Pearl Grading Resource

[Pirard]

Wouldn't there be two drill holes on some gem grade pearls? If they are strung on a necklace vs. being set on a post? And a silly question, but would a pearl with lack-luster but free of blemishes be considered gem grade? And does shape impact "gem grade"? For instance, would an off round with no blemish (undrilled as well) great color and high luster be considered gem grade? I guess I'm asking because I've never really heard the term used in a way to describe pearls. Thanks...and apologies for the stupid questions!!

 

[pearlsngems]

A pearl lacking luster could never be considered to be gem grade.

 

[Fly Girl]

From the PP site:

•Gem Grade - Flawless pearl with excellent luster
•Pearl exhibits no inclusions or imperfections prior to setting or drilling

So, cmd2014 is technically correct about one flaw being AAA. And, I suppose if the two flaws are exactly opposite, you can get another "gem grade" after drilling through. How would you ever be able to tell after drilling?

 

[cmd2014]

The ones I have seen all have had high luster, strong overtones, and have been completely clean to the eye (possibly with blemishes hidden by the drill holes). But they aren't graded in the B&M store, so it's hard to know exactly what they would be considered grade wise. Even my off round rope from there has been high luster and blemish free. But the pricing reflects it too.

It has made me wonder if part of the price discount online is due to high volume/minimized overhead costs alone, or if a slightly lesser grade explains some of the variance (I.e AAA vs Gem Quality). If so, it wouldn't be a criticism. Most of us would choose to have a good quality VW rather than have to take the bus because we're unable to afford a Porsche. (Or buy an H SI1 diamond because an IF D is out of reach).

If only pearls could grow in such a way to have all the blemishing either hidden by the drill hole or pointed towards the knots!

 

[cmd2014]

Also, does anyone know why ripples have a smooth side and a rippled side? I noticed that about mine today.

 

[4Ranch Girl]

Ripples are the rejects/fail of ming and edison production.

 

[icy_jade]

From the PP site:

•Gem Grade - Flawless pearl with excellent luster
•Pearl exhibits no inclusions or imperfections prior to setting or drilling

So, cmd2014 is technically correct about one flaw being AAA. And, I suppose if the two flaws are exactly opposite, you can get another "gem grade" after drilling through. How would you ever be able to tell after drilling?

I've read before that if the pearl has a blemish that can be "hidden" by the drill point, some will also consider the pearl as gem grade assuming it meets the luster criteria etc.

 

[Pirard]

Thanks for clarifying...I am really intrigued by this thread...it is a wonderful conversation, and very informative!!!!

I've never noticed a smooth side vs a rippled side on my ripples (I have a few strands) so now I'm going to have to go inspect them! Could it be that your strand was matched that way?

And that brings me to another really stupid question...regarding matching of pearls...assuming they all have equal luster and surface, which is more important to match: shape or color (assuming you are not after a multi-color strand...in which case you would want luster and size proportioned, I assume)?

 

[icy_jade]

And that brings me to another really stupid question...regarding matching of pearls...assuming they all have equal luster and surface, which is more important to match: shape or color (assuming you are not after a multi-color strand...in which case you would want luster and size proportioned, I assume)?

Not stupid at all. I think both... Just a guess tho.

Btw got this off Paspaley:
The destiny of each pearl is in the hands of our highly accomplished pearl graders. Specialists in their field, they assess each pearl individually, meticulously scrutinizing each one by the ‘5 Virtues’: Lustre. Complexion. Shape. Colour. Size. It is a combination of these virtues that determines the worth of each pearl.

And...
Luster is unquestionably the most important characteristic of pearl quality. The depth and radiance of enduring lustre is a natural attribute without which a pearl is deemed of no value.

And...
On rare occasions nature produces a pearl of sublime, incomparable beauty, clearly distinguishable amongst other fine quality pearls. These unique gems are reserved for Paspaley’s finest strands and bespoke jewellery designs. Such is the rarity of these pearls that finding a perfect match can take many harvests; pearl connoisseurs claim that the world’s yearly supply can be held in one cupped hand.

 

[cmd2014]

Thanks for clarifying...I am really intrigued by this thread...it is a wonderful conversation, and very informative!!!!

I've never noticed a smooth side vs a rippled side on my ripples (I have a few strands) so now I'm going to have to go inspect them! Could it be that your strand was matched that way?

And that brings me to another really stupid question...regarding matching of pearls...assuming they all have equal luster and surface, which is more important to match: shape or color (assuming you are not after a multi-color strand...in which case you would want luster and size proportioned, I assume)?

Yeah, it's weird. Every single one on my strand has a smooth side which is rounded, and a ripply side that is a bit more flat, and they are drilled so that the smoother side can be worn out if you want to spin each pearl around so that the best side is facing front (which is a bit too OCD for even me). I wasn't sure if it was something to do with how they grow, or if it was coincidence....

As for matching, I suspect it depends on what you want the strand to look like. A uniform toned strand with different shapes vs. a multi-toned strand with uniform shapes. With baroques you often see both.

 

[Frost Me]

And does shape impact "gem grade"? For instance, would an off round with no blemish (undrilled as well) great color and high luster be considered gem grade?

