| Hi Jeremy,
Interesting question. In principle, I think "akoya" as referring to an actual pearl coming from a mollusk of the same name should not be capitalized. On the assumption that the word is derived from a term of endearment for a small child, one may reasonably argue in favor of capitalizing the word (as in Babe) but really only when directly addressing the pearl and they don't write or talk much, so that point is moot. The place name argument is likewise not very strong unless you also capitalize "hamburger" or "frankfurter." The stone names have all lost their right to capitalization by adopting the -ite suffix (from greek lithos) that converts them to common nouns. I still capitalize "akoya" sometimes mostly to point out that it is the proper name of type of bead rather than a genuine non-capitalized gemstone.
Zeide |