The Cultured Question.

At Oceana, we work with pearl farms to directly source Cultured Pearls, and more specifically the saltwater variety. So, one of the questions we asked get time and time again is, what is a Cultured Pearl?

First, Some Background.

Prior to pearl farming, pearls were generally found by chance occurrence in nature and therefore were considered as Natural Pearls. They were generally categorized as:

A) Derived from an Oyster that inhabits Saltwater environments such as a sea.

B) Derived from a Mussel that inhabits Freshwater environments such as a lake.

However, in the late 1800's came pearl farming, where by oysters were cultivated using a new technique called the Pearl Culturing. From that time on, Cultured Pearls became defined as any pearl that is intentionally cultivated by a pearl farmer.

So cultured pearls are not... Natural Pearls?

This is where it gets technical. Yes, and No.

Yes, A cultured pearl grows by the same biological process as its natural counterpart, but No because at the turn of the century, the term cultured was an official legally required designation.  Think of it like a legal requirement for your local grocer to describe an Apple as a Cultured Apple rather than simply an Apple so that you would'nt be think your supermarket Apple was found in the wild. Make sense? 

So what's the difference?

In a word, rarity. Due to occurring totally by chance, Natural pearls are so rare, they account for less than 1% of the worlds pearls annual pearl production.

Cultured Pearls however are intentionally cultivated by farmers to produce pearls, meaning that the chances of producing a pearl are high, However, since good quality cultured pearls are also a very small percentage of most pearl harvests, good quality Cultured Pearls still command expensive price tags.