Question For the Pearl Peeps

[Catmom]

I have a question for all you smart pearl peeps, lol. If you had a choice between PSL certed Blue Rose Akoyas and PSL certed Ocean Blue Tahitians, which would you choose and why? All other stats being equivalent. Just curious as to whether you would choose Akoyas or Tahitians.

 

[NY_Resonant]

They are inherently different looks, even assuming the same size.

Ocean Blue Tahitian have a much darker body with the blue color/orient coming out. Call it a blue tone/glow coming out of darkness.

Blue Rose akoya generally have a silver/slightly blue body with different orient color. Usually that involves a pink aurora component and some green.

Example (This is Madama but you can see the pink orient in some pearls and more green in others):

 

[Catmom]

They are inherently different looks, even assuming the same size.

Ocean Blue Tahitian have a much darker body with the blue color/orient coming out. Call it a blue tone/glow coming out of darkness.

Blue Rose akoya generally have a silver/slightly blue body with different orient color. Usually that involves a pink aurora component and some green.

Example (This is Madama but you can see the pink orient in some pearls and more green in others):

Thanks for answering and the photo. I know they are totally different looks and personalities. I guess I was just wondering if there was a preference for one over the other and why.

 

[NY_Resonant]

Thanks for answering and the photo. I know they are totally different looks and personalities. I guess I was just wondering if there was a preference for one over the other and why.

I have never seen a certed blue rose or ocean blue strand, so I can only speak with respect to madama pearls and this blue tahitian strand — both of which i’ve held in my hands and seen on my fiancee’s body.

Note: I bought the “green” PSL Lagoon outer strand in the picture below over the blue one shown.



We passed on the blue tahitian strand because we felt that for the blue color tone, we wanted a VERY dark body. Something giving a somber, stylish and peaceful feeling.

I love the way madama’s look. They stand out from the skin and have a festive feel to them. Glamorous. So i’d pick them over blue tahitians personally because they feel “happier”.

 

[empliau]

I found this out on Professor Google, so welcome correction - but it seems as if the nacre on Tahitians is from five to ten times thicker. Will these pearls have a rough life?

Also, are you confident in the photos? My only experience of Tahitians is with Kamoka, and everything has looked exactly like the pictures on the website. But some have found the color on their Tahitians replicated only in certain lighting conditions. Akoya, on the other hand, seem to be lustrous under most situations.

Tahitians are of course also likely to be bigger than the Akoya unless they're heewacking big Akoya.

My scattered ideas.

 

[pearlsngems]

The nacre of Tahitians is more like 2x as thick as good akoyas. There are outliers with thicker nacre, of course, but the same is true of akoyas.

 

[empliau]

The nacre of Tahitians is more like 2x as thick as good akoyas. There are outliers with thicker nacre, of course, but the same is true of akoyas.

I based my math on Pearls of Joy (https://www.pearlsofjoy.com/pages/pearl-grading#:~:text=Akoya pearls feature thick nacre measuring 0.4mm or more.) citing 0.4 mm for Akoyas and 2-4 mm for Tahitians and South Sea pearls.

But Pearl Paradise says the thinnest nacre allowed by Polynesian law is 0.8, while Hanadamas must have at least 0.4 So I suppose the thinnest possible Tahitian nacre is twice that of a high quality Akoya.

ETA: Kamoka's website says that there is no longer a minimum thickness for Tahitian pearls. And Pearls of Joy is combining Tahitians and South Sea in their nacre estimate, but it's a different species -Pinctada margaritifera vs. Pinctada maxima - so the nacre thickness may well be quite different.

 

[NY_Resonant]

A MAJOR portion of the difference between the nacre of Akoya and Tahitians is simply based on size difference for the pearls. When you are talking about a 8-9mm akoya, you simply can't expect the same nacre thickness as a 11mm Tahitian.

Here is an example of a 10mm Akoya with 1.3mm nacre to illustrate the point.

 

[empliau]

A MAJOR portion of the difference between the nacre of Akoya and Tahitians is simply based on size difference for the pearls. When you are talking about a 8-9mm akoya, you simply can't expect the same nacre thickness as a 11m Tahitian.

