The colors of pearls also have sometimes been associated with certain qualities: black or gold with wealth, blue with love, pink with success.Orient can be predominantly one color such as green or pink, or consist of a rainbow of colors in weak, moderate, or strong appearances. Some pearls exhibit iridescence, which is known as orient.Pearls come in white, off-white, cream, golden, peach, pink, black, silver, lavender, and blue.Each coloration will depend on the type of mollusk and the water where the mollusk lived. Pearls vary in color from white to those with a hint of color, often pink, to brown or black.The name "pearl" is said to have originated from the Middle English word "perle", which in turn came from the Latin word "perna", meaning "leg", thought to be due to the ham-leg shape of the bivalve mollusc.Pearl is the national gemstone of the Philippines.
Pearls are also given on the third and thirteenth anniversaries.It is also the birthstone for the Sun Signs of Gemini and Cancer.