Learn About Pearls

How Do the Main Types of Pearls Compare?

Short answerThe main cultured pearl types differ in the mollusk that grows them, the water it lives in, and how long the pearl grows. Akoya pearls are small, round saltwater pearls. Freshwater pearls come in a wide range of shapes, sizes and colors and cost the least. South Sea pearls are the largest, and Tahitian pearls are the dark pearls of French Polynesia. Each comparison here sets two of them side by side.

Most questions about pearl types come down to a few differences: the mollusk, the water, how the pearl is grown, and what it looks like and costs. The table sets the four main cultured pearl types side by side, using the Learn About Pearls dataset. To choose your own types and rows, keshi included, use compare pearl types.

How the four main cultured pearl types compare
Feature Akoya cultured pearlFreshwater cultured pearlSouth Sea cultured pearlTahitian cultured pearl
Water saltwater1 2freshwater3 4saltwater2 4saltwater2 4
Typical size 6–8 mm2 5 6 7 83–15 mm2 89–16 mm2 7 88–14 mm2 7 8 9
Shapes round, near-round, semi-baroque and baroque5 8round, near-round, oval, coin and baroque2 8 10round, oval, button, drop, circled and baroque2 8round, oval, button, drop, circled and baroque2 8
Growing time 6–36 months (typically 10 to 14 months)5 7 81–5 years (depending on the culture method and mussel)10 11 121–3 years (two to three years in Australia and the Philippines)8 1318–24 months8 9

What separates one pearl type from another#

  • One pearl or many. Akoya and South Sea cultured pearls grow in the oyster’s gonad, one pearl at a time. Freshwater pearls grow in the mussel’s mantle, where each of its two mantle lobes can take up to 20 grafts, so one mussel usually yields more than 10 pearls.11
  • Size. The oyster that grows South Sea cultured pearls is larger than the one that grows Japanese saltwater cultured pearls, which gives it the potential for larger pearls.14
  • Nacre. South Sea cultured pearls owe their large size and thick nacre to a long growth period.4
  • Price. GIA calls freshwater cultured pearls the most affordable pearl type, and says Akoya cost more than freshwater cultured pearls of similar size and quality.1

Natural, cultured and imitation#

Two comparisons cut across every type. A natural pearl forms with no human help, while a cultured pearl starts when a person places a bead or tissue in the mollusk.4 An imitation pearl is a manufactured product that only looks like a pearl.15 The page real vs imitation pearls compares them. The page natural vs cultured pearls explains the first difference, and saltwater vs freshwater pearls covers the water a pearl grows in.

Each comparison ends with the reasons to choose one type or the other, without naming any seller.

Start here#

  1. Natural vs cultured
  2. Real vs imitation
  3. Saltwater vs freshwater
  4. Akoya vs freshwater
  5. Akoya vs South Sea
  6. South Sea vs Tahitian

Every page in this section#

  • Natural vs cultured

    How pearls that formed on their own differ from pearls that people started.

  • Saltwater vs freshwater

    How pearls from saltwater oysters differ from pearls grown in freshwater mussels.

  • Akoya vs freshwater

    How the classic saltwater Akoya differs from freshwater cultured pearls.

  • Akoya vs South Sea

    How the small, classic Akoya pearl differs from the large South Sea pearl.

  • South Sea vs Tahitian

    How the large white and golden South Sea pearl differs from the dark Tahitian pearl.

  • Real vs imitation

    How pearls grown by mollusks differ from manufactured imitations, and how to tell them apart.

References#

  1. Phoebe Shang (2026). Freshwater Akoyas – A Trending Misnomer for Certain Freshwater Pearls. Source · Archived copy
  2. Gemological Institute of America (GIA), FAQ. What are the main types of cultured pearls and what are their distinctive characteristics?. Source · Archived copy
  3. CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, Pearl Commission (2026). The CIBJO Pearl Book (Pearl Blue Book) 2026. Source · Archived copy
  4. Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Gem Encyclopedia. Pearl Description. Source · Archived copy
  5. Areeya Manustrong (2018). Very Small Akoya Cultured Pearls. Source · Archived copy
  6. Artitaya Homkrajae (2024). Remarkably Large Akoya Bead Cultured Pearls. Source · Archived copy
  7. Fisheries Agency of Japan (水産庁) (2026). 真珠養殖をめぐる情勢について (On the situation of pearl culture). Source · Archived copy
  8. CIBJO Pearl Commission (2025). CIBJO Guides Describing and Classifying Natural and Cultured Pearls, the Producing Molluscs & Responsible Pearling. Source · Archived copy
  9. Oïhana Latchere and others (2018). Influence of water temperature and food on the last stages of cultured pearl mineralization from the black-lip pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera. Source · DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0193863 · Archived copy
  10. Shigeru Akamatsu, Li Tajima Zansheng, Thomas M. Moses and Kenneth Scarratt (2001). The Current Status of Chinese Freshwater Cultured Pearls. Source · DOI 10.5741/GEMS.37.2.96 · Archived copy
  11. Changbo Zhu, Paul C. Southgate and Ting Li (2019). Production of Pearls. Source · DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-96776-9_5 · Archived copy
  12. Doug Fiske and Jeremy Shepherd (2007). Continuity and Change in Chinese Freshwater Pearl Culture. Source · DOI 10.5741/GEMS.43.2.138 · Archived copy
  13. Artitaya Homkrajae, Nanthaporn Nilpetploy, Areeya Manustrong, Nicholas Sturman, Kwanreun Lawanwong and Promlikit Kessrapong (2021). Internal Structures of Known Pinctada maxima Pearls: Cultured Pearls from Operated Marine Mollusks. Source · DOI 10.5741/GEMS.57.3.186 · Archived copy
  14. Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Gem Encyclopedia. Pearl Quality Factors. Source · Archived copy
  15. U.S. Federal Trade Commission (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations). 16 CFR Part 23, Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries. Source · Archived copy
Written by
Learn About Pearls editors
Fact-checked
Learn About Pearls editors,
Reviewed by
Simon,
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Publisher
Unique Pearl, a pearl jeweler
Revision history
  1. : First published. First published
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APA
Learn About Pearls editors. (2026). How Do the Main Types of Pearls Compare? Learn About Pearls. https://learnaboutpearls.com/compare/
MLA
“How Do the Main Types of Pearls Compare?” Learn About Pearls, Unique Pearl, November 4, 2026, learnaboutpearls.com/compare/.
Chicago
Learn About Pearls editors. “How Do the Main Types of Pearls Compare?” Learn About Pearls. Unique Pearl. Last modified November 4, 2026. https://learnaboutpearls.com/compare/.
BibTeX
@misc{lap-compare, title = {How Do the Main Types of Pearls Compare?}, author = {{Learn About Pearls editors}}, year = {2026}, howpublished = {\url{https://learnaboutpearls.com/compare/}}, note = {Learn About Pearls, published by Unique Pearl}}

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  • Pearl types: Akoya, freshwater, South Sea, Tahitian and keshi pearls, and where each one comes from.
  • Basics: What pearls are, what they are made of, and how natural, cultured and imitation pearls differ.