天然珍珠与养殖珍珠：您需要了解的一切

The main difference between natural pearls and cultured pearls is how they are formed.

Natural pearls form entirely by chance in the wild when an irritant enters a pearl shell and nacre builds up overtime, coating the irritant.

Cultured pearls are also real pearls, but their formation is initiated with human intervention, when a pearl technician nucleates a pearl shell with a piece of mantle tissue and a seed.

Today, nearly all pearls sold in fine jewellery and as looks pearls are cultured pearls due to the rarity of natural pearls.

It is very difficult to identify natural pearls versus cultured pearls without professional gemological testing such as X-ray analysis.

To the eye, both natural and cultured pearls can look identical because both are formed from nacre.

The most reliable way to know is through documentation, provenance and certification from a trusted pearl specialist or directly from a pearl farm.

Pearls of Australia clearly discloses pearl type and origin with our Certificates of Authenticity so customers best understand exactly what they are purchasing.

Authentic natural pearls are extremely rare and usually sold through specialist auction houses and antique dealers, rather than standard jewellery retailers. Most reputable Australian pearl jewellers, including Pearls of Australia, primarily sell cultured pearls.

When shopping online in Australia, be cautious of any listings referring to pearls as "natural pearls" at typical jewellery prices, as true natural pearls are extremely rare and highly valuable.

Yes, cultured pearls are more affordable than cultured pearls. Our cultured Akoya and South Sea pearls are responsibly farmed, they are more available than natural pearls. Natural pearls occur in the wild, not at a pearl farm, so are rare and command very high prices.

Cultured pearls offer the beauty of real pearls with greater accessibility, and Pearls of Australia is able to provide full transparency of our pearls through Certificates of Authenticity.

Pearl appraisal and authentication in Australia is typically provided by qualified gemologists and independent jewellery valuers. Look for certified valuation services and gemological laboratories rather than general resale buyers. Pearls of Australia provides full transparency with our Certificates of Authenticity, given at point of sale, which helps support future valuation and insurance processes.

It's important to note that Pearls of Australia is not a pearl valuer and cannot offer any appraisals or authentication of pearls not grown at our own pearl farms.

We recommend visiting the National Council of Jewellery Valuers for more information around local pearl valuers.

The best cultured pearl strands in Australia are typically made using Australian South Sea pearls or Akoya pearls, graded for lustre, surface quality and matched in size, shape, colour and visual harmony. High-quality strands are expertly matched with the above characteristics.

Pearls of Australia offers cultured pearl strands, with Saltwater pearls sourced from our own Australian pearl farms in Cygnet Bay (WA) and Broken Bay (NSW). Each pearl strand comes in its own luxury strand box, and is accompanied with a Certificate of Authenticity stating its grading details and origin or provenance.

Australian pearl farms produce cultured pearls through a careful process called seeding. A trained pearl technician places a small nucleus and mantle tissue into the pearl shell. The pearl shell is then returned to the water, either at our Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm in WA or Broken Bay Pearl Farm in NSW, where the nacre coats this nucleus to hopefully form a pearl.

Pearls of Australia only sells pearls that we grow at our own pearl farms.

This is a common point of confusion, freshwater pearls are also cultured pearls.

Cultured refers to how the pearl formation begins, while freshwater refers to the species and type of pearl shell.

Most freshwater pearls are cultured within freshwater pearl shell in freshwater bodies of water.

Australian South Sea and Akoya pearls are cultured saltwater pearls within saltwater pearl shell.

Neither is better than the other, they differ in rarity, quality, size, lustre and value. Saltwater cultured pearls are typically rare and higher in value, which freshwater cultured pearls are more affordable and widely available.