| Off round is definitely less valuable, but you are right about the colors. With Tahitian pearls you tend to have a lot of diffraction which produces the orient. The diffraction changes as the platelets of aragonite change. In off round pearls and especially the baroques, there are areas of thicker nacre and changes in direction of the platelets - you see a lot more colors.
You can have the same effect with the rounds. It is mostly found in the smaller sizes up to 11mm. Larger pearls, 12mm and above, can just as easily have the same orient, but they are much more rare. That is simply because a large portion of the larger Tahitian pearls are second or third graft - they never look as fine as the first.
Every time we do a large Tahitian buy there is a small percentage of what we refer to as the "super pearls". They are very dark with strong orient and peacock overtones. Unfortunately, even with a purchase of 25,000 pearls, those pearls are few. But the few strands we have made with them are absolutely amazing. |