Akoya Pearls

What Are Akoya Pearls? Akoya Pearls are cultured in the akoya oyster primarily farmed in the oceans of Japan and China. They are the best known and most popular pearls in the industry. Akoya pearls take from two to fours years to form before they can be harvested. Unlike the freshwater species, these mollusks can only be harvested once, which makes them more valuable than freshwater pearls. The average size of the Akoya pearl is 2-9mm. Japanese Akoya pearls are usually larger (over 7mm) and therefore more valuable than Chinese ones. Rarely do round Akoya pearls exceed 10mm in size. Their body colors range from light pink to white or creamy, with overtone colors of rose, silver, or creamy. Akoya pearls are typically roundish or near roundish, sometimes you can find off-round, semi-baroque and baroque Akoya pearls. The value factors are described in Pearl Education. The most important factor evaluating Akoya pearls is the luster.

Japanese Ever Dominated Akoya Production Almost a century of experience in culturing and processing makes the Japanese cultured Akoya pearls the most valued standard and dominating the industry. This art has been handed down and closely guarded from generation to generation, ensuring the survival of the industry. Although production of Akoya pearls in Japenese has dramatically declined in recent years, due to water pollution, disease and the increased pressure of the Chinese competition as well, they continue producing big size Akoya pearls today.

China Overtakes Japan in Akoya Producation Today The Chinese began culturing Akoya pearls in the 1960's, but had limited success until the1990's. At first they concerned more about the quantity than quality resulting in these Akoya pearls were frowned on by consumers and experts. Today this situation has changed dramatically. The Chinese have finally started putting emphasis on quality over quantity, and taking care to culture the pearls as well as their Japanese counterparts do. Many Chinese factories have also stopped using harsh treatments to rush the harvested pearls to market. Consequently, the quality of Akoya pearls from China has become as good as that of Japanese Akoya pearls but with more affordable price.

Smaller than 8mm Akoya pearls market is now overwhelmingly Chinese. However, to date the Chinese have had limited success culturing large Akoya pearls. The Chinese have become expertly adept at culturing Akoya pearls as small as 4mm and as large as 8mm, but have not yet mastered pearl sizes of 8.5mm and larger. Many Japanese factories now import their smaller Akoya pearls from neighboring China. As a result, it is hard for consumers to identify the origin of the Akoya pearls. It has been reported that more than 80% of the pearls 7mm and smaller in the world have come from Chinese farms, regardless of whether or not they are sold by Japanese suppliers as Japanese pearls. In a word, today Chinese Akoya pearls are just as valuable as Japanese counterparts, and it makes sense to purchase smaller pearls from Chinese companies and larger pearls from Japanese companies.