Freshwater Beads—Things You Need to Know

Today, no one will ask why when people say “I love pearls”, I think, because many people are attracted by pearls’ beauty, elegance and luster. On today’s fashion jewelry market, almost all the pearl jewelry pieces are created with freshwater beads.

For thousands of years, pearls have been admired for their beauty and rarity all over the world. In some ancient countries, people believed that pearls were a symbol of the moon and had magical powers. It was said that in ancient times, knights wore pearls onto the battlefield believing the pearls’ magic would protect them. Many famous rulers were also fond of pearls.

Grade A Freshwater Pearl Strands

In ancient ages, all the pearls are natural sea pearls. They are the symbol of rich and states of the nobles and the rich. Today, almost all the pearl beads used in fashion jewelry are freshwater beads (cultured pearls). The difference between wild and cultured pearls focuses on whether the pearl is created spontaneously by nature (without human intervention) or with human aid. There are many different types of freshwater beads, such as South Sea Pearls, mabe pearls and so on. Freshwater pearls are grown in non-saline water, but the South Sea pearls and Tahitians are cultured in salt water. But unlike cultured saltwater pearls, freshwater pearls are not bead-nucleated and are therefore typically less round. Only two percent of all freshwater beads are round or near round. Though this number seems quite small, the abundance of freshwater pearl beads is much larger than other pearls types. The most common shapes of these beads are oval and button shaped.

Grade A Natural Freshwater Pearl Strands

On today’s fashion jewelry market, we can easily find many freshwater pearls. These freshwater beads are available in a wide range of colors, shapes and sizes. Originally these pearls were marketed as an inexpensive alternative to natural sea pearls. For this reason, jewelry makers traditionally used freshwater pearl beads for pieces that favored design over the gems themselves. However, since the 1990s, the freshwater beads have a large improvement in both quality and value; and then more and more freshwater pearls have been used in fashion jewelry making designs.

Many jewelry beads suppliers can offer freshwater pearl beads, some are retailers and the others are wholesalers. There are several main suppliers of freshwater beads, and China is the largest one. Many beads manufacturers in China have their own freshwater pearls farms or have a long and friendly cooperation with these farms. So, if you want to get cheap and quality freshwater beads, China is a good choice.