[Caitlin]

Hi
I enjoyed your letter.

To my understanding, the top grade in cultured freshwater pearls is a AAA. Thre is a specific mimimal requirement to be grade AAA such as roundness, luster, and % of blemishes on the surface. Each grade is part of the continuum of pearl excellence. A is the lowest jewelry grade. Everything below an A is commercial grade. Grade A requires a certain level of roundness and the pearls might be visably a little off round, A certain amount of luster is required, though that is difficult to quantify. There must be below a certain % of surface blemishes. AA is better; more round with better skins. AAA grade pearls are the top small percent of the harvest, though some these will be closer to the AA end of the spectrum. At the top end of the AAA grade will be the pearls with the best luster and shape, These were usually saved for earrings and rings and sold one or two at a time.

With some prompting from members of the forum for gem quality pearls, Jeremy started buying a lot of these top % of the top % gems. He then had them matched and drilled for necklaces, a first in the industry. This top perecent of pearls is most likely to have true orient and natural overtones and the brightest luster. The are the top of the AAA end of the continuum and thus the best cfw pearls available. These pearls do not even need much, if any processing, especially compared to most akoyas and lower quality CFWP. Even the A and AA and most of the AAA are processed to enhance them and match them better.

Maybe the people with the CFWP standard should add another grade, but it has not yet been done, so claims of AAA+ or AAAA are not part of the grading scale now used. Pearl merchants consider it an ethical violation to add higher grades to the scale and then claim you have those pearls.

The Japanese have a way of distinguishing the very best of the akoyas and actually certify those few necklaces that are the best quality. They call this grade "handama". When Jeremy brought the first gem quality strands back and held the famous "which is which?" poll, more people guessed wrong between a hanadama and a one of these gem quality CFWP strands. They thought the freshwater pearl strand was the akoya.

Freshadama is a play on words referring to hanadama quality in freshwater pearls, for those who are educated enough to know.

(And maybe the public will become more educated and discriminating about their pearls as they follow this forum.)