淡水真珠は世界各地でとれますが、現在出回っている淡水真珠のほとんどは中国産のものです。1990年代以降、中国での養殖技術が急速に進歩し、今では、アコヤ真珠や白蝶真珠に匹敵するような美しい珠も見られるようになっています。淡水真珠の魅力は第一に豊富なカラーバリエーションが挙げられます。パープルとオレンジは他の真珠には見られない新しいカラーバリエーションです。淡水真珠の色の基本はこの2色にホワイトを加えた3色です。淡いものから濃いものまで、様々な表情を楽しめます。また、「メタリック」と呼ばれる他の真珠には見られない独特の光沢を持ったものがあります。また、淡水真珠は無核のものがほとんどですので、真珠層の厚みから出る珠の美しさは底光りするかの様です。
Freshwater bivalves used for pearl cultivation are found in the rivers and lakes of many countries. However, most of the freshwater pearls in the market today are from China. The rapid development of cultivation techniques in the 1990s in China improved the quality of the freshwater pearls substantially. Today, you sometimes can even find fine quality freshwater pearls that are comparable and as beautiful as Japanese akoya or South Sea pearls.
The color range is extremely wide including white, champagne, cream, orange pink, purple, lilac and mauve. Also the shades can be from very subtle to dark. Purple and orange are typical colors of freshwater pearls, and are not seen among other types of cultured pearls. Some freshwater pearls have a metallic overtone that is also distinctive to them. Since most freshwater pearls are "all-nacre", they tend to have a healthy glow due to the thick nacreous layer.