The main factor that determines the color of pearls is the shade of the oyster shells. For instance, black-lipped oysters are ...

Only black-lipped oysters produce these alluringly dark ... only those from French Polynesia can officially produce the coveted Tahitian black pearl (see design from YOKO London shown below).

Black pearls are formed when that piece of sand gets stuck in the body of a very specific type of oyster, the Tahitian black-lipped Pinctada margaritifera. The interior shell, called the nacre ...

In Tahiti, the nuclei are made from mussel shells from the Mississippi River, which are thick and strong. Over time, the nucleus will be coated in mother of pearl by the oyster just as it happens ...

though the average coating of a Tahitian pearl is 0.11 mm thick. (The length of time the oyster spends in the water after grafting and the animal’s health determine a pearl’s nacre thickness.) ...

Of 100 oysters, only seven or eight will produce ... but it's certainly worth the price of a tank of gas. The cost of a Tahitian pearl is decided by its size, quality and shape.

In the case of Tahitian oysters, the pearls are often colorful—sometimes even black—due to the specific chemistry of the species. At oyster farms, when the mollusks are large enough ...

(While Tahitian pearls are named for Tahiti ... from the Pinctada margaritifera, or black-lip, pearl oyster. “It was just like the gold rush in California,” Mr. Humbert said.

Saltwater pearls grow in oysters living in ocean. - Golden South sea pearls, White South Sea pearls, Tahitian pearls and Akoya pearls are all saltwater pearls. Lustre: In the past, freshwater ...