Pirard, that is a very good question you asked? I am interested also to know can near round, drop shape and ovals could be considered Gem grade. In my past experience, I have purchased drop shape pearls that were very pricy and were held back in a special drawer due to the pearls being really special. I would consider them Gem grade due to their mirror luster and no blemishing. I may be incorrect though.

What about earrings? What would be the difference in AAA earring grade and Gem grade earrings?

 

[Ella]

We have stickied this thread at the request of users in this forum, but please remember that we do not allow linking or lifting content from other blogs or jewelry websites. Links that violate our ToS have been removed.

 

[ckrickett]

We have stickied this thread at the request of users in this forum, but please remember that we do not allow linking or lifting content from other blogs or jewelry websites. Links that violate our ToS have been removed.

Thank you Ella

 

[yellowdiamond123]

can you try and grade this one and how much do you think it cost? it's a mikimoto Pearl earrings and pendant set it's silver

 

[Victor Ang]

Hello again Pearl lovers! Another question that I have in mind and I want to hear more on a personal based experience and not via Google - what is the quality grading of the pearls? In like a beginner level, if that makes sense.

 

[pearlsngems]

There is no standardized grading of pearls, as there are too many factors to consider. Each vendor sets their own standard for what each grade means.

The most commonly used grading system is A-AAA with AAA being the best, or in the case of south sea pearls you may see A-D, where A is the best.

 

[oceanblue]

Thank you for the interesting discussion. Is there a vendor where one could buy a bag of pearls of different grades and colors. I would love to have a group of different grades and colors to see which I prefer. Going pearl shopping here in Texas is not really a thing and sales staff are only after selling. I was think of buying a couple of bracelets from preferred etsy vendors to see different grades and colors but the cost really adds up fast.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Thank you for the interesting discussion. Is there a vendor where one could buy a bag of pearls of different grades and colors. I would love to have a group of different grades and colors to see which I prefer. Going pearl shopping here in Texas is not really a thing and sales staff are only after selling. I was think of buying a couple of bracelets from preferred etsy vendors to see different grades and colors but the cost really adds up fast.

Peeps here speak really highly of Jeremy from Pearl paradise
You could reach out to him and ask if he could put something together for you

 

[MakingTheGrade]

Thank you for the interesting discussion. Is there a vendor where one could buy a bag of pearls of different grades and colors. I would love to have a group of different grades and colors to see which I prefer. Going pearl shopping here in Texas is not really a thing and sales staff are only after selling. I was think of buying a couple of bracelets from preferred etsy vendors to see different grades and colors but the cost really adds up fast.

Unfortunately getting samples from a vendor will only help orient you to that specific vendor is AAA in one place might be AA at another, assuming they use the A’s at all! I recently made a purchase from a vendor who uses numbers instead! And another who uses AAA but then above that is Top. Oy... also the letter grades might yield different looks depending on type of pearl. I got AAA freshwater pearls and the luster is a very different look than akoya or south sea. And don’t get me started about the difficulties of evaluating and describing Tahitians.. Pearls are also hard to photograph and can look better or worse depending on the skill and set up of the photo. Sigh.

It is a little frustrating since with a lack of industry standards or even language, it’s hard to feel empowered as a consumer to comparison shop or feel you have solid confidence in what you expect to receive.

Personally to save myself the headache I would ideally like to work with a few vendors I feel I understand until the time comes I can shop in person for myself!

 

[oceanblue]

Unfortunately getting samples from a vendor will only help orient you to that specific vendor is AAA in one place might be AA at another, assuming they use the A’s at all! I recently made a purchase from a vendor who uses numbers instead! And another who uses AAA but then above that is Top. Oy... also the letter grades might yield different looks depending on type of pearl. I got AAA freshwater pearls and the luster is a very different look than akoya or south sea. And don’t get me started about the difficulties of evaluating and describing Tahitians.. Pearls are also hard to photograph and can look better or worse depending on the skill and set up of the photo. Sigh.

It is a little frustrating since with a lack of industry standards or even language, it’s hard to feel empowered as a consumer to comparison shop or feel you have solid confidence in what you expect to receive.

Personally to save myself the headache I would ideally like to work with a few vendors I feel I understand until the time comes I can shop in person for myself!

LOL, thank you! I have gone a little wild buying pearls this season and doing comparisons. My husband is getting a little worried even though I assured him that most will be going back. I will post pictures soon. Thank you for all your pictures and posts, it is fun to follow along on your projects.

 

[Ann]

If an online vendor's only reference to Luster is " High Natural Luster and Orient" should I assume it's a dud? The posted pictures are difficult to tell and I'm totally a beginner. I can see some blemishes and pitting on a few of the enlarged pictures.

A Natural Color South Sea Pearls necklace

- Size of Pearls 12-14 mm of diameter

- Pearls from Pinctada Maxima Oyster

- Origin: Indonesia ocean waters

- Natural Golden Champagne Color pearls

- High Natural luster and orient

- Pearls of Round shape

- Number of pearls in the necklace 33 pcs

 

[pearlsngems]

@Ann, I don't see the photos.

