Akoya vs Freshwater Pearls: What's the Difference?

Akoya and freshwater pearls are both cultured pearls, but they grow in different animals, in different water and in different ways. The table compares them using the Learn About Pearls dataset.

The key differences between Akoya and freshwater pearls#

Akoya and freshwater cultured pearls differ in where and how they grow, and in what they look like and cost.

• Mollusk and water. Akoya cultured pearls grow in a saltwater oyster, Pinctada fucata. The freshwater pearls that resemble them mostly grow in the mussel Hyriopsis cumingii and its hybrids, in lakes and ponds.⁶
• How they’re grown. Each Akoya grows around a shell bead, one pearl per oyster at a time.³ Most freshwater pearls grow from mantle tissue alone, with no bead,⁴ and a mussel usually produces 30 to 40 at a time.²
• Shape. Akoya are typically round.¹ Freshwater pearls grown from tissue alone often have irregular shapes, while bead-cultured ones are often near-round to round.⁶
• Color. Akoya are white and cream⁶. Freshwater pearls come in white, cream, pink, peach, orange, lavender and purple².
• Size. Akoya are typically 6–8 mm¹, and freshwater pearls typically 3–15 mm², with a wider range overall.
• Price. Akoya generally cost more at the same size and quality.⁶

Why some freshwater pearls look like Akoya#

Bead-cultured freshwater pearls look like Akoya because they are grown the same way. Traditional freshwater pearls are grown from tissue, which often gives irregular shapes. Newer Chinese freshwater pearls are grown with a round shell bead and a piece of mantle tissue, the technique used for Akoya, and they are often near-round to round, bright white and very lustrous.⁶

The overlap is not new. By the mid-1990s, Chinese freshwater cultured pearls, once mostly small and irregular, were being produced as semi-rounds in sizes similar to those of medium Akoya.¹⁶

How to tell Akoya and freshwater pearls apart#

Akoya and bead-cultured freshwater pearls can be hard to tell apart by eye. Freshwater pearls often show a very slight flat side, but GIA says looking alone is often not enough.⁶

Labs can tell them apart. Freshwater pearls contain more manganese and barium and less strontium than saltwater pearls.⁵ A GIA report states whether pearls grew in freshwater or saltwater, and which mollusk produced them when that can be determined.⁶

Names matter too. Pearls sold as “freshwater Akoya”, “Chinese Akoya” or “baby Akoya” are freshwater pearls, and GIA calls those names misleading.⁶ CIBJO requires the full term “freshwater cultured pearl” for any pearl cultured in freshwater.⁷

Choosing between Akoya and freshwater pearls#

Choose Akoya cultured pearls if you want the classic round, white strand with a sharp, mirror-like shine, and it matters to you that the pearls grew in saltwater.⁶

Choose freshwater cultured pearls if you want more colors, shapes or sizes, or a lower price.⁶ If a seller calls freshwater pearls Akoya, ask for a lab report that states the environment.