From the front these look exactly like normal spherical pearls but the side view shows that it is actually flat at the back making it a half pearl.
Types of pearls pictures.
They are also known as blister pearls or half pearls.
One of the types of blue pearls comes from the silver lip oyster when there is a contaminant either in the nacre or between the nacre and the shell bead.
In reaction the mollusc begins to produce layers of nacre around the irritant.
Up until 1989 pearls were only found.
Other types of pearls called blue comes from the abalone which is technically a large snail of the genus haliotis.
Pearl types can generally be divided into two major categories.
In natural pearls the irritant generally comes from the water its surrounded by while in cultured pearls a piece of tissue is inserted by people.
Pearls are formed when irritants like sand for instance finds its way into the shell of a mollusc.
There are four major types of cultured whole pearls.
Size large pearls are extremely rare and with sizes up to 20mm south sea pearls stand out from all the other types of pearls.
Pearl colors the main types of natural south sea pearls are golden and white but due to their unique structure the color of the pearl can vary according to lighting.
Mabe pearls are categorized according to how they are grown and are not a type in itself like the keshi pearl.
Akoya cultured pearls are the most familiar type of saltwater cultured pearl to most people in the u s and other western markets.
Freshwater pearls are commonly grown inside the hyriopsis cumingii mollusc also known as the triangle mussel in rivers lakes or ponds.