China Pearls

Saltwater pearls from the Akoya oyster (Pinctada fucata martensii), which are usually cultured. These pearls are typically roundish, and their natural body colors normally range from light pink, to white, to yellowish. The chapters on pearl quality in this book focus on Akoya pearls.

Even though they are often called Japanese pearls, they can also be [...]

Pearls form within oysters, which live in the sea, and also within freshwater mollusks. Traditionally, most pearls were gathered from saltwater-dwelling oysters in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the coastal waters of India and Japan, although China has harvested freshwater pearls for many centuries.
Saltwater pearls tend to be more lustrous than their freshwater [...]