South Sea Pearls Explained

South Sea Pearls are grown in the waters of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Myanmar (Burma). They are saltwater pearls from the Pinctada maxima oyster in both silver- and gold-lipped form. The colors can range from white to gold. Overtones of the silver-lipped oyster has overtones of silvery white or bluish white. The gold-lipped variety has overtones of gold, cream or silver. The size of South Sea pearls range from 10 to 20 millimeters, but pearls larger than 16 millimeters are rare.

South Sea Pearl Consortium (SSPC), the trade association for South Sea Pearls.

Information on The Pinctada maxima.