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High quality Akoya pearls have the highest luster of all the different types of pearls.
White pearls with pink or silver overtones are generally the most valuable, making them the most expensive. .
The highest quality of pearls are perfectly round with a smooth surface, very few surface imperfections, such as wrinkles or large pits, and pretty coloration. 
Pearls come in all different shapes and sizes. The most common shapes include ringed, baroque, drop, off-round and round. The rounder the Pearl, the more valuable and expensive the pearl will be.
Freshwater pearls generally come from lakes, ponds, rivers and other bodies of freshwater and are found more commonly in mussels than in oysters. The majority of all freshwater pearls come from China. Because of the way that they are cultured, freshwater pearls are composed almost entirely of nacre which leads to their high luster and quality. These pearls cover the widest range of options for pearl buyers in size, shape and color. Less than 2% of freshwater pearls are perfectly round, making them individually unique.
Akoya pearls are considered the classic pearl. They were the first type of pearls to be cultivated around the turn of the 20th century, making them the first mass produced pearl. They are small in size and are almost all round or nearly round, making them a good pearl for matching when creating a strand of pearls. The Akoya pearl is either white or cream in body color with rose, cream, silver or ivory overtones. Black Akoya pearls can also be produced through a technique called irradiation. They are high in luster and the prices of Akoya pearls increase dramatically with the increase of their size.
Tahitian pearls are prized for their large size, their exotic, naturally dark colors and their rarity. They can be brown, gray, blue, green and purple as well as black. They come in sizes ranging from 7mm to 15mm, which is large on the scale of pearl sizes. Tahitian pearls can never be mass produced. This is due to the pearls not surviving the process of cultivation, the oyster’s rejection of the small object inserted during the cultivation process, and/or the sensitivity of the oyster to changing climatic and ocean conditions.
Like Tahitian pearls, South Sea pearls are some of the rarest and most valued pearls in the world. They are distinguished predominantly by their large size and are generally the largest cultured pearls on the market, with the average diameter measuring about 13mm. South Sea Pearls are usually white or silver colored, but they can also come in shades of yellow or blue-gray with pink or green overtones. They are rarely ever treated post harvest and are valued for their unique, natural color. 
