Freshwater pearls are commonly grown inside the hyriopsis cumingii mollusc also known as the triangle mussel in rivers lakes or ponds.
Types of pearls pictures.
Akoya cultured pearls are the most familiar type of saltwater cultured pearl to most people in the u s and other western markets.
Other types of pearls called blue comes from the abalone which is technically a large snail of the genus haliotis.
Up until 1989 pearls were only found.
There are four major types of cultured whole pearls.
Size large pearls are extremely rare and with sizes up to 20mm south sea pearls stand out from all the other types of pearls.
One of the types of blue pearls comes from the silver lip oyster when there is a contaminant either in the nacre or between the nacre and the shell bead.
In reaction the mollusc begins to produce layers of nacre around the irritant.
The history of freshwater pearl cultivation can be traced back to the 13th century when the earliest blister pearls were.
Pearl types can generally be divided into two major categories.
Those produced in fresh water and those grown in salt water.
Many customers think of white or cream colored akoyas as the classic pearl used for jewelry especially single strand necklaces.
They are also known as blister pearls or half pearls.
Pearls are formed when irritants like sand for instance finds its way into the shell of a mollusc.
From the front these look exactly like normal spherical pearls but the side view shows that it is actually flat at the back making it a half pearl.