Natural pearls once commanded much higher prices than cultured pearls. Today, a natural pearl of big size and perfection will still command a higher price than

a cultured pearl of similar size and quality. But actually, natural pearls are often imperfect and relatively smaller (6mm on average) than cultured pearls,

while sophisticated pearl cultivating techniques can yield cultured pearls of superior quality in big sizes (12mm or up). These cultured pearls can come with an

Impressive price tag.