Made by Mikimoto, this 18-inch pearl strand, took 10 years to gather the 27 perfectly round cultured pearls. The pearls are White South Sea AAA quality and are extremely rare. No wonder it took so long!

The expensive strand also has a noval clasp with 11,92 carats of diamonds, but its beauty realy lies in the cultured pearls. The high quality is showed in their 15.06 x 17.24 mm diameter, in the way pearls reflect light and a very special luster. Even so, $1,000,000 for a pearl strand?

Just like diamonds, pearls also have some essential characteristics in order to differentiate high quality pearls from the rest. GIA introduces these seven factors that help evaluate the quality and beauty of a pearl.

Size

In this case size does matter. The size of pearls is measured in millimeters. The bigger the pearl, the better. The pearls that have a bigger size are more precious due to their rarity. There are small pearls, generally around 3-5 centimeters, and big pearls, having more than 9 millimeters. Akoya cultured pearls sold today are between 7 and 7.5 millimeters, Tahitian Pearls are around in 10-12mm and South Sea pearls around 12-15mm.

Shape

The shape if pearls is also different. they can be spherical, symmetrical or baroque. Very few pearls are actually round, they might be near-round, button-round, semi-baroque, baroque, coin, circle and drop pearl. Baroque jewelry is very popular in modern jewelry designs due to its uniqueness.

Color

Cultured pearls present a base color but also an overtone. The overtone is not obvious and it refers to the translucent and radiant color. The third component of a pearl’s color is called orient. It is present if the pearls shows a moving iridescence on the surface. Possible colors are white, pink, silver, cream, black and gold.

Luster

The luster is one of the most appreciated characteristics of a pearl. It represents the intensity of the reflected light, that “inner glow” everyone talks about. An excellent luster truly confers value to the pearl and brings true beauty, appeal. The degrees of luster are: excellent, good and fair.

Surface quality

The surface quality of a pearl refers to degree of irregularities on the surface of the pearl. They are also called imperfections or blemishes like spots, abrasions and bumps. The value of a pearl is higher as blemishes are less visible. Even so it’s very rarely that a pearl has no imperfections.

Nacre quality

A pearl is considered to have a high nacre when the layer of nacre is thicker and thus the luster more full. This characteristic can be observed quite easily. If the pearl is matte that means the nacre is thin and the pearl looks chalky. An intermediate level of nacre quality is when the nucleus is still visible.

Matching

This is an important factor when a jewelers wants to make a uniform strands of pearls. If the easthetic pattern focuses on asymmetry matching is not a problem. Matching means the consistency of all the other factors for more than one pearl.

Strand of pearls are known for their elegant beauty & have fascinated women all through the ages. This article throws light on important features that you need to consider while selecting a pearl necklace.

Basically there are 4 types of pearls; Tahitian, South Sea, Freshwater & Akoya pearls. Except for freshwater pearls all other type of pearls originate in oceans and are considered more valuable compared to freshwater pearls because of their high luster & rarity.

As is common for any other gemstone, a pearl’s value is determined by its quality. Pearls are rated according to their quality as A, AA, AA+, AAA & AAA+ with AAA and AAA+ being the best in terms of quality & value.

The other factors which are taken into consideration while judging the value & quality of pearls are; it’s:

1. Nacre
2. Surface
3. Luster
4. Shape
5. Size & Matching
6. Color

Nacre:

Maximum attention while buying a pearl jewelry is put on pearl’s nacre thickness. Nacre is a coating which pearl oysters produce for covering pearl’s nucleus. Nacre is the key which decides how long the pearl will last. While purchasing you should look for a pearl that is having nacre thickness of minimum 0.4mm.

Luster & Surface:

Luster is the amount of light that gets reflected from the surface of the pearl. Pearls with mirror finish, high luster & clean surface are more valuable.

Size & Shape:

Price of pearls bigger than 7mm varies a lot on the actual size of the pearl. Most commonly used pearls are round in shape and are considered most desirable.

Matching:

In pearls bracelets & necklaces, matching means the ways in which all of the pearls in the necklace or bracelet are similar. As it is very hard to find enough similar or identical pearls for making a completely matched pearl necklace or bracelet, those which have such matching features command top price.

After deciding about the size, type, quality & color of the pear you are looking for, take your time to shop around and find that perfect pearl bracelet or necklace.

See also:

Queen Alexandra’s Pearls