High quality pearls and pearl jewelry

When we go shopping, we often look for quality and value no matter what we buy. In everyday life, we buy many things and to get great deals, comparing prices always helps. But more important is how to differentiate between bad things and good things, between low quality and high quality. If the price is cheap, it does not necessarily mean that it is not of good quality. Many retailers offer deep discounts for high quality name brand products. When it comes to buying high-quality pearls or pearl jewelry, little knowledge about how these natural gems are evaluated can surely help.

There are natural and cultured pearls. The natural ones are rare and all the ones that are sold in the national and international markets around the world are designed with cultured pearls. Ever since the famous Japanese Mikimoto invented and patented the pearl nucleation technique for growing pearls in deep-sea saltwater in Japan, a whole new era of pearl farming has emerged.

There are two types of pearls, freshwater and seawater. Fresh water comes largely from China which is grown in rivers and ponds and often takes two to three years to grow. While seawater pearls, popularly known as akoya pearls, are from Japan and China, they take a little longer to grow and typically have a slightly higher value than freshwater premiums. Other seawater pearls include Tahitian pearls and South Seawater pearls, but both are sold for much higher prices. Their sizes are a bit bigger and the production takes a bit longer to grow and the quantity is limited.

After these beautiful natural gems are harvested, they are graded from A to triple A, and often the lowest quality is graded B, C, or D. Like diamonds whose price is based on four Cs: cut, color, carat weight and clarity, the Pearl dealers often use their one year of experience to assess quality based on certain factors such as size, color, type, luster and surface. High gloss and thick mother of pearl is the key. The surface must be free of cuts, nicks and imperfections.