Akoya Pearls
The Akoya Pearl is one of the most well known types of pearl available to buy today an the name is usually associated with quality.
What Are Akoya Pearls?
Akoya pearls are produced from the saltwater Akoya pearl oyster (Pinctada fucata) often cultured by means of the Mikimoto process. They're difficult to cultivate with less than half of the oysters surviving the nucleation process and less than 5% of the pearls actually produced being considered of high quality. The difficulty of production is, of course, reflected in the price.Akoya pearls are known for their high levels of lustre and are popular in a wide variety of jewelry including pendants, earrings and bracelets. The colour varies, usually it's a white or cream but may have touches of pink, silver or yellow. Pink tends to be the most expensive shade.
History
The history of Akoya pearls is essentially the life story of Kokichi Mikimoto who is associated with the process. Mikimoto spent years experimenting with different methods of "farming" pearls and by the end of the 19th century he was producing hemispherical cultured pearls. However production of truly spherical pearls eluded him until the early 20th century. Patent issues caused him to have to use various different production methods before becoming successful with a form of the Mise-Nishikawa cultivation method.Initially there was much scepticism about Mikimoto's new pearls; were they "real" or were they "imitation"? Unlike farmed freshwater pearls, Akoya pearls have a centre consisting largely of the starter material. Freshwater mussel pearls are more "pure" with more nacre coating and less inner shell.
Over the years the Akoya pearl has generally come to be accepted as being as genuine as any other cultivated pearl, however the issue of Akoya vs freshwater pearls remains a complex one with no simple answer.
Japan vs China
Traditionally the Akoya pearl has been associated with Japan, however (as with so many other industries) China is becoming increasingly dominant in the world market. If you buy an Akoya pearl necklace today then the strand is likely to combine both Japanese and Chinese stones.The Akoya oyster is one of the smaller pearl-producers so the stones themselves tend to be relatively small, usually between 3mm and 7mm in diameter with the larger sizes being more popular and also more expensive. With the increased competition from China many Japanese producers have begun concentrating on producing larger stones of 8mm plus. Smaller size Akoya pearls are today more likely to be of Chinee origin.
For most people none of that matters - all that counts is the quality of the product, not its country of origin.