THE COLOURS OF FIJI
Putting Fiji on the pearl map, J. Hunter is world renown for our unique array of iridescent rainbow coloured pearls, unmatched by any other pearling region.
With limited harvests of less than 25,000 pearls per annum, Fiji Pearls are coveted by pearl connoisseurs around the world for their rarity. This exclusiveness is largely attributed to the scarcity of their humble host, the Fiji Pearl Oyster (Pinctada margaritifera-typica) and it’s distinctive characteristics from the earthy coloured shell exterior (the black lip oyster shell is typically darker in comparison) to the wide spectrum of mother of pearl hues found on the lip of the interior shell and the orange coloured oyster body and mantle that is commonly found.
Our Fiji Pearls come in luscious warm hues of champagne, gold, copper, pistachio, cranberry, rose, taupe and chocolate. Cooler exotic hues include vivid peacock-green, deep inky-blue, pastel lagoon blue, viole t and shimmery silvery-greys. In addition to the body colour, pearls may also display subtle to strong overtones of gold, green, dusty-rose, turquoise, and deep sapphire.
Our Fiji Pearls come just as nature intended, they are neither dyed or enhanced in any way.
“Based on GIA’s examination over the years of many thousands of cultured pearls from the black-lipped P. margaritifera oyster, the broad range of bodycolors exhibited in this relatively small sample set was remarkable. The hues ranged from blue and green (cool hues) to orange and yellow (warm hues), with many samples showing strong saturation. The cultured pearls from P. margaritifera typically occur in the cooler hues (e.g, blue-to-green), with darker tones showing higher saturation and lighter tones showing lower saturation. In contrast, those from the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster typically show warm hues (e.g., yellow), with higher saturation in the lighter tones and lower saturation in the darker tones. The Fijian cultured pearls that GIA examined were split between warm and cool hues, and many of the cool hues exhibited a lighter tone, often coupled with relatively high saturation.”
Gem News International, Journal 2009.