Akoya pearls are a classic type of pearl on the market today. They are of extremely high quality and very popular for all types of jewellery. The world renowned Mikimoto pearls use Akoya type pearls in their creations, so you can be assured of high quality. Of all the types of pearl on the market Akoya pearls certainly seem to be the winning type.

Akoya pearls come from Japan and they were the first type of pearls to be raised as cultured pearls. When you are buying pearls, there are two main types, those that occur naturally and those that are cultured. Cultured pearls are pearls that have been helped along the way by man. It is not left to chance that a grain of sand will enter the mollusc and a pearl will
form, instead it is implanted in the mollusc to ensure that the shellfish will being to build up nacre layers around the intruder and a pearl will form. Cultured pearls are produced in the same way as natural pearls with the exception of human intervention.

The Akoya pearl was first cultured in the 1920’s in Japan and it is most commonly seen in white or pale pink. This is because these two colours compliment almost every skin tone. The high quality of this pearl means that you will find it in very high class and fine jewellery. It will mainly be set with eighteen carat gold. Another advantage of this type of pearls is that they are well matched for size, shape and colour. They also have very few blemishes and reflect a dazzling and deep lustre.