Everything you need to Know about Pearl Color

Pearls! The beautiful, glossy, and glistening object sources right from the mollusks but looks absolutely divine. As pearls strengthen moons and produce great harmony, they are worth wearing. In fact, it’s an outstanding ornament for people who are in drama, writing, painting, and agriculture. 

Although pearl is known for its standard white color, it’s certainly not it. There are different colored pearls, starting from dark shades like black to lighter ones like lavender. Here’s everything you need to know about pearl color (including the rarest pearl colors):

Also see: Pearl Sizes: All you need to Know

Different Colors of Pearls and their Meanings 

Pearls can be in all colors, each of which has a different meaning. You can switch the shades as per your preferences. Here’s a quick overview of different pearl colors, along with their meaning: 

White Pearls

When someone asks what color is pearl or what color pearls are, your mind instantly says white. One of the most common and natural pearl colors is white, that’s widely preferred among jewelry enthusiasts. They are a classic in jewelry, especially single-stranded pearls and white necklaces. 

White pearl meaning stands for beauty, purity, and innocence. Depending on the type, these pearls can be sourced from Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc. Its overtones include pink to creamy, silvery, and ivory.

Types: Akoya pearls, South Sea pearls, freshwater pearls

Sizes: 1-20 mm

Black Pearls

Black pearls are appealing, exotic, and the second most preferred pearl color option after white. It symbolizes strength, independence, richness, mystery along with wisdom. 

These pearls are sourced from French Polynesia and Mexico. The Akoya black pearls come from Japan and China. Its overtones include peacock, green, silver, gray, and purple.

Types: Akoya pearls, freshwater pearls, Tahitian pearls 

Sizes: 8-16 mm

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Pearl Jewelry

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Peach Pearl Jewelry Set | Necklace + Bracelet + Earrings

$183,23 Original price was: $183,23.$135,08Current price is: $135,08.

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Peach Asymmetrical Oval Pearl Dangle Drop Earrings With Sterling Silver

$43,87 Original price was: $43,87.$38,38Current price is: $38,38.

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Grey Asymmetrical Oval Pearl Beaded Necklace With Sterling Silver

$54,85

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Misty Rose Round Flat Pearl Pendant Necklace With Cubic Zirconia Crystals & Sterling Silver

$148,20 – $170,16

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Grey Round Flat Pearl Stud Earrings With Sterling Silver

$32,89

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Grey Round Flat Pearl Open Ring With Sterling Silver – Adjustable Band

$52,66

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Grey Pearl Jewelry Set 1 | Necklace + Bracelet + Earrings + Ring

$180,98 Original price was: $180,98.$162,53Current price is: $162,53.

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Peach Asymmetrical Oval Pearl Dangle Drop Earrings With Sterling Silver

$41,68

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Peach Round Flat Pearl Ring With Sterling Silver

$49,36

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Black Round Flat Pearl Open Ring With Sterling Silver – Adjustable Band

$52,66

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Grey Round Flat Pearl Leverback Stud Earrings With Sterling Silver

$35,09

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Grey Pearl Jewelry Set 2 | Necklace + Bracelet + Earrings + Ring

$178,78 Original price was: $178,78.$160,90Current price is: $160,90.

Blue Pearls

Blue color pearl is one of the most unique, attractive, and rare pearl colors. It mirrors romance and mesmerizing human vision. 

Blue pearls natural symbolize truth, trust, tranquility, and courage, and it is found in Japan and Vietnam. Blue pearls come in overtones like green, blue-green, teal, and violet.

Types: Akoya pearls, Silver-Blue White South Sea, Tahitian pearls 

Sizes: 8-14 mm

Pink Pearls

The most adorable color for a pearl is pink color pearls. It’s soft and sophisticated, and the pastel shade looks dreamy, so it’s perfect for romantic gifts. The color of the pearl doesn’t fade or wear off, so that’s a plus point. 

The meaning of pink pearl is faith, success, fame, romance, and good fortune. These pearl colors are available in the ponds of Japan and China. 

Types: Akoya pearls

Sizes: 6-16 mm

Yellow Pearls

While they aren’t as popular as the other pearl colors mentioned in the list, yellow pearls are surely one of the best ones out of all. They symbolize optimism, creativity, happiness, and clarity. As per their types, these pearls are sourced from Java (Indonesia), China, the Philippines, and Australia. Yellow is also one of the rare pearl colors. 

