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What is an Akoya Oyster?
Cultured in the Akoya oyster and primarily found in Japan and China, they are lustrous and are generally white or cream coloured with overtones of rose, silver, or cream. . . . Akoya pearls are renowned for their incredible luster and are considered the classic pearl. They are smoother and rounder than Freshwater pearls.
Akoya Pearl:
Akoya pearls are cultured in the Pinctada fucata martensii, also known as the Akoya oyster. This mollusk is found and farmed primarily in Japan and China. Akoya’s are known for their wonderful luster and are considered the classic pearl.

The akoya oyster is the smallest pearl-producing oyster used in pearl culture today, so akoya pearls also tend to be small, ranging in size from just 2 mm to about 11 mm in size. They also tend to be the most consistently round and near-round pearls, making them ideal in terms of matching for multi-pearl jewelry such as strands and bracelets.
Dyed or Irradiated Cultured Pearls
Most cultured pearls owe their luminous beauty and exotic colors to a special step or two taken after normal processing. Here's how to tell your customers about these enhancements
Cultured pearls form in a mollusk with the aid of humans. The process, patented in Japan early this century, involves implanting a mother-of-pearl nucleus in a mollusk.
The mollusk reacts by secreting nacre, a lustrous substance that builds up in layers around the nucleus, which usually is rounded.
Nacre is what gives pearls their natural color, generally pink, white, silver, gray, yellow, brown or gold. This "body" color is often complemented by a rainbow iridescence called "orient. "

Introducing Color Enhancements
Sometimes, human ingenuity steps in to enhance the natural color of a pearl. Here's how to introduce the topic:
• Pretreatment. Most pearls – including cultured saltwater, freshwater and South Sea – are bleached to lighten uneven dark areas that may appear under the nacre. This is permanent, provides a more uniform appearance and prepares the pearl for steps that can enhance the color.
• Dyeing. Because pearls are porous, they often absorb human oils, makeup and perfume, which can stain. In fact, pearls are soft, porous and accepting to all contact with natural and chemical substances, such as dyes. Pearl treaters take advantage of this porosity to achieve finer, more uniform colors with natural extracts and inorganic and /or chemical dyes. Explain to your customer these dyes can fade over time. But stress the positive: the fact they make matched strands easier to create and more affordable.
• Irradiation. Gamma-ray irradiation darkens the nucleus and results in darker pearls, sometimes dark enough to resemble natural color black South Sea pearls. The advantage, of course, is they can be sold for much less. Irradiation also enhances orient (the display of iridescent colors) in some pearls. In either case, the pearls retain no radioactivity, thus, the enhancement is considered harmless. Most experts believe this treatment is permanent.