Pearl Guide

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I-pearls: Imitation pearls from Izumi, Japan.

Icon pearl: Cultured blister pearl produced in the shape of an iconic object (usually a commercial image or even a trademark logo) by using a nucleus of that shape.

IGI grading system: Cultured pearl grading system developed by the International Gemological Institute in New York in 1993. The system uses twenty-two reference strands to grade...

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Karasu-gai: Japanese term for the Cristaria plicata (cockscomb) freshwater pearl mussel.

Kago: Japanese term for pearl mollusk baskets suspended from longline systems.

Kan: Historical Japanese weight unit used to valuate pearls. One kan equals 1,000 momme (see), 3.75 kilograms and 8.26 pounds.

Kangaroo basket: Culture basket in which pearl oysters are stored for a brief period after the...

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Baby pearl: Also known as an "indicator pearl". A South Sea pearl from Indonesia grown for a brief period to produce a pearl sac. The nacre is typically very thin and the quality low.

Baroque: A pearl shape; stands for an irregular and asymmetrical shape.

Basra pearl: Named after the town of Basra in Iraq. Name given by Indian dealers to freshly harvested natural pearls from this area...

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Abalone: A group of ancient marine gastropods (snails) that have a unique, flattened shell with small holes (gonopores), that inhabit many of the world's temperate waters. Their shells display beautiful and iridescent mother of pearl shell. The family is Haliotidae and the genus is Haliotis.

Abalone blister pearl: Nacreous natural half-pearl formed on the inside of an abalone shell...

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Mabe: Originally, the Japanese trade term for an assembled blister pearl grown in Pteria penguin. In Japanese, that mollusk's name is mabe-gai, hence the pearl's name. Today, the word is used to describe any assembled blister pearl.

Maeshori: Originally in Japan, a deep-cleaning process used before bleaching
Akoya cultured pearls. Today, "maeshori" (literally, "before treatment") retains...

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Nabatee: Arabian term for sugar used to describe pearls from the Persian Gulf that had a slightly off-white, yellowish color.

Nacre: Aragonite and calcite platelets bound together by conchiolin that completely compose bivalve and abalone natural pearls, Keshi, tissue-cultured freshwater pearls, and the coating on the nucleus of bead-cultured and bead-and-tissue-cultured pearls.

Nacreous...