Because of their rarity, grand size, silky feel and deep luster, South Sea pearls command premium prices, and are coveted by jewelry aficionados. Gem quality South Sea pearls are extremely rare for two important reasons: one is that the Pinctada maxima oyster used to cultivate them is a wild species - one can never be certain how many will be available for cultivation. The second reason rests in the pearl's long cultivation period - 3 to 5 long years of painstaking and capricious ocean farming just to make just one fine pearl. And this oyster only houses one pearl at a time!

The lustrous and glowing nacre coating of South Sea pearls is especially thick, giving them a soft yet deep, rich luster unlike that of any other type of pearl. Their luster may be referred to as "satiny," less "mirror-like" than that of Akoya pearls, but South Sea pearls also possess a beautiful soft iridescence found only in pearls with exceptionally thick nacre. And no pearl is its equal in its grand size!

South Sea pearls appear in a wide range of colors, with the most common being white, silvery white, pink, and gold. Those produced in Australian waters usually come in white and those from the Philippines and Indonesia areas though they tend to be creamier, more champagne or golden in color.

South Sea pearls are among the largest of all saltwater cultured pearl varieties up to as large as 22 millimeters. Smaller pearls are usually very baroque shaped or "keshi" [Kesh-ee] pearls, a very rare type of pearl that is all nacre or with no nucleus. Considered by many experts as true natural pearls.

View all South Sea