Jewelry Blog

>Determine which scale that your pearls are being graded on: Pearls have two different quality scales: ‘AAA-A and A-D’. Freshwater pearls are the primary users of the AAA-A system. It can be used in other circumstances, but not often.

AAA-A Pearl Grades

Think Freshwater pearls when looking at the data below:

In the AAA-A system, AAA is for essentially flawless pearls, with high luster and no apparent defects. No more than 5% of the pearl’s surface can have a blemish.
The AA rating indicates high luster, and 75% blemish free.
The A rating is used for a low jewelry grade pearl with minimal surface luster, and greater than a quarter of its surface blemished.

Pearl A-D Ratings

The alternative rating system – the A-D scale – is used for pearls from the South Seas or Tahiti. So this focuses on cultured pearls:

‘A’ rating means that they’re the highest quality pearls, with high luster, and less than 10% of its surface has defects.
‘B’ rating is for pearls with high to medium luster, and up to 30% surface imperfections.
‘C’ rated pearls can have up to 60% surface defects.
‘D’ rated pearls are something of a catch-all term. They usually have more than 60% of their surface area, or have concealable deep surface imperfections.

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