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South Sea pearls are saltwater pearls that come in white, silver, and cream colors, harvested from the silver-lipped Pinctada maxima oyster, whose inner shell is silver-colored, even among South Sea pearls.

They are mainly produced in Indonesia and Australia.
When people think of white pearls, Akoya pearls often come to mind, but most Akoya pearls are naturally cream or yellow, and are typically whitened through pre-treatment and stain removal processes.
Therefore, while it is a characteristic of the Pinctada maxima oyster that many purely white pearls can be harvested directly from the shell, high-quality pearls with beautiful interference colors are rare.Pearls with a visual quality similar to Akoya pearls are rare and valuable, making them the most highly traded pearls among saltwater pearls.

The Pinctada maxima oyster is one of the largest among pearl-producing shells, and the pearls produced typically range from 9mm to 18mm, with occasional rare specimens exceeding 20mm.

 

Cultivation of South Sea Pearls

The cultivation of South Sea pearls began when Japanese pearl farmers, seeking to produce large white pearls of 10mm or more, which were difficult to achieve with Akoya oysters, conducted research in the South Seas.
In 1922, they discovered an area suitable for cultivation on Buton Island in Indonesia, which had calm and stable sea conditions throughout the year. Cultivation began, and they successfully produced pearls in 1927.
Currently, Australia and Indonesia are the main producing countries.