ABOUT PASHA PEARLS GRADING
Understanding pearl grading is crucial in order to purchase the highest quality pearls at the best possible value. While other gems such as diamonds have standardized grading systems that allow uniformity in the consumer market, unfortunately the pearl industry has not adopted a universal grading system.
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This sometimes results in confused customers who find it hard to make an "apple-to-apples" comparison when looking at pearl jewelry on multiple websites. Pasha Pearls™ follows the most commonly accepted pearl grading system, which is the AAAA quality system. Please scroll down below to view our grading tables for each pearl type.
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It is important to note that often times grading is subjective and consumers might be told that they are getting "AAAA Quality" pearls, when in fact the pearls are of lesser quality. This is the reason why it is CRUCIAL to work with companies who have solid reputations in their industries, as well as ample reviews from similar customers such as yourself.
Freshwater Pearls
Freshwater pearls are typically found in lakes and rivers in China and produced in mollusks called mussels. Freshwater pearls have recently revolutionized the pearl industry by producing beautiful and lustrous natural white, pink, and peach pearls at a price that is a fraction of Akoya and smaller sized South Sea pearls.
Title | A | AA | AAA | AAAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Luster | Poor | Medium | High | Very High |
Shape | Off Round | Off Round | Near Round to Round | Round |
Surface | Heavy Blemishing with only 50% or less clean surface. | Minor to medium blemishing with a 70-80% clean surface. | Minor Blemishing with at least 90% of the pearl surface clean. | Very Minor to no blemishing with at least 95% of the pearl surface clean |
Information | Low Quality Freshwater representing the bottom 60% of pearl harvest.
(Not Sold at Pasha Pearls) | Medium-Grade Freshwater representing top 20% of Harvest. Commonly found at jewelry stores and major department stores.
(Not Sold at Pasha Pearls) | High-Grade Freshwater representing the top 10% of a pearl harvest. Found in Fine Jewelry Stores. | High-Grade Freshwater representing the top 10% of a pearl harvest. Found in Fine Jewelry Stores. |
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Understanding Pearl Nacre
Nacre thickness is an important factor when measuring a pearl's quality. Pasha Pearls™ is committed to offering pearls that consist of very thick nacre coatings. In truth, most governments set a minimum nacre thickness to prevent low quality pearls from being exported from the country. Furthermore, all pearls are x-rayed and evaluated prior to export to ensure that they meet the strict nacre standards of their particular region. Therefore, all pearls on the retail market have already been approved by this standard. All pearls used by Pasha Pearls™ have undergone these inspections to ensure that they are of the highest quality.
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