Chinese have overtaken the Japanese in akoya pearl production. The Chinese began culturing akoya pearls in the 1960's, but had limited success until the late 1980's. While once considered inferior to their Japanese counterparts, China is now producing akoya pearls of qualities that rival that of the Japanese in every quality factor. Find Akoya pearl styles
	Keshi Pearls are very small pearl byproduct of the pearl culturing process. If debris enters an oyster while it's open during the harvesting process, the oyster covers the debris with nacre, thus creating keshi pearls. Keshi may form in either saltwater or freshwater and are generally small in size because there was no nucleus to guide the ultimate shaping of the pearl. They are produced in a variety of sizes. Keshi pearls come in many colors and tend to have high luster due to their solid-nacre composition. Keshi pearls are 100% nacre. This gives it an especially lustrous and shimmering surface quality and usually have a greater luster than even the highest quality cultured pearls. Find Keshi styles
	Mabe Pearls are intentionally created when cultivators attach a plastic dome to the inside shell of an oyster, which reacts by covering the dome with nacre. When harvested the mabe is cut off from the shell, and the inside filled with plastic or other material, to give more weight. Mabe pearls are usually used for rings rather than necklace strands. Find Mabe styles
	Mother of Pearl is not actual pearl, it is the shiny coating that can be seen on the inside of an oyster. It is an iridescent layer of material which forms the shell lining of many mollusks. Mollusks create mother of pearl to protect themselves. In addition to forming part of the shell, mother of pearl also insulates mollusks from bacterial infection, and reduces irritation from organic material which drifts into the shell. Find Mother of Pearl styles