River Pearl

River Pearl refers to a gem formed by breeding in freshwater molluscs, also called freshwater pearl. Freshwater pearl is grown in mussels that inhabit a lake called “TAI WOO” in China early.

There are two types of River Pearl: naturally formed and cultured. But nowadays, almost all the river pearls in the market are cultured.

There are many sizes, colours and shapes of river pearls. This is due to the unique conditions under which pearls are formed. Mollusk species, environmental conditions and human ingenuity have all contributed to the incredible diversity of pearls.

River pearls range in size from 0.5mm to 18mm. 4 mm to 10mm is the average size. White, orange and purple are the natural colour of river pearls. It can vary in colour by the technique of laser colour. There are many different shapes of river pearls, the most common ones are round, rice, coin, baroque, Biwa and Keshi pearls etc. You will find more information about the shapes of river pearls in a later section.

Seven factors determine the value of a river pearl according to GIA. These are sizes, shape, colour, lustre, surface, nacre thickness and match-ability, which I will explain more in detail in a different section of this website.