"Tahiti pearl,
the beauty of the darkness"

Tahiti pearls are natural cultures pearls. They are cultured in sea water, unlike Freshwater pearls, mainly in French Polynesia by Pinctada Margaritifera Oyster. Unlike the most of jewels, a pearl is an organic gem, in other words, it comes from a living creature. They require a culture time between 2 and 3 years and their size goes from 8 to 18 mm. Tahiti pearl is unique due to its dark natural color. Authentic black pearls are one the most beautiful and they are extremely rare.

Shapes

Tahiti pearl has a great variety of shapes; as follows we show the most common samples, See representative image.:

- Rounded: generally, this is the most valuable variety. The rounded pearl is symmetrical and it rolls straight.

- Baroques: This indicates an irregular shape of pearl. Generally they are less valuable, but there may be more expensive samples than rounded pearls.

- Semi-rounded: these are the most rounded pearls, but without being completely rounded.

- Ribbed pearls: characterized by regular lines or concave rings that are perpendicular to an axis of revolution superior to a third part of the surface of the pearl.

- Semi-baroque: this is a general term that includes several kinds of pearls: button, pear, drop or oval. In other words, all these pearls that are not in any of the previous groups of pearls.

Size

A pearl is measured by its diameter in millimeters. Tahiti pearls fluctuate over 8 and 14 mm. of diameter, though some pearls rise 18 mm. See representative image.

In Monperla, you can find Tahiti pearls of the best quality and a great variety of sizes, from 8 mm (the smallest) to 14mm or even more.

Quality

The quality of a pearl is determined by its luster and surface quality:

- The luster or culture of a pearl is concerned to its luminosity (the way that light is reflected on its surface), as well as its inner bright (how light is refracted in its nacre layers). Number of layers. A very beautiful luster belongs to a total reflection of light, providing a mirror effect. A pearl without bright has a dull appearance.

- The quality of the surface of a pearl is determined by the type and quantity of impurities that it contains. Cleaner would be the pearl; higher would be its value.

Tahiti pearl has its own adjustment system that differs from that one used in the other kinds of pearls. The quality range starts from A Quality and finish in D Quality:

1. An "A Quality" pearl is a pearl with a first-class bright, which exhibits a visible defect or slight imperfections at most, distributed over less than 10% of the surface.

2. A "B Quality" pearl has a half good bright, which has some visible defects and distributed over the 30% of the surface at most.

3. A "C Quality" pearl has medium bright and several slight imperfections, distributed over the 60% of the surface at most.

4. A "D Quality" pearl has a great quantity of slight defects or several slight defects but deep, distributed over the 60% of the surface, not taking into account its bright.

Color

Color is not a representative factor in order to determinate the value of a pearl, it depends on the customer. As we have described before, Tahiti pearl is unique for its natural dark colors. The majority of Tahiti ‘black’ pearls are not really black; they are usually grey, coal colored or a great number of colors predominating green color. They can also be found in other tonalities, but these are the most usual.

In order to know more about other kinds of pearls see the section The Pearl.