We have all seen the great marketing programs for pearls. A scantily clad Asian girl dives without masks and air for shelled creatures. She comes to the surface with oysters galore. It is a nice picture, but does not represent what really goes on with most pearls.

Pearls are known as refined jewelry. The process by which they are made, however, is rather more organic. Foreign material gets stuck within a mollusk and the animal reacts. To protect itself, it surrounds the material in nacre.

Nacre is a form of calcium carbonate. The first coating is a soft form of this. As time passes, the coating solidifies and you have a pearl. This is a hit and miss process, so many pearl farmers help the process along.

Cultured pearls get their name in reference to the fact they are being artificially produced. The process is real enough, but it is started by impregnating the pearl artificially with foreign material to make sure pearls grow.

Cultured pearls are often talked about as though there is just one type. This is false. There are actually four distinct variations of cultured pearls you need to know before shopping for them.

Size matters with pearls. South Sea cultured pearls have it. They are the largest on average, coming in at a whopping 13 millimeters. They are known for being perfectly round, but are priced on their luster.

Tahitian cultured pearls run a close second when it comes to size. They tend to be in the 10 to 12 millimeter range. They tend to be dark green in color with a high luster. They are fairly rare. This makes their price the highest on average among the cultured pearls.

Looking for classic white pearls? Akoya cultured pearls are your best bet. They have a beautiful luster and a fair price. Cultivated in Japanese and Chinese rivers and lakes, these are very popular pearls.

Freshwater cultured pearls have a bland name because they tend to be your run of the mill pearls. There is nothing particularly notable about them, but they are a good middle of the road choice if you are looking for a gift.

Now that you know the choices, you just have to choose the one you want. The right answer is really a matter of taste. Personally, I like to go big. That makes the South Sea cultured pearls the choice for me.