Tahitian pearls also come in various shades and intensities of gray (although they're called black pearls). One color pearls do NOT naturally come in is rich brown. Chocolate pearls are very popular and many jewelers aren't disclosing that they're dyed, which is fine if you aren't paying natural-
color pearl prices, which tend to be higher. I got this info first-hand from a jeweler who specializes in pearls.

golden south seas---white akoya--peach-- peacock
9black)

It really depends on the type of oyster that the pearl comes from. Akoyas tend to be on the creme-ish side, with peach or pinkish iridescence. South Sea/ Tahitian pearls can be white-ish, black, or golden (which is the rarest). These are naturally occurring colors from salt water oysters, so they're not dyed.

I agree: white pearls are off white colored pearls that have been bleached in hydrogen peroxide.
Nature creates many colors of pearls the most common being pink/peach hues and bluish/grays.
Just think of the inside of a seashell the varied colors even near black.
Those same colors are evident in natural pearls. But the more intense colors are more rare and most colored pearls are the result of bleached pearls being dyed to obtain uniform and desired coloring.

White pearls have been bleached, usually by putting off-white pearls in the sun. Natural freshwater pearl colors are off-white, peach, pink and lavender.

If the strand breaks, the pearls get scattered everywhere, and since they can be expensive sometimes, you won't lose any more than maybe one if you knot between each pearl.
janie

The reason that people were knotting between pearls was to avoid the wear from rubbing as pearls are soft material, but you would have to wear the necklace quite often to see the wear soon.
In the old days, the pearl necklace were pricey and were past along to the next generations, so they knotted them to avoid deterioration over time.
These days, you could still string pearls without knotting them and they would last a while without seeing the wear.
However knotting as another purpose. When you do a nice knot between pearls or beads, it separate them nicely with that little gap in between and add elegance to the piece.
Also, as an alternative, if you use a complementing color or a contrasting color for the string compared to the pearls color (or colors used), you can create a whole new look than the standard string with same color pearl would give you.

Pearls do not have to be knotted. This is done so that if there is a break, you won't lose all the beads. I have used soft-flex and had no problems keeping a necklace in great shape for years. Pearls directly next to metals or other kinds of beads can be scratched, but other pearls should be ok.

I used to use fishing line as well- it is inexpensive and easy to knot - however over a period of time (and when using stones or pearls that may not be drilled smoothly)- the fishing line will form weak spots from the insides of the beads and break sometimes very easily and in a short period of time. If you would undo a bracelet or necklace you did some time ago with fishing line you will see the weak spots I speak of.
Stainless steel wire is better to use but not fun to knot and sometimes crimps fall off.
For pearls- you can also use silk cord.

You want to start your project with clean pearls because you want to keep your stringing material and knots clean.

It depends on the pearls. The holes are not always the same size.
To string, quite often size 2 or 3 will work, but sometimes you need size 1 or 0. Fortunately, Artbeads,com carry all size which is not the case for most suppliers.
A good trick, is to string all the pearls onto the thread before you start knotting.
The reason for that is sometimes on a strand the holes for some pearls are smaller than other on the same strand and it is frustrating to get a part of your knotting done, just to find out that some pearls wont fit the string. It is better to know before your start your work.
Another trick if you use string with a needle already include is to remove the whole string from the cardboard and string and knot the pearls almost all the way to the end of the string. That way, when you are finished and cut your string away, the needle will still be attached to the string that is left because you started at the other end.

When you buy pearls from a pearl merchant, they show you strands on strings and you choose which one s you want to buy. These are not knotted between pearls, so when you choose your strands, they can slip them off easily and string and knot your necklaces for you as part of the purchase. I never saw them wash my pearls before they strung my necklaces in China and I've bought many there.

Unfortunately at this time the website does not give an approximate amount of beads or pearls per strand. We have to try to guess it by the size of the beads and the length of the strand.
I hope that they do in the future as online purchasing can be tricky sometimes.
In the meantime, when I put a review for a strand, I include an approximate amount of beads for the strand that I got, to help other beaders.
If we all do that, we will help each other.