Grading Pearls Success Secrets from the Pearl Buyers and Experts

Grading Pearls Tips For Easy Identification

This practical pearl grading system for grading pearls is comprised of seven steps.

Used by pearl experts, it's an essential reference for Antique Jewelry Investors and Pearl aficionados for grading cultured pearls.

Pearls set in jewelry before 1920, are either fakes, replacements or natural.

It can be difficult to positively identify a natural pearl unless by x-ray examination at special laboratories. Such an examination may be inconvenient or impossible in many business situations.....

There are some good identifying tests, used by the gem experts themselves, that you too can perform, that will help you to identify Natural Pearls.

By following this simple pearl grading system, comprised of seven steps you will not only be aware of the process involved in pearl grading but you will also know how to identify cultured pearls from fakes using the same system as the experts.

In the process you will develop an eye for a pearl based on your own concepts of pearl quality. Once you get the hang of it you can do the whole evaluation in your head in about 2 minutes.

The Mikimoto pearls grading system, is universally accepted as the best pearl grading system in the world, and these grading pearl tips are based on this system.

Oh, before we get started, it's standard practice to grade pearls on a white cloth or white tissue paper.

Let's get going then to the actual grading process of our handful of pearls. There are 8 criteria for you to consider when grading the quality of pearls. These are:

1. Size

2. Shape

3. Luster

4. Nacre Thickness

5. Complexion

6. Color

7. Matching

8. Orient

1. Size

Pearls are measured in millimeters. The value of the pearl will increase with the size of the pearl. A 6-mm pearl however will not be twice the price of a 3-mm pearl but around 5 to 6 times the price of a 3-mm! If you discover a fine round pearl over 20-mm it belongs in a museum. They are that rare! Usually larger pearls are strung in the center of the necklace with the smaller pearls near the clasp.

2. Shape

When grading pearls have in mind, the closer the pearls come to achieving perfect round symmetry the greater their value. Although since Mikimoto introduced cultured pearls onto the marketplace in the 1920s, there has been a softening of prices. Round pearls are no longer the great rarity they once were. Pre 1920 pearls are a different story. Natural perfectly round specimens are very rare and command prices that reflect.

3. Luster

Luster is the reflection of light off the surface of a pearl. Luster can be compared to the 'brilliance' of a diamond. In a fine pearl, the mirror like reflection off the skin of the pearl is crisp, sharp and clear. Decrease the quality, increase in dullness.

4. Nacre Thickness

One of the most important qualities when grading pearls to determine the fineness of the pearl is the thickness of the nacre layer.

A simple method to check the thickness of the nacre is to roll a string of pearls on a white surface under strong lighting. Thin-skinned pearls will wink, appearing brighter and darker as the pearl is rotated.

5. Complexion (Skin; Blemish; Texture; Surface)

When grading pearls, if the texture or the complexion of a pearl is coarse or uneven it will detract form the beauty of the pearl. A complexion as close as possible to flawless in a pearl, as in a woman, is the most desirable. The surface cleanliness (another description) of cultured or natural pearls has a direct correlation to its' perceived value.

A pearl can never, according to rules set forth by the FTC, be graded as "flawless" but the degree or percentage of inclusions can be measured.

The skin of the pearl should be smooth and velvety.

Think of the beautiful glowing, healthy skin of a new bride. In the case of symmetrical pearls, connoisseurs are most concerned how the pearl will "face up". In other words, will the imperfection be noticeable when set?

6. Color

The pearl's body color does not define by itself the beauty of the gem. No particular hue is more beautiful than another. What Richard Wise terms< 'simpatico' >is more important. With a grey pearl consider whether or not the gray acts as a mask or if the color is more silver than grey which is a color highly prized and much sought after.

7. Matching

Matching pearls, as the name implies, involves looking carefully at the pearls when you're grading pearls to make sure they all match all the categories in the above list However, matching is not quite as simple as it sounds.

I think that 'matching' pearls is much more complex in the grading pearl process and this is where your 'eye for a pearl' becomes invaluable. Pearls age at different rates and every pearl has a lifetime. Some lose their luster in ten years, some in fifty years.

Consequently, you must match so that all the pearls in the string age at the same rate. That is not easy, if one pearl, for example, changes color before the rest it decreases the value of the necklace. Matching pearls is an art not a science.

8. Orient

The word ORIENT comes from the Latin word, "Oriens" and means, 'the rising of the sun' (Wise, R.W., 2003 Secrets of the Gem Trade, Brunswick House Press, Massachusetts.).

Mr Kokichi Mikimoto who stamped his own name onto pearls, namely, Mikimoto Pearls would have used the word Oriental Pearl to describe a Natural Pearl as they used to be called Oriental pearls back then.

I like to use my own night sky analogy for grading pearls.

When I gaze up on a starry night in the tropics, I see the finest pearl in all the world, surrounded by sparkling gemstones. The full moon, is the finest most perfect pearl in the whole world, displaying all the finest qualities that characterize a fine, natural, pearl, and the stars, well, the myriad's of sparkling stars are the gemstones.

Orient is mysterious and one of the most important qualities to look for when grading and identifying pearls.

Another analogy is 'after-glow'. It's a subtle quality and crucial in your detection of a fine quality pearl. Orient is a soft, internal, misty iridescent quality that seems to emanate from just below the surface of the pearl's skin.

The result is a fine pearl with inner radiance and glow. Once you detect this quality you will never forget it! There is no tool on earth that can detect this quality, except your own eye.

A romantic description that really does fit better than any scientific description was made by the English Renaissance poet, Thomas Campion, 'looked like rosebuds fill'd with snow' (Wise, R., "A Meditation on Pearls," Pearl World, vol., no. 3, July-September 2001, pp. 10-11.)

Orient, is not found in all species of pearls. Of the Australian South Sea pearls, only the very finest will display orient. In South Sea black pearls it is the defining quality.

Orient, will appear in cultured pearls only with a relatively thick coating of nacre. Although 'orient' may occur in Akoya Pearls, it is more likely, a pearl cheat. When You're grading Pearls the "Nacre" is Everything!

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