Twelve Pearls gives everyone the opportunity to own and enjoy these stunning underwater gems. Our collection consists of Freshwater, Saltwater Akoya, Tahitian & South Sea Pearls. Whichever you choose, we're sure they will take pride of place in your jewellery collection and treasured forever.
Pearl Colours
Pearls—and their modern counter-parts, cultured pearls—occur in a wide variety of colours. Perhaps the most familiar colours are white and cream, along with black and gray, but pearl colours can extend to virtually every hue. The body colour of a pearl is often modified by additional colours called overtones, which are typically pink (called rosé), green, purple, or blue. Some pearls show the iridescent phenomenon known as orient.
In the late 19th century, the supply of natural colour black pearls declined. Tahitian pearls are the only true black pearl but as they are unaffordable to most people, pearl merchants found a couple of ways of ‘blackening’ cultured pearls. These treatments made black pearls more affordable.
In Freshwater cultured pearls, the gamma rays affect the nacre layers which can often give the pearls an intense metallic sheen with strong rainbow iridescence, When present, it looks like a moving iridescence on or just below a pearl’s surface. This gives them remarkable orient!