Black Tahitian pearls- cultured or natural?

Pearls have been one of the best pieces of natural beauty from time immemorial. Apart from their natural counterparts, there is yet another category of pearls which is gaining the popularity among the masses. These cultured pearls can easily be identified from natural pearls by carrying out an X-ray examination.

The cultured pearls can be of either types i.e. nucleated or tissue nucleated cultured pearls . The nucleated variety of cultured pearls are believed to be pre-formed as they depict characteristics where they tend to follow the shape of the shell nucleus in which they are originally implanted.

Yet another method, through which a nucleated cultured pearl can be differentiated from a natural pearl, is by studying their different structure. A cultured pearl differs immensely in respect of its structure from a natural pearl.

There is a wide range of cultured pearls available in the market today. Among these the most popular are the Tahitian pearls , which are more popularly known as black pearls. Black pearls are immensely favored by the people because of their rarity as their mass production is not possible. The Tahitian pearls derive their name from the Tahiti Island which is found in the region of Pacific Ocean . Out of the several variants of pearls, such as fresh water pearls, Japanese and Chinese Akoya pearls and Chinese cultured pearls, Tahitian pearls are considered to be the most rare and valuable ones.

The mass production of cultured pearls is mainly limited to two countries i.e. China and Japan , which almost enjoy a monopolistic situation in the production and sale of cultured pearls which are always in great demand among people from all over the world. Also, the Tahitian cultured pearls can be best described as a category of pearl concretions which are secreted inside the black-lipped Pinctada Margaritifera which is produced mainly in the lagoons of French Polynesia . These Tahitian pearls can be easily classified on the basis of their shape, diameter, qualities and range of color which could very easily range from pale gray to anthracite black.

These cultured pearls are believed to have a consistent pearly layer over their surface and thus, these pearls do not reveal the nucleus of the pearl in any manner. Tahitian pearls are available in both the variants- natural and cultured variants. However, finding a natural black Tahitian pearl is an extremely rare case with the success rate of one out of every fifteen thousand oysters.

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