| Hi Jody,
A few suggestions:
Take or wear your nice pearls so you have something to compare for lustre. I prefer high lustre over roundness. Caitlin had her rope of freshadamas at Tucson, so that was easy to compare!!
Lights are very bright and that makes it harder to see white chalky spots and small pits. I took my "craft glasses" 3.25x to Tucson and just that amount of magnification kept me from making an expensive mistake! ( a $650 strand of dark purple 10mm very round pearls) They also help me evaluate how round a strand is.
Not sure if you are going for color or white. It is so much more difficult to match colors and shapes from the stash at home than I ever thought! So much simpler to get an extra strand at time of purchase, then be able to choose the best 2 matching pearls for earrings, make a bracelet, or longer necklace, etc. Sometimes there is a pearl or 2 that just isn't the quality you want, even by the clasp.
A hank can have as many as 20 strands, or lesser quantity if some of the strands have been pulled off and sold already. If you find a whole hank you want, be sure to ask for a discount. It seems like the more expensive pearls will have hanks of roughly 3-8 strands (approx $40 and up).
Most hanks will be marked with a size range, but you can take your gauge and double check--you may have read here about the Chinese measurements being almost a mm smaller. Very few hanks will actually have a grade such as A or AA.
These observations are just based on my experiences, and sorry if I am repeating what you already know--let us know what you find!!
Glad you are wearing your beautiful pearls and getting compliments!
Pattye
so many pearls, so little time  |