[The Pearl Outlet]

I just took pictures of these earrings. One is made with freshwater pearls and one with Akoya. The lighting and angle are both identical. Can anyone tell which is which?

#1:


#2:

[Pearl_dreams]

Ha! Impossible to tell, isn't it! I'm guessing #1 is the freshwater but only because of their larger size. Otherwise they look identical to me.

[pattye]

I'm certainly stumped----------

[jshepherd]

The luster is better on the pearl to the left. But this is not a absolute determining factor.

We run into the problem of akoya/freshwater identification occasionally. Sometimes the wrