Freshwater Pearl Necklaces
Freshwater Pearl Necklaces
Sometimes thought of as the poor relation of Akoya Pearls, but times have changed and there are some stunning quality Freshwater Pearls around. These are a fantastic alternative to the much more expensive Akoya Cultured Pearls.
Freshwater Pearls, also called river pearls, are the most versatile of all pearls as they come in a vast array of different shapes sizes and natural colours. They are also the most affordable because the freshwater mussel produces so many at once, up to 40 pearls in fact.
The natural colours for freshwater pearls are of course white to cream, different shades of pink and peach to lilac. Grey and black freshwater pearls are dyed.
We do have a range of brightly coloured dyed pearls too if you want to try and match your jewellery to a particular outfit colour, these are great fun and extremely popular .
The rule of thumb is that the rounder, the larger and the more lustrous the pearl, the more expensive the necklace will be. There are always other considerations though which is why one strand might be more expensive than another when they may appear to be exactly the same thing!
Our top tips for buying a freshwater pearl necklace are to decide what look you want, ie are you likely to wear your necklace on special occasions, in which case a strand of almost round pearls is likely to be most appropriate, or if you would like to wear it more regularly, and prefer a more casual look. If the latter, then perhaps baroque or potato pearls would help you feel more comfortable.
Thinking about the length of the necklace, by far the most popular is an 18 inch or 45cm. This tends to fit ladies of dress sizes 10 to 16 possibly 18. Some necklaces are available as a 16 inch version, we can often make longer necklaces to order as long as we have sufficient matched pearls.
We can often shorten a necklace too should you want one that is only 15 inches for example, perhaps for a younger girl or if you want a necklace at choker length. If you would like a necklace at a different length to the standard ones we have on our website then please call to discuss.