Dark, colorful and exotic, Tahitian pearls are known as the first naturally colored black pearl in existence, and they've been wowing pearl lovers world-over for decades.

The Ultimate Buying Guide for Tahitian Pearls by PurePearls.com will provide you with everything you could want to know about these glamorous pearls. From their native origins and history to colors and overtones, sizes, shapes and how much you can expect to spend. As always, enjoy Pure's stunning real-life pearl pictures and visual aids so when you begin shopping for Tahitian pearl jewelry you'll know exactly what to look for.

Use the Table of Contents below to skip to the parts of the article that interest you the most, or read the entire article and learn how to buy Tahitian pearls like a professional.

Wild black pearls from French Polynesia are a truly rare gem; so rare, that the pearls themselves were pretty much unheard of until the practice of pearl cultivation came to the islands in the late 1960s and 70s.

Tahitian pearls  are not the famous “black pearls” of antiquity – that distinction belongs to the pearls from the Gulf of Mexico.

Polynesian legends tell of Oro, the god of war (in other legends, he is of peace and fertility). In love with the beautiful princess of Bora Bora, he descended to the island on a rainbow of light to give her the most precious treasure the heavens had to offer: Poe Rava, the colorful black Tahitian pearl.

My absolute favorite legend speaks of the full Moon coming down from the starry sky to bathe in the Ocean. Attracted by the heavenly light, the Te Ufi – Tahitian pearl oysters – came to the sea’s surface and were coated with shimmering dew: bright and iridescent hues of rose, green, gold, blue and violet.

The Polynesian natives primarily prized the black mother-of-pearl lining the interior of the p. margaritifera oyster shell. The iridescent shells were used extensively in jewelry and other decorations, but whole, actual pearls were exceedingly rare until the practice of pearl cultivation arrived in the twentieth century.

Tahitian pearls are not farmed on the island of Tahiti.

They are farmed throughout the atolls and tropical lagoons of the island chain that comprise French Polynesia. The biggest farm is owned and operated by Robert Wan. Perles de Tahiti is located on Mangareva Island, located about 500 miles SW of Tahiti.

The tropical waters of the South Pacific Ocean are ideal for culturing large pearls. The warmer temperatures increase the metabolism of the p. margaritifera oyster, and encourages a faster rate of crystalline nacre deposition.

Combined with the longer-than-average growth times for each pearl, this results in pearls with very thick nacre and beautiful luster and color.

Here's a few Tahitian Pearl Farming facts for pearl masters to know:

The harvested pearls are shipped to the main island of Tahiti, where they are x-rayed by the Pearl Ministry to measure nacre thickness, which by law must be a minimum of 0.8mm thick in order to qualify for legal export.

Tahitian pearl nacre thickness usually exceeds that easily – the average crystal depth for Tahitian pearls is 2.0-4.0mm – however it is an extra layer of security that ensures only the finest pearls are allowed onto the world’s jewelry market.

Click here to learn more about Pearl Farming.

Cultured Tahitian pearls come in a wide variety of shapes to suit every taste. From perfectly round classic pearls, to funky and artistically circled baroque pearls, Tahitian pearls offer a striking array of "personalities" to enjoy.

Some of the most familiar shapes for Tahitian pearls include perfect rounds through unique baroque pearls.

Other pearl shapes are available, but they are considered “collector’s items”. As with all other pearl types, the quest to produce fine, perfectly round shapes is paramount. Other rare and unique shapes include free-form baroque Tahitian pearls and keshi pearls.

Pictured here are Silver-White Free Form Baroque Tahitian pearls – a very rare strand.

Tahitian pearls are known as a naturally-colored “Black” pearl, but the truth is these pearls much more often present themselves in shades of Pale Dove Grey to Medium and Dark Charcoal Greys.

These dark primary body colors are a perfect base for some of the more colorful Overtones (secondary colors) that Tahitian pearls are famous for.

A rainbow of color Tahitian pearls display some of the most varied Overtones of all pearl types.

There are hundreds of Body Color and Overtone combinations when it comes to Tahitian pearls – this is just a small list. The intensity and saturation of each Body Color and Overtone varies from pearl to pearl (which is where great matching and a good eye for color come into play!).

Pearls with pronounced iridescence and saturated colors are considered more valuable, all other factors like Luster, Shape, Surface Quality and Size being equal.

The photo above features one of my favorite, most colorful lots of Tahitian Drops I’d ever seen at the time … these pearls sparked my love affair with Tahitians.

To learn more about pearl colors here: Pure Pearl’s Ultimate Guide to Pearl Colors

The Tahitian pearl oyster, p. margaritifera,  is one of the largest of the pearl-bearing oysters, and can grow up to 1-foot in diameter at maturity. This allows the oyster to be nucleated with larger mother of pearl beads, producing larger than average sized pearls.