Here is an example of a 10mm Akoya with 1.3mm nacre to illustrate the point.

Wow! Quelle pearl!

 

[pearlsngems]

I based my math on Pearls of Joy (https://www.pearlsofjoy.com/pages/pearl-grading#:~:text=Akoya pearls feature thick nacre measuring 0.4mm or more.) citing 0.4 mm for Akoyas and 2-4 mm for Tahitians and South Sea pearls.

But Pearl Paradise says the thinnest nacre allowed by Polynesian law is 0.8, while Hanadamas must have at least 0.4 So I suppose the thinnest possible Tahitian nacre is twice that of a high quality Akoya.

ETA: Kamoka's website says that there is no longer a minimum thickness for Tahitian pearls. And Pearls of Joy is combining Tahitians and South Sea in their nacre estimate, but it's a different species -Pinctada margaritifera vs. Pinctada maxima - so the nacre thickness may well be quite different.

2-4mm for SSP, yes; not for Tahitians, generally. Tahitian pearl oysters are quite a bit smaller than SSP pearl oysters.

A few years ago-- I believe it was July 2017-- a new law went into effect in French Polynesia (where pearls that are called "Tahitian" come from), eliminating the requirement that Tahitian pearls had to have 0.8 mm of nacre all over (as shown on x-ray) in order to be exported. Pearls that did not meet that standard were ground up! Of course that was very hard on Tahitian pearl farmers.

No other kind of pearl has to meet a minimum nacre thickness in order to be sold. Even Pinctada margaretifera pearls from the nearby Cook Islands didn't have to meet that standard; just Pinctada margaretifera from French Polynesia! I tend to think the law needed to change.

This does open the door to some substandard pearls reaching the market, of course, but pearl farmers that want to maintain their reputation and business relationship with the dealers who buy from them will have their own way of ensuring good nacre thickness, such as leaving the oysters in the water long enough for good nacre thickness to be laid down.

 

[Pearlescence]

Nacre thickness depends on how long the pearl is given to grow. Although some species do deposit nacre more quickly than others, especially freshwaters.
The nacre depth rule meant that it was hard to export keishi, souffé type pearls and all sorts of weird shapes and happenings of nature.
The law was in place for some years and simply meant a lot of smuggling went on.
Akoya shells are much thinner than south sea pearls. When harvesting SS you need a man with a big very sharp knife while I easily could cut through akoya shells with a small and not very sharp knife. Admittedly these were younger shells as akoya tend to be used younger but the shells remain thinner.
I've not heard of any akoya farmers waiting longer to implant a bigger nuke. In any case, since akoya shells are naturally much smaller than SS (the only other big shell is FW) there is a finite limit on how big any mollusc can grow a pearl.

 

[Catmom]

I have never seen a certed blue rose or ocean blue strand, so I can only speak with respect to madama pearls and this blue tahitian strand — both of which i’ve held in my hands and seen on my fiancee’s body.

Note: I bought the “green” PSL Lagoon outer strand in the picture below over the blue one shown.



We passed on the blue tahitian strand because we felt that for the blue color tone, we wanted a VERY dark body. Something giving a somber, stylish and peaceful feeling.

I love the way madama’s look. They stand out from the skin and have a festive feel to them. Glamorous. So i’d pick them over blue tahitians personally because they feel “happier”.

Thank you for this NYResonant. It gives a good example and I love your mother's bracelet.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I vote akoya but I’m just partial to them as my favorite type of pearl.

 

[Catmom]

I vote akoya but I’m just partial to them as my favorite type of pearl.

Thanks, I'm leaning that way myself. Especially with the price of Akoyas continuing to go up.

 

[Catmom]

So I chose the Blue Rose Akoyas and am happy. They are very blue which is what I wanted.

 

[Catmom]

 

[MakingTheGrade]

love!!!

 

[LHethrington]

I have a question for all you smart pearl peeps, lol. If you had a choice between PSL certed Blue Rose Akoyas and PSL certed Ocean Blue Tahitians, which would you choose and why? All other stats being equivalent. Just curious as to whether you would choose Akoyas or Tahitians.

For me i would say tahitians - just the most stunning pearls with so much lustre !