Perhaps you've heard the term "akoya pearls

Perhaps you've heard the term "akoya pearls," or heard about someone whose husband got them an akoya pearl necklace for their anniversary. If you've ever wondered about akoya pearls, or wondered about their use in pearl jewelry, here's a closer look at them. We think you'll soon realize why Akoya pearls are so desirable.

Akoya pearls are produced from the oyster known as Pinctada fucata martensii, which is the smallest pearl producer known in the oyster family. These pearls are known for their pristine round shapes, which make them an ideal and popular choice for necklaces and matching earrings. However, aside from being consistently round, they can also have a semi-round white pearl necklace, baroque and semi-baroqe shape.
Although also produced in China, they previously were considered the Japanese pearl, and were cultured primarily in Ehime, Mie, Oita, Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures.

Abalone is a type of mollusk that is primitive, uni-valved (which means single-shelled), and at least thirty million years old. There are only eight varieties of abalone, which is low, when compared to other pearl producing mollusks such as oysters and mussels. Different forms of abalone are found anywhere from California to Alaska, as well as in Korea, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. Though abalone will produce pearls when in the wild, this is a rare occurrence. In fact, studies have shown that a fine, good sized pearl of over 15mm is found in nature only in about one out of every five hundred thousand to nine hundred thousand abalone.

The reason that these pearls are so rare is that they require about 8 to 10 years to form (note that it takes only 24 to 36 months for the pearls to develop in farms, as ideal circumstances are provided). As abalone are commonly subject to commercial fishing at about the age of four or five years. Therefore, they have not aged sufficiently for the creation of a pearl. Furthermore, not every kind of Abalone is able to produce pearls, and even in those that do, they require a very specific combination of elements in order for the natural pearl formation to occur; which includes everything down to what the abalone has to eat throughout the 8 to 10 years of the pearl's formation time.MORE;pearl necklace jewelry