Types: Akoya pearls, South Sea pearls

Sizes: 6-16 mm

Green Pearls

If you want something elegant, alluring, and a rare pearl color option, then it’s worth trying out green pearls. They symbolize luck and wealth, so you can buy them for yourself or get someone who is starting a new phase of life. These pearl colors also indicated growth, balance, hope, nature, and renewal. 

Types: Akoya pearls, South Sea, Tahitian pearls

Sizes: 4-12 mm

Grey Pearls

Another intriguing, unique, and rare kind of pearl shade is grey. They come from the mollusk Hyriopsis cumingii and are freshwater in nature. Grey pearls denote patience, wisdom, dignity, progress, focus, self-control, and security.

Types: Tahitian pearls

Size: 8-20 mm

Purple Pearls

Purple pearls are usually a type of Black or Tahitian pearls, with a dark and silvery purple shade. This color is luxurious, graceful, and stunning for winter wear.

The purple pearl symbolizes passion, wisdom, complexity, art, and nobility. This reminds us of a recent discovery where a Delaware man recently found a rare purple pearl while eating a $14 appetizer.

Types: Freshwater pearls

Sizes: 6-9.5 mm

Brown Pearls

Brown pearls are another rare yet beautiful color option for pearls. They are also called chocolate pearls and are a common valentine’s gift. Currently, the pearl color is also quite in demand in fashion industry. 

Brown pearls symbolize protection and dependability and are found in French Polynesia. 

Types: Tahitian pearls

Sizes: 9-14 mm

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Orange Pearls

Recently a fisherman found a rare orange pearl that costs around $330K. They are a rare pearl color that looks attractive, graceful, and glamorous. 

Orange pearl symbolizes social, playful, warmth, courage, desire, emotion, and success. 

Lavender Pearls

Lavender pearls look phenomenal when worn as double strands. Its delicate, graceful, and unique shade makes it ideal for wearing if you are looking to enhance your natural beauty.

Lavender pearl symbolizes wisdom, passion, artistry, and complexity. 

Types: Tahitian pearls, silver, and gold South sea pearls

Size: 6-16 mm

Peach and Pink Pearls

Famous for their feminine and soft shades, peach and pink pearls are flawless pearl colors. They symbolize fame, romance, passion, and success. As per the pink pearl meaning, you can give peaches and pink pearls to someone for their graduation.

Multi-Color Pearls 

Multi-color pearls are a beautiful alternative to white pearls. Its enchanting shades are perfect if you want something modern to try. These pearl colors symbolize artistry, uniqueness, individuality, mystery, and youthfulness. 

Types: Tahitian pearls, freshwater pearls

How Do Pearls Get Their Color?

The color of a pearl depends on several factors, including the oyster type, number, and thickness of the nacre layers. If the nacre of the pearl is thick, the pearl’s color will be rich. Just like that, if the nacre is thinner, the pearl shade will be milky with lesser overtones. Thicker nacre also contributes to more iridescence. 

Pearls get their colors from the mollusk’s lip and the oyster type. For example, the South Sea pearls get their shade from the golden lip of the mollusk, and Tahitian gets their grey shade from the outer shell of the oyster. But, apart from that, the types of pearl colors can also be influenced by the manufacturer.

What is the Rarest Pearl Color?

The rarest pearl color of all time is the natural blue pearls. It’s nearly impossible to find a naturally occurring blue pearl, which is why they are expensive and the rarest color pearl. However, you can often find dyed blue freshwater pearls in the market instead of true blue pearls. 

Also see: How to Clean Pearls without Ruining Them

Which Pearl Color Should I Choose?

So that’s all! Here we have discussed different color pearls, types of pearl color, pearl color meaning, and pearl color rarity. Depending on your style, budget, and choice, you can select any of the above pearl varieties for yourself. 

We recommend you go through its meaning once more to know whether it matches your purpose of wearing the ornament or not. You can also decide on the suitable pearl colors or the rarest color of pearl as per your skin tone.

Although there isn’t any hard/fast rule, silver, gold, and copper overtones look phenomenal on black skin tones. You can try lighter pearls like white, rose, peach, and cream for white tones. 

Ultimately, you should wear whatever you think works best for you! At Elasaro, you can buy pearl jewelry in various colors, including pink, black, cream, and more. Available in various shapes, choose from round to oval pearl jewelry!