Overview
The Akoya saltwater cultured pearl is the most popular type of luxury pearl sold today. Akoya pearls have an exceptional and complex lustre that is unmatched, paired with a desirable perfectly round shape, it makes the Akoya a timeless classic.

Akoya Saltwater cultured pearls are primarily produced in Japan and China by the Pinctada Fucata Martensii mollusc. Annual production of cultured Akoya pearls has dropped dramatically over the last 5+ years because of natural disasters and a dramatic increase in the material cost of producing raw pearls. This has resulted in higher prices for Akoya pearls, a decrease in the amount of Akoya pearls available; resulting in rising worth of Akoya pearls. In fact, the larger, more rare sizes of Akoya pearls often garner more than a South Sea pearl.

Akoya saltwater pearls are cultured through a process of bead nucleation, where a tiny incision is made to the gonad of the host Oyster and a small round mother of pearl bead, accompanied with a tiny piece of donor mantle tissue, is inserted. Because the physical size of the oyster is small, only one or two nucleation would be done on a single host oyster. Further, the size of the oyster also limits the size of pearl that can be produced, with the average pearl size being harvested at about 7.5mm in diameter. Akoya pearls are cultivated from one to three years.

Because most Akoya saltwater pearls do not come out of the shell with a desirable bright white body colour, the Akoya pearls are most often processed the same way their Freshwater counterparts are. The pearls undergo a chemical wash called maeshori to clean and disinfect the pearls, as well as sharpen the lustre. Then the pearls are bleached to brighten and remove any surface stains on the nacre. And finally, the Akoya pearls are chemically colour treated to give the appearance of overtone that the bleaching has stripped away. 'Pinking' is the process that gives the pearl a pink blush, and silver nitrate is used to add a silver overtone.

Unlike their Freshwater counterpart, Akoya pearls have a relatively thin nacre and processing of the pearl like this will damage the nacre. When ever possible while considering a purchase, identify quality Akoya pearls that have not undergone colour treatments that would have undermined the integrity of the pearl nacre.

Select Pearls only sells Akoya pearls that have not been bleached or colour treated. These pearls are naturally bright white and exhibit the natural overtones of pink, green and silver. Our finest quality natural colour Akoya pearls are individually certified at the Pearl Science Laboratory (PSL) in Japan as being Aurora Hanadama Akoya cultured pearls. Each certificate details the following:

"No evidence of color addition is recognized.
The Natural colour that is peculiar to pearl layers is recognized.
The attached image is the proof of Aurora Effect..."

A real Aurora Image of the subject is included on the PSL certificate as well. These are the finest Akoya pearls you can buy.

Size
Akoya saltwater cultured pearls typically range in size from
1.0mm - 10.0mm in diameter, and much more rarely in the largest possibles sizes up to 11.0mm in diameter.

Colour
Akoya saltwater cultured pearls naturally occur in different intensities of white and naturally have overtones of pink and green and silver in varying degrees and combination. This is apparent when you look at the Mother of Pearl that lines the oysters' shell. As with all pearls, the parent lining is a clue as to the expected colour of pearl the oyster will produce.

Akoya pearls found in other colours such as black or brown, etc., have been colour treated and dyed; the only naturally occurring black pearls are Tahitians.

Shape
Akoya saltwater cultured pearls occur in a variety of shapes; such as round, near-round, off-round, and baroque. All factors being equal, the more perfectly round an Akoya pearl is, the more valuable it is.