Pearls and diamonds are both valued for their beauty and are popular choices in jewelry pieces. This naturally leads to questions regarding which of the two is more expensive.
When it comes to whether pearls or diamonds are more expensive, it’s impossible to say one is always more expensive than the other. Some pearls are worth more than some diamonds and vice-versa, with many factors affecting an individual pearl or diamond’s worth.
In general, since the majority of pearls are cultured pearls, you may find they are not as expensive as a lot of diamonds. However, natural pearls are exceptionally rare and worth more than many diamonds on the market.
How is a pearl formed?
Pearls are often referred to as gemstones, though their gemstone status is rather unique due to the fact that they are the only gem formed within a living organism. A pearl is created within the shell of a mollusk when a parasite, a grain of sand, or other similar irritant enters the mollusk’s shell and is trapped within a protective membrane called the mantle and can’t be expelled.
The shell then creates nacre to coat the irritant. Nacre is made of the mineral aragonite and a durable protein substance called conchiolin. Nacre is shiny and is the substance that can be seen on shell interiors.
When a sufficient amount of nacre builds up around the irritant it will eventually result in a pearl. Naturally occurring pearls are rare and only one in several million mollusks will produce one, making them extremely valuable.
However, pearls can also be farmed and these kinds of pearls are the most common. Pearls come in a variety of colors, though the most common color is white.
In addition to white, pearls may also come in shades of pink, black, silver, cream, orange, yellow, and green. It’s also possible to change a pearl’s color through bleaching, dye, and irradiation.
Natural pearls were severely overharvested and almost disappeared in the 1800s. However, in the early 1900s cultured pearls were successfully grown in Japan, making it feasible to create a large number of pearls.
Cultured pearls are grown in mollusks, with most created using freshwater mussels and saltwater oysters. Once the growing process begins, there is little that can be done to influence the pearl’s color, shape, and eventual size while inside the mollusk.
Most cultured pearls are farmed in areas including Japan, China, Australia, the Philippines, the Gulf of Mexico, French Polynesia, and Myanmar. Cultured pearls are considered a much more environmentally-friendly alternative to sourcing natural pearls, with diving for natural pearls banned in many places.
Considered the oldest known gems in the world, pearls have been greatly valued by royalty for their rarity and are known as the queen of gemstones. They were used as gifts in China as early as 2250 BC and have featured in jewelry since at least 450 BC.
Pearls are graded according to their luster (also known as their pearlescence), complexion, shape, color, and size.
How are diamonds formed?
Natural diamonds are formed deep within the earth where the pressure and temperature are extremely high, enabling carbon atoms to crystalize and form diamonds. The diamonds are brought towards the earth’s surface through magma eruptions and are mined from the earth.
Rough diamonds need to be cut and polished to obtain the sparkly appearance traditionally associated with diamonds. Many factors affect the value of a diamond, including its natural color, clarity, and cut.
Diamonds come in a wide variety of colors, with some rarer than others. Many diamonds are white/clear or yellowish in color while those that are red, pink, or blue are much less common and therefore more valuable.
The way a diamond is cut and its facets will influence how light bounces and reflects off it. This creates the diamond’s sparkle effect and impacts how highly a diamond is valued.
Clarity refers to microscopic imperfections known as inclusions that occur naturally within diamonds. The fewer and smaller the inclusions, the higher the clarity.
The most expensive pearls and diamonds
The La Peregrina Pearl is one of the most famous natural pearls in the world and also the most expensive. It was owned by King Philip II of Spain who gave it to his future wife, Mary I of England. After her death, the pearl returned to Spain and was worn by the wives of two further kings, Philip III and Philip IV.
Richard Burton bought the pearl in 1969 as a Valentine’s Day gift for Elizabeth Taylor. The pearl was incorporated into a necklace and after Taylor’s death, the necklace was sold at auction in 2011 for $11,842,500 to an anonymous bidder.
The most expensive diamond in the world is the Pink Star which was sold at auction in 2017 for $71.2 million. It is the biggest internally flawless Fancy Vivid Pink diamond ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America.
One of the most famous diamonds is the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is one of the biggest cut diamonds in the world. The diamond originally came from India and was worn as a brooch by Queen Victoria before becoming part of the British Crown Jewels.
The value of the Koh-i-Noor diamond is unknown, though estimates range anywhere from $140 million to $400 million.
The Cullinan diamond is also renowned as the biggest gem-quality rough diamond ever found. It was cut into several different diamonds, with the largest being the Star of Africa 1 (also known as Cullinan 1).
The second-largest is the Star of Africa II (the Cullinan II). Both are contained within the British Crown Jewels and though the Cullinan diamond is not valued, the estimated worth is as high as $2 billion.