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A very large percentage of Freshwater pearls that are produced today are grown in China. Serious production started in the 1970’s and the Chinese learned a lesson about the international pearl market very quickly; the market cares more about quality than it does about quantity.Because it was so easy to cultivate poor quality freshwater pearls many Chinese stopped working at other jobs and took up mussel growing.One could literally dig out an area in his yard, fill it with water, add nutrients to the water and start to cultivate freshwater mussels and either sell the mussels to someone else for cultivation purposes or start your own pearl cultivation.This unregulated growth resulted in many people first reaction to freshwater pearls, that they looked like “Rice Krispies”.Since these early beginnings, the Chinese have made many changes.

Most importantly,they have changed the mussel that they use to cultivate the pearls.Originally, Cristaria Plicata mussels were used because they allowed for a quicker pearl growth time.Now, Hyriopsis Cumingi mussels are used because the quality of the pearls they produce is much better that the faster growing Cristaria Plicata.While production is still not regulated, the cultivators are taking more care to see that the water the pearls are grown in stays relatively clean and the areas picked for production are not too adversely affected by weather conditions.

The nucleation process used in Freshwater pearls differs from that employed in saltwater pearl production.In freshwater cultured pearls only a piece of mantle tissue from a donor mussel is used for the nucleus and it is implanted in the mantle area of the mussel which is around six to seven months old.In Saltwater cultured pearls, a piece of mantle tissue from a donor oyster along with a bead nucleus is implanted in the gonad area of the oyster.The mantle pieces used in Freshwater nucleation are cut into rectangular pieces and as many as forty to fifty pieces were placed in a mussel.This compares to the one or two nuclei used in cultivating Saltwater pearls.This helps you understand why there is so much overproduction in Freshwater pearls.A result of using a rectangular piece of mantle for the nucleus is that a very small percentage of the pearls produced, around three percent, are round.Approximately eighty-five percent round pearls are produced in saltwater cultivation.The difference being that in saltwater production a round bead nucleus is inserted along with the mantle piece.

In recent years the cultivators have found that by using square mantle pieces they can produce more round pearls.They are also inserting fewer nuclei to allow for better quality pearls and fewer pearls.The freshwater pearls produced range in size from approximately three millimeter to eight millimeter.As in all varieties of cultured pearls some had better luster, were less spotted and rounder than others.After the pearls are harvested, the mussels that produce the better pearls are again placed in the water to hopefully grow more pearls.Since there is already an existing pearl sac there is no need to insert another mantle piece nucleus.These better pearls are comparable to their cousins, the Japanese Akoya.

The Chinese addressed the size of the Freshwater pearl production in the 1990’s.They employed the method of nucleation used by Saltwater pearl cultivators; they inserted a bead nucleus along with a mantle piece into the mantle of the mussel.A shell nucleus is used the most often but some cultivators use round poor quality Freshwater pearls as nuclei.This process allowed the mussels to grow pearls as large as fifteen millimeters.And, characteristically, these large pearls have the thick nacre coating which is the signature of all Freshwater pearls.

After the nucleation operation is performed the mussels are returned to the water to recuperate and are suspended two or three feet in the water from nets.The mussels can stay in the water from two to six years.What happens most of the time is that the mussels are kept in the water for approximately two years and then they are removed and the pearls harvested.Those mussels that produced the better quality pearls are again put back in the water for another two to three years.After being harvested, the pearls are then bleached to whiten them and then they go thru a polishing process.In the case of unusual colored pearls, they are not bleached, only polished.The pearls are then sorted and separated into different qualities.Those pearls to be used for necklaces are drilled thru and those selected for jewelry are half-drilled.The top quality pearls are not drilled but rather sold as individual pearls in lots.The majority of the pearls are sold to processors and manufacturers in Hong Kong.

We have seen that over the years the quality of Freshwater has improved and the size increased.Now the top quality Freshwater pearls ranging in size from five to ten millimeter rival Japanese Akoya in luster and the top quality pearls ranging in size from ten to thirteen millimeter are getting hard to distinguish from SouthSea cultured pearls.

The Chinese have come along way from their “Rice Krispy” beginnings.The one thing that will hold them back is that there are no controls on production.