There is no standard grading system in the pearl industry. The closest thing to standard is the pearl description system using the seven value factors that GIA developed and teaches.

Some dealers may take their highest quality piece and assign an AAA+ to that piece, and grade the balance of their stock accordingly. Another dealer may have a higher quality piece and call that one AAA+. Consequently, the two AAA+ pieces are not the same quality.

Unscrupulous dealers may artificially inflate their grades.

All of this leads to confusion to the buyer.

We feel that a dealer should have a description of their grades so the buyer will know what the pearls are like from the description. Good close up detailed photos are definately a plus. It would help if each value factor has its own grade (and description) because some of the factors are more important to a buyer than others.

Luster is the most important and we believe shape is second. Someone on a budget may need to compromise, and take a pearl with a lower than top luster and less than perfectly round, but with minimum blemishes. The descriptions and grades of each value factor will help that buyer.