 

[Ann]

If an online vendor's only reference to Luster is " High Natural Luster and Orient" should I assume it's a dud? The posted pictures are difficult to tell and I'm totally a beginner. I can see some blemishes and pitting on a few of the enlarged pictures.

A Natural Color South Sea Pearls necklace

- Size of Pearls 12-14 mm of diameter

- Pearls from Pinctada Maxima Oyster

- Origin: Indonesia ocean waters

- Natural Golden Champagne Color pearls

- High Natural luster and orient

- Pearls of Round shape

- Number of pearls in the necklace 33 pcs

 

[Ann]

 

[Aerielle Max]

Is the tooth test accurate in knowing whether the pearl is true or fake? All you have to do is to rub it against the front of your tooth and if its feels gritty, then its real.

 

[Pearlescence]

Is the tooth test accurate in knowing whether the pearl is true or fake? All you have to do is to rub it against the front of your tooth and if its feels gritty, then its real.

Yes and no. Don't expect the grittiness to be like filing your teeth down. It's just a faint roughness against totally smooth

 

[yssie]

Not really grading, but I wanted to copy a post I made in another thread here - to show the difference that using a phone camera vs. an actual camera makes. This is true for every phone camera on the market.
- Phone cameras don't have the resolution required to accurately capture nuances of real-world reflection sharpness. Millions of megapixels can't compensate for a miniature lens. Phone cameras will either create sharpness where it doesn't exist by turning real-world blur into digital scatter, or will fail to capture real-world sharpness that happens to not be accompanied by high contrast.
- Phone cameras have their own digital colour-sense that tries to white balance across the entire photo. Cameras do too, but phone cameras are bombastic by comparison! So phone cameras tend to either amp up or minimize colours in the pearls that they're capturing, and there's no way for the viewer to know which is happening.
- Phone cameras tend to amp contrast up beyond the bounds of reality, turning localized shadows and real-world-invisible texture into "blemishing".

[...]
Phone cameras pretty much universally like to amp contrast up... When evaluating pearls this has the interesting side effect of exaggerating the real-world impact of minor surface blemishing that creates peaks and valleys (like a hammered texture would). So I'll wager the surface of the smallest is less objectionable to the eye than it is in those photos.

Here's an example. First pic with phone focused at red box. Second pic with camera also focused at red box. You can see how the texture of the ring rolls is highlighted in the phone pic... And the pearls look smoother in the second pic too... What I see with my eyes IRL is much closer to the camera photo than the phone.

https://www.pricescope.com/communit...nd-from-takahashi-please.268624/#post-5023651

 

[yssie]

Also not grading exactly, but another thing I'm going to drop here for quick reference - to show
A) How sharpness and contrastiness of reflections visible in a pearl changes as pearl/lighting/camera orientation changes, and
B) How the differences between two pearls of different quality are minimized and exaggerated as pearl/lighting/camera orientation changes.

- - - - - - - - - -

In this thread I shared several sets of WSS pearls:
https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/colourplay-in-white-south-seas.265319/
For the photos below I used two of those WSS pearls - one 11.9mm WSS (called 11-12 OLD in the thread linked above), and one 11.7mm WSS (called 11-12 NEW). 11-12 OLD is a higher-quality pearl than 11-12 NEW - it's more lustrous (sharper reflections and more contrasty) and more iridsecent. The quality difference is easily visible in-person.

All pearl photos taken with my camera - Canon g7x II. No editing besides cropping and text add. I photographed the picture setup with my phone. I'll add high-resolution versions of all the pearl photos underneath.

- - - - - - - - - -

Example 1: Single direct light source

In this setup I put black cardboard in front of the windowand turned off all lights except the one desk lamp pictured. As you go from left to right in the series,
1. Sharpness of reflections in both pearls increases
2. Contrastiness of reflections in both pearls increases
3. The difference in sharpness between the pearls peaks, then decreases
4. The difference in contrastiness between the pearls peaks, then decreases

Luster is impossible to differentiate in #1. The pearls are clearly of different quality in #3. In #5, both pearls look quite lustrous - and they look much more similar to each other in #5 than they do in #3. All I did was move the camera relative to the pearl and light source.

- - - - - - - -

Original thread:
https://www.pricescope.com/communit...tos-in-multiple-lighting-environments.265347/

 

[yssie]

Example 2: Single direct light source, pearls in shadow

In my opinion this setup is the most... Well, I'll go ahead and call it egregious. This is the setup that's potentially most misleading, as it permits most complete reduction of very real real-world differences. #4 - they aren't identical in quality, but they can compete with each other. It's a fair matchup. The more you zoom in on that pic the more similar they look. #1, on the other hand, the right pearl is just so obviously outclassed.

Note that camera position progression differs from the first set of pics - that's the shadow...

 

[yssie]

Example 3: Facing the window

Here the only light is coming through the window right in front of the pearls (white tissue in front of the window it to diffuse the light a touch).

I've definitely found that great pearls pretty much always look great, except in the most unforgiving lighting, but less-great pearls have much more appearance variance...