The Pearl Grading System A to AAA
This system grades pearls on a scale from A to AAA, with AAA being the highest grade (also known as gem quality). A is the lowest grade and Pearls below A grade are considered unsuitable for jewellery. This grading scale is for freshwater and Akoya pearls, but is also accepted by many Shell Pearls ie manufactured pearls. The A to AAA grades are as follows:
A: The lowest jewellery grade pearl, the surface lustre is fair and/or more than 25% of the surface showing defects. This quality has a chalky appearance, the pearl is near round, off round or irregular shape/colour, nacre is thin ie 0,25mm-0.35mm and usually sold in beading stores.
AA: The surface lustre is good, and at least 75% of the surface will be free from any type of defect. The pearl is near round, off round or an irregular shape/colour and nacre is 0.35mm-0.5mm. These are used to make nice, everyday pieces of jewellery.
AAA: The highest quality pearl, virtually flawless. The surface lustre is very high, 95% of surface will be free from any type of defect and nacre is over 0.5mm. The pearl is often perfectly round or oval with uniformity of shaped and colour. These are used to make fine, high end pieces of jewellery.
Treasured Pearls only use premium quality Cultured Fresh Water Pearls which are the top 5% direct from the pearl farms. We do not use faux pearls (fake), glass pearls or factory manufactured Shell pearls.
