Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed when trying to choose which pearl jewelry to buy online? There are so many questions. What is the difference between type A and type B? Why is one more expensive than the other?

We’d like to clear up some of the confusion for you, so we’re comparing two popular types of pearls that come in large sizes: Edison pearls and South Sea pearls.

South Sea pearls are produced within the Pinctada maxima mollusk, which is found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. They are mainly grown in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar.

Edison’s pearl jewelry is freshwater pearls produced inside mussels. They are grown mainly in China.

Let’s see the difference between these two types of pearls in terms of their culture environment, colors, size and price.

EDISON VS PEARLS OF THE SOUTH SEA: GROWTH ENVIRONMENT

South Sea pearls are grown in the ocean, that is, in salt water, while Edison pearls are freshwater pearls, grown in a river, lake, or stream.

COLOR RANGE

There are five different standard color series:

White series, including pure white, milky white, silver white and porcelain white.

Yellow series, including light yellow, gold, champagne and orange.

Red series, including pink, light pink and light purple.

Black series, including black, blue-black, gray-black, brown-gray, purple-gray, brown-black, and iron-grey.

Other series, including purple, brown, cyan, blue, red-purple, green-yellow, light blue, green, and bronze.

South Sea pearls only come in the white, yellow, and black color series, while Edison pearls can fall in all color series.

Have you ever wondered where pearls get their colors from? Several factors determine the colors of the brilliant jewel produced.

Internal factors: organic color pigments such as porphyrin, carotenoid and metallic elements, and organic matter.

External factors: The color of the mother of pearl body, the color of the pearl or tissue used for nucleation, the microelements in the water, the water temperature, the pH value of the water, and the composition concentrations which mainly depend on the culture technology.

Edison’s pearls come in so many luscious natural colors because the pearl mussels used for farming have undergone ten years of genetic modification and development by researchers at Zhejiang University. The mussels are then cultured in a naturally flowing, mineral-rich aquatic environment for over three years, resulting in a spectrum of beautiful colors.

SIZE

Edison pearls generally come in sizes larger than 11mm with the most common being in the 11-12mm range.

Akoya and Tahitian pearls rarely reach these large diameters. But Australian white South Sea pearls and gold South Sea pearls reach considerable sizes, although for the same price you can get larger Edison pearls with superior luster.