Freshwater, Baroque and Shell Pearls: What Is the Difference

Freshwater names where a pearl grew, baroque names its shape, and a shell pearl is a coated bead rather than a grown pearl, so one pearl can be both freshwater and baroque. Hold a strand of pearls up to a window and you will see that no two catch the light the same way. That small difference is most of what separates the pearls you see on a jewellery page, and it helps to know the three words that come up most often before you choose one.

Freshwater pearls

A freshwater pearl grows inside a mussel living in a lake or river. Almost every freshwater pearl sold today is cultured, which means a farmer places a small piece of tissue inside the mussel and the animal coats it in nacre over months or years. Nacre is the same layered material that lines the inside of the shell, and it is what gives a pearl its soft glow.

So are freshwater pearls real? Yes. A cultured freshwater pearl is grown by a living animal from its own nacre, and that is what makes it a real pearl. Because a mussel can grow many pearls at once, freshwater pearls cost less than most saltwater pearls, which is why they turn up so often in jewellery you can wear every day.

The coin pearl on the Celeste Set is freshwater, flat and round, hanging below a strand of aquamarine and more freshwater pearls. On the Riviera Necklace the freshwater pearls take up one half of the necklace and a 24k gold plated twisted chain takes the other.

Baroque pearls

Baroque describes shape rather than where a pearl grew. Any pearl that is not round is baroque, and that includes pearls from the sea as well as from rivers. As the nacre builds up it follows whatever it grows around, so a baroque pearl can come out flat, long, squarish or full of soft ridges.

People who love baroque pearls usually love them for exactly that. A round pearl looks the same from every angle, while a baroque pearl looks a little different each time you glance down. The Heirloom Drops set a flat, squarish baroque freshwater pearl above a 22k gold plated medallion, and the pearls along the Riviera are baroque as well, each one slightly unlike its neighbour.

Shell pearls

A shell pearl is not grown inside an animal. It starts as a bead, often cut from shell, and the surface is coated so that it carries the lustre of nacre. Because they are shaped rather than grown, shell pearls can take any form, including irregular baroque forms, and they tend to be more even in colour than grown pearls.

Shell pearls are light, which suits a bracelet worn through a hot afternoon. The Linen Bracelet is a single strand of baroque shell pearls, and we call them shell pearls on the product page so there is no confusion about what you are buying.

How to tell them apart

• Set a few pearls side by side. Grown pearls vary in shape, size and surface between neighbours, while shell pearls are usually more uniform.
• Read the product page. A good listing names the pearl type, freshwater, baroque or shell, rather than saying pearl and leaving the rest to you.
• Check the small marks. Freshwater pearls often carry tiny ripples or spots on the surface, which are part of how they grew rather than a fault.

Which one should you choose

Freshwater suits anyone who wants a grown pearl at a price that still lets them wear it on an ordinary Tuesday. Baroque is for the person who likes a pearl with a little character, one that looks more like a pebble from a riverbed than a bead from a box. And shell pearls give the look of pearl in a lighter, more even piece for summer.

You can see every necklace with pearl in it in our pearl necklaces, and the bracelets in pearl bracelets. If you are new to the shimmer inside a shell itself, our guide to what mother of pearl is explains how nacre is used flat rather than grown into a pearl.