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Cultured freshwater pearls are pearls that are farmed and created using freshwater mussels. These pearls are produced in Japan and the United States on a limited scale, but are now almost exclusively produced in China. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission requires that farmed freshwater pearls be referred to as "freshwater cultured pearls" in ...
Tiny "seed" pearls (<2mm) occur commonly in all types of molluscs used for pearl cultivation, both ocean and freshwater, thus there has never been a need to find a way to cultivate tiny sizes. Japan Akoya pearl production generated large numbers of tiny keshi pearls, the value of which was mostly in the labor-intensive processing, so there is ...
The cultured pearls on the market today can be divided into two categories. The first category covers the beaded cultured pearls, including Akoya, South Sea, Tahiti, and the large, modern freshwater pearl, the Edison pearl. These pearls are gonad-grown, and usually one pearl is grown at a time. This limits the number of pearls at a harvest period.
The freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) is an endangered species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusc in the family Margaritiferidae.. Although the name "freshwater pearl mussel" is often used for this species, other freshwater mussel species (e.g. Margaritifera auricularia) can also create pearls and some can also be used as a source of mother of pearl.
Tahitian pearls, frequently referred to as black pearls, [19] are highly valued because of their rarity; the culturing process for them dictates a smaller volume output and they can never be mass-produced because, in common with most sea pearls, the oyster can only be nucleated with one pearl at a time, while freshwater mussels are capable of ...
Cultured pearls have a similar color to natural pearls as the nacre is laid down by the mantle of the freshwater mussel, and thus the color of the pearl may be species specific. Exportation of freshwater mussels for the use in the Japanese cultured pearl industry has supported the North American freshwater mussel fisheries since the late 1950s.
Pearl jewelry stores may bleach or dye freshwater cultured pearls after harvesting to enhance their color. The most valuable baroque pearls are the South Sea and the Tahitian pearls , which are produced by Pinctada margaritifera (black-lipped oysters ) and Pinctada maxima (gold-lipped and silver-lipped oysters).
In contrast, one of the largest species of freshwater bivalves is the swan mussel from the family Unionidae; it can grow to a length of 20 cm (7.9 in), and usually lives in lakes or slow-flowing rivers. Freshwater pearl mussels are economically important as a source of pearls and mother of pearl. While some species are short-lived, others can ...