South Sea Pearls are commonly graded to "AAAA" standards against the 4 virtues of fine pearls. These virtues are as follows:
A – Lustre Grade
A – Surface Grade
A – Shape Grade
A – Colour Grade
Only the highest quality pearls achieve an "A" grade rating for each of the 4 virtues and these are the only pearls which can be classified as "AAAA" quality pearls. For instance if a pearl being graded had an "A" grading for each virtue for lustre, surface and shape but had poor grading for colour. The pearl overall grading would be "AAA". If the pearl also had a poor grading for surface the overall pearl grading would be "AA".
Although other grading methods are used by various companies around the world, we have found this grading method is the one most commonly adopted by the international pearl auctions. For our Fair Trade South Sea Pearl inventory, we utilise this same "AAAA" standard to grade the pearls. Take a look at our web-store at http://www.south-sea-pearl.com.au/ to compare prices for the various pearl grades.
