Pearl Price Guides

Pearl prices confuse buyers for a simple reason: two pearls that look similar in a photo can differ in price by a factor of ten, and most retailers never explain why. The honest answer is that price is set by a handful of measurable factors — species, size, shape, luster, surface quality and colour — and once you understand how each one moves the number, pearl pricing stops feeling arbitrary.

Species sets the baseline. Akoya pearls (Pinctada fucata) are the smallest of the classic saltwater pearls and the most affordable entry into mirror luster. Tahitian pearls (Pinctada margaritifera) carry a premium for their natural dark colours. South Sea pearls (Pinctada maxima) sit at the top, because the oyster is the largest used in pearl culture and the pearls take the longest to grow. From that baseline, size scales price steeply — not linearly. A 14mm South Sea pearl is not 40% more than a 10mm; it can be several times the price, because large pearls demand longer culture time and more risk to the farmer. Shape and surface then separate the exceptional from the commercial: perfectly round, clean-surfaced pearls are a small fraction of every harvest, while buttons, drops and baroques deliver the same nacre at a meaningful discount.

Because we sell farm-direct, we publish real numbers from our own catalog rather than vague ranges. The guides below cover every major question we hear about pearl value — what pearls cost today by type and size, how grading scales like AAA actually work, what makes one strand worth more than another, and whether older or inherited pearls still hold value. Each guide is written from current stock data, not recycled price tables.

Pearl price & value guides

Ready to compare against live stock? Our loose South Sea pearls and loose Tahitian pearls show real per-pearl prices by size and grade.