Tahitian black pearl drop earrings set in 18-carat white gold from YOKO London’s new Glacier collection ($19,000) Photo: Courtesy Yoko London Melo Melo Pearls.

Tahitian “black” pearls come from French Polynesia and their dark colors range from black to purple, blue, gray, silver, aubergine (eggplant), peacock (black and green) and pistachio.

Tahitian Black Pearls “Most of the pearls are not actually black, but a multitude of colors. It takes about two years for an oyster to produce a pearl large enough to harvest. The iridescence of the ...

Tahitian pearls come from the warm waters there and grow only in the black-lipped oyster, and they are the only pearl to achieve black body color naturally. A file photo of a Tahitian black pearl.

For example, akoya pearls can only grow about 9 or 10 millimeters in diameter, but South Sea pearls and black Tahitian pearls can reach a diameter of around 15 or 16 millimeters.

Kaleidoscopic shades… colour is immaterial to grade for Tahitian black pearls. But the promise of my first trip to Tahiti since 1999 awakens the proposition – could I replace my beloved pearls?

It took pearl dealer Salvador Assael ten years to assemble what he calls “the Ultimate Necklace”—23 gumball-size South Sea pearls that illuminate the wearer’s face like klieg lights.