Tahitian white pearls?

[cyndayco]

Browsing through eBay listings, I saw a merchant refer to three sets of loose pearls as "Tahitian silver pearls", "Tahitian white pearls", and "Australian south sea white pearls".

Do Tahitian pearls come in white? In which case, isn't that just the same as white South Sea pearls?

 

[GemGeek]

It appears that they use Tahitian and South Sea descriptions willy-nilly. They come from different mollusks, but Tahitian pearls can come in "white", but it is not common. They do not look like typical South Sea Pearls.

Here is Josh's Heart of the Ocean. The bowl of water brings out the colors of the pearls. Great stuff, those Kamokas!

 

[Hanaleimom]

Possible but kind of rare. Here is a strand of white Tahitian keshi on display at Tahiti Pearl Market (Honolulu location) in 2009.

 

[Red]

Josh put a white Tahitian from Kamoka farms on a bracelet I purchased from him last year. It looks different from my South Sea pearls to me. I treasure this rare pearl.

 

[Red]

I also purchased this white Tahitian drop a couple of years ago from Sarah at Kojima Pearl. It has silvery overtones, and looks almost as white as this freshwater strand from Pearl Paradise. This pearl is not as pure white as my round Kamoka Tahitian and has distinct silvery tones to it.

 

[GemGeek]

Cool examples. They really are special!

 

[Red]

Thank you, GemGeek, for your kind comment on my small white Tahitian collection. It is fun to wear these special pearls.

Here is a better photo showing the color of the white Tahitian drop. The color lends itself well to the big blue topaz and the white gold metal. I originally contacted Sarah about some long, curvy white freshwater drops that she no longer had, and she offered me this instead. Its organic curves were just what I was looking for.

 

[cyndayco]

Gorgeous pieces, everyone!

So I have this opera-length necklace that I bought a few months ago. The pearls are semi-baroque, intensely shiny, with a very strong silver overtone. The white has a greyish tinge to it, but not so much as to make it distinctly silver or light grey. All this time, I assumed they were SSPs ( as did the woman who sold it to me).

Are these white South Sea or Tahitian pearls?

 

[pattye]

Your lovely strand would be South Sea. There would only be a small number of very light (whitish) pearls in a Tahitian harvest compared to the darker pearls. In some cases they could get mixed in with white south sea lot. (I asked someone about this a few years back as I was curious, too.) My light colored Kamoka Tahitian pendant is lavender/silver/white. I'm still looking for a photo of it to post.

 

[GemGeek]

It figures that the people here would have collected special pearls such as white Tahitians. What a great place this is!

 

[pkinnew]

GemGeek - I absolutely love this picture! Oh how wonderful would it be to play with those pearls!?!?

I've never seen white Tahitians so thanks to those collectors that have them! Beautiful!

 

[JerseyPearl]

LOVE the Blue Topaz and Pearl combo...that is an incredible piece.

 

[Red]

LOVE the Blue Topaz and Pearl combo...that is an incredible piece.

Thank you for your kind remarks, everyone. JerseyPearl, I worked with my local jeweler to create this piece. I wanted to reset my blue topaz with pearls, and Elizabeth Taylor's well known setting for La Peregrina served as my inspiration. I guess this makes the white Tahitian my poor woman's La Peregrina.

 

[pearlescence]

It would be fun to make a sampler necklace of Tahitian colours....[thinks...sept HK project]

 

[pattye]

Josh & Celeste of Kamoka Pearls do a unique and gorgeous HARVEST ROPE STRAND which is a great sampler of Tahitian colors and shapes including keshi!

That would be a fun project, Wendy!

 

[Bailey1856]

I was wondering about white tahitians too since my strand has two white pearls (although i've read somewhere that tahitians do come in white) but i'm glad you asked. Here is a picture, left one is silvery white and to the right is just white.

 

[Ju RI]

Hello Everyone!
Look at the picture, it shows a double black and white strand at Hinerava boutique in French Polynesia. These Pearls are all tahitian pearls.

 

[AMc]

Very cool! I love the stark black and white combination, it's so modern and chic! Red, your "poor-girl's" La Pelegrina I think looks better than the real thing ... that is quite a necklace you have there! Just beautiful!

 

[Frost Me]

The strand I purchased recently from the Tahitian sale at PP has white pearls along with a few pistachio , greens, silver. It was stated this is rare, I haven't received my strand yet, but here is the picture. I will post the original description. I am excited about it!

18-inch AAA 9.3-11.9 mm Multicolor Tahitian Drop Pearl.
This luxurious strand features Tahitian pearls with smooth drop shapes, very high luster, and clean surfaces. The pearls range in color from dark green to glowing whites (very rare for Tahitian pearls) and have shimmering overtones.

 

[Katbran]

Frost...that necklace looks lovely ! That blue pearl in the front looks beautiful! Looking forward to the photos when you get your necklace !