Sun, Sand, and Tahitians!

It’s pearl week on the Pretty Party, where everything is HALF OFF if it has a pearl. Lucky for you, EVERYTHING has a pearl on the show this week! We’re calling it Pearl Jam, and we are seriously jamming it UP with the high pearl vibes!! Join us during the day for a special edition, as well as live at 5PM for the main event!

So, as this is Pearl Jam week, I thought this would be a great opportunity to write to you all about Tahitian pearls. They are some of the most sought after pearls in the world, and are known for their AMAZING color and luster. Let’s dive into the warm waters of the South Pacific to find some straight STUNNING pearls!

Tahitian pearls get their name from being cultivated primarily from around the islands of French Polynesia, around Tahiti. They are also farmed in Japan, Thailand, and the Philippines, but only those that come from the French Polynesia can be called Tahitian pearls. They are also referred to as black pearls. There is also another type of Tahitians called Rikitea Tahitian pearls. These are from a small town on Mangareva, and you guessed it, the town is called Rikitea. It is part of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. Rikitea Tahitians are cultured on numerous platforms on both sides of the Mangareva lagoon.

Although they are sometimes called black pearls, they actually range in color-from light, creamy white and grey, to rich greens, iridescent peacock, and deep black. They can have overtones and undertones of green, pink, blue, silver, and gold. The most valuable of these colors are of the darker variety, as the naturally dark tones of the Tahitian pearls is a unique quality among pearls. Did you know that Tahitians are the only pearls that have a naturally full color spectrum?! Black-lip oysters have a rainbow-like mantle, which exhibits all natural colors.

As stated above, these pearls come from the black-lip pearl oyster, or Pinctada Margaritifera. These oysters grow quite large, sometimes weighing as much as TEN POUNDS! Lucky for us, that means Tahitian pearls can grow to a larger-than-average size. Who doesn’t want more of that luscious goodness!? Their sizes can range from 8 mm-18 mm. The only larger commercially harvested pearls today are South Sea. Due to these pearls being nucleated, many of them are round, or near round, with other shapes such as baroque and button. Round Tahitian pearls tend to be the most valuable. 

A strand of Tahitian pearls can range from $500 to more than $25,000. As you probably know from shopping at Local Luxe, Barb really knows how to get the BEST items for the BEST price, and that is especially true for PEARLS! Barb individually hand-picked each and every Tahitian pearl for the strands in her store, choosing the most beautiful, lustrous ones on the planet! Take a look on the website for some GORGEOUS Tahitian pearls that are sure to rock your world!

I hope you enjoyed this trip to French Polynesia and the surrounding waters of the South Pacific to the black-lipped oyster and the magic it holds. If you’ve never seen a Tahitian pearl, go check them out on Key West Local Luxe’s website. Just type in, “Tahitian” in the search tab and make the magic happen!