Pearl grading system
Pearl Grading Systems
Despite the fact that a large number of people all over the world buy pearl jewelry, there isn’t any globally-accepted pearl grading system at present; jewelers or pearl distributors decide which pearl grading system they will use. Nevertheless, there are two famous pearl grading systems that are used frequently, known as the AAA-A pearl grading system and the A-D pearl grading system (or the Tahitian pearl grading system).
The AAA-A Pearl Grading System
Pearls that are evaluated using the AAA-A pearl grading system are assigned grades from AAA to A, where AAA is the highest pearl grade. Although the AAA-A pearl grading system is more frequently used for grading Freshwater cultured pearls and Akoya cultured pearls, pearl jewelers also use this pearl grading system to assess South Sea cultured pearls and Tahitian cultured pearls.
Very high-quality pearls are given the AAA grade, which means that the specific pearl jewelry is almost perfect. The surface of AAA-grade pearls is highly lustrous and a maximum of 5% of the surface can have minor imperfections.
If you want to buy low-priced pearl jewelry, you may consider buying AA-grade pearls. These pearls too have strong luster but a maximum of 75% of the surface can have minor defects.
In the AAA-A pearl grading system, A is the last grade that is assigned to pearls that are low in quality. These pearls are not very lustrous and more than 25% of the surface can have defects in such pearls. When you go to buy pearl jewelry, you need to be very careful. Some jewelers may use such pearls in the pearl jewelry set in such a way that the defects are hidden. If you later decide to sell it back, you may not get a good price because of the defects. However, these pearls are also used to make low-priced pearl jewelry such that the defects are hidden to give the pearl jewelry a near-perfect look.
The A-D Pearl Grading System
The A-D pearl grading system, also known as the Tahitian pearl grading system, grades pearls as A, B, C and D.
Grade A pearls are the highest quality pearls, which have very strong luster, and at least 90% of the surface is free of defects.
Grade B pearls have strong or moderate luster and at least 70% of the surface area is free of imperfections, although the remaining 30% area may have minor blemishes that are clearly evident.
Grade C pearls too have moderate luster but up to 60% of the surface can have blemishes and imperfections.
In the A-D pearl grading system, Grade D pearls are of the lowest quality. These pearls have defects spread over more than 60% of the total surface area. In pearls that have so many defects, luster becomes irrelevant.
