Baroque pearls are
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s with an irregular, non-spherical shape. Shapes can range from minor aberrations to distinctly ovoid, curved, pinched, or lumpy shapes. Most
cultured freshwater pearls
Cultured freshwater pearls are pearls that are farmed and created using freshwater mussels. These pearls are produced in Japan and the United States on a limited scale, but are now almost exclusively produced in China. The U.S. Federal Trade Comm ...
are baroque because freshwater pearls are mantle-tissue nucleated instead of bead nucleated.
Cultured saltwater pearls can also be baroque, but tend to be more teardrop-shaped due to the use of a spherical, nucleation bead.
The most valuable baroque pearls are the South Sea and the
Tahitian pearls, which are produced by ''Pinctada margaritifera'' (black-lipped
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
s) and ''Pinctada maxima'' (gold-lipped and white-lipped oysters). Although these are a variety of cultured saltwater pearls, the amount of time that the pearls are cultured dramatically increases the depth of the
nacre, and the likelihood of producing a baroque pearl. Most Tahitian pearl farm harvests, which, for example, produce more than 40 percent baroque and semi-baroque pearls. Western Australia is currently the world's largest cultivator of pearls from ''Pinctada maxima'' gold-lipped oysters, whereas Tahiti is the number one cultivator of pearls from ''Pinctada margaritifera'' black-lipped oysters.{{citation needed, date=November 2012
External links
Pearl-GuidePearl GradingYvel - The Second Coming of Baroque PearlsBuy Pearls Online
Pearls