Black pearls come in a variety of shapes with the perfect symmetrical sphere considered the most valuable, followed by the “pear” shape. “Button” and “drop” shapes are also favoured and black pearls also come in a variety of other fancy or baroque shapes. The setting and style of jewellery your pearl is destined for will influence what shape you choose and above and beyond anything else personal taste will dictate your decision.

Smaller than South Sea pearls but bigger than Japanese pearls the black pearl grows to an average diameter of 9mm to 10mm. Occasionally a black pearl can grow up to 15mm but these are rare and highly prized.

Lustre represents the “glittering” qualities or the surface “brilliance” of the pearl whilst orient refers to how the “light plays” with reference to how the nacre (the layers of hardened secretion) diffuses and reflects the light through the aragonite (mineral crystal) that lies within the nacre. Lustre and orient are strong indicators of pearl quality.

No two Tahitian black pearls are identical and contrary to popular conception not all “Poe Rava” (The Tahitian name for black pearls) are black. The colour spectrum ranges from the basic black, to shades of grey (metallic and gold) and on occasions greens and blues. Two of the most popular colours are eggplant (purple / pink) and fly’s wing (metallic green)

Like any variety of pearl the level of purity is ascertained through careful scrutiny. Scratches, abrasions, intrusions, spots, unevenness and rough spots will have an impact on a pearl’s perceived purity.