The average size range for Tahitians is 8.0-9.0mm through 15.0-16.0mm, with 9.0-10.0mm through 12.0-13.0mm sizes being the most popular pearl sizes to buy.

Notice that each pearl millimeter size increase leads to a 20-25% larger pearl.

So this means the 10.0-11.0mm Tahitian will be 50% larger than an 8.0-9.0mm pearl.

The vast majority of Tahitian pearl necklaces (round and baroque styles) are what we call  “Graduated”  strands.

These strands will feature pearls graduating from smaller pearls near the clasp, gradually increasing to a nice larger center section.

On average, you’ll see ranges spanning 2.0-2.5mm or so. Measurements will be described as 9.0-11.5mm, or 10.0-12.0mm and so on.

This colorful Tahitian Drop Necklace features a fairly common graduation rate from 8.7-11.0mm

A “Non-Graduated” Necklace  will feature pearls with no more than 1.0mm graduation rate from the smallest to largest pearls – so the layout would read 9.0-10.0mm, for example.

“Non-Graduated” Tahitian pearl necklaces are harder to create, as the farm will have more restrictions on the pearls it can work with when matching and building a layout, so these necklaces will be more expensive than traditionally “Graduated” strands.

Learn more about pearl sizes here:  Pure Pearls Ultimate Guide to Pearl Sizes 

Pure Pearls uses the ‘A-AAAA’ Grading Scale for all Tahitian pearl jewelry. On the A-AAAA Scale, ‘A’ represents the lowest, commercial grades, and ‘AAAA’ represents the best pearl quality available.

The A-AAAA Grading Scale converts easily from the A-D Grading Scale used on the pearl farms in French Polynesia, and evaluates the 7 major pearl attributes. These are:

Pure Pearls has a long-standing “AAA Quality Minimum” policy when it comes to offering Tahitian pearl earrings, pendants and rings. That way, you’ll always be guaranteed to receive the finest pearls of each annual harvest.

To learn more about Tahitian pearl grading, including detailed breakdowns of each pearl grade, inclusion examples and more, visit: Pure Pearl's Ultimate Tahitian Pearl Grading Guide

The answer to this question lies within a balance of beauty and budget.

Both our AAA Quality and AAAA Quality Tahitian pearls will feature:

Every single Tahitian Pearl Necklace featured on Pure is a unique, one of a kind design. We have a continually curated collection selected by Ashley; Tahitian layouts are selected for their eye-catching colors, intense luster or playful pearl arrangements, so there is something for everyone, and at a variety of price points from $500 to $5,000.

Remember that each and every cultured Tahitian pearl is the result of a biological process. So these little gems will never be totally, completely, flawlessly perfect. The goal is not to find perfectly featureless beads, but gems with character and personality that will become yours and yours alone, so my standing recommendation is to always look to find pearl Luster and Colors that you can fall in love with first, then consider Surface Quality.

If you'd like help finding the perfect Tahitian Pearl Necklace, feel free to Contact Us anytime - our pearl experts are always happy to help.

Beautiful Tahitian pearl jewelry designs span styles from simple classics like a pair of studs, to more elaborate designs sparkling with diamonds and gemstones. Every design is made by hand, to order here in our Los Angeles, CA workshop.

Fine Tahitian pearl jewelry should all be matched to near-perfection with very little to slight variation in size, shape, body color and overtone (Multi-color layouts are excepted here), luster and surface quality.

Pure Pearls has assembled a stunning collection of Tahitian pearls to suit every taste and budget. Use the slide shows below to view our most popular Tahitian pearl jewelry styles.

Most Tahitian pearl necklaces will knot out to 18-inches including the clasp, but we can build custom layouts and alter existing designs easily (in fact, it’s one of our favorite parts of the job!).

Necklaces and bracelets are individually double-knotted between each pearl using fine matching silk thread, and we finish all of our strands with matching 14K Gold clasps and 14K french wire-wrapping to ensure the ends withstand daily handling.

To learn more about which pearl length is right for you visit: Pure Pearl’s Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Perfect Pearl Necklace. This helpful guide features photos of every classic pearl necklace length you can imagine, and a primer on how to properly measure pearl necklaces and bracelets.

Questions about selecting the right Tahitian pearl earring, pendant and even ring sizes? Click to read Pure Pearl's Ultimate Guide to Pearl Sizes.

Featured inside are TONS of photos, tips and charts to help you understand how these pearls “measure up”, and which Tahitian pearl size is perfect for you.

Pure Pearls specializes in Custom Design pearl jewelry; with hundreds of loose Tahitian pearls in the Vault to choose from at any given moment, plus our own goldsmith and years-long relationships with other findings suppliers, we can make almost anything you can dream up.

View some of our most recent work: