We already know that pearls never go out of style – but these unusual and unique Keshi pearls give us even more reason to have a strand of our very own.

The coolest thing about Freshwater cultured pearls is that they come in a spectrum of fantastic colors. Soft alluring colors such as white, peach, pink and other pastels can occur naturally, but it is a widely-accepted practice to treat or irradiate these pearls to create other vibrant colors.

These incredible pearls form in a rainbow of colors including various tones of white, cream, pink, champagne, gold, silver, black, peacock, pistachio, blue and other pastel hues. Black lipped oysters (Pinctada Margaritifera) from French Polynesia, the Cook Islands and the Phillippines produce the dark and mysterious Black South Sea Pearls also known as Tahitian Pearls.

The Akoya pearl is the most familiar type of cultured pearl. Grown in pearl oysters off the coast of Japan, Akoya pearls are created by inserting a nucleus (small shell bead) into the oyster. The oyster becomes irritated by the foreign substance and begins to secrete nacre to cover the material. On the average the pearl spends one to four years in the oyster and grows to between 6 mm to 9mm in size. Even though pearls are harvested en masse on pearl farms, producing a quality pearl is an extremely rare event. It is estimated that half of all nucleated oysters do not survive — and of those that do, only 20% bear marketable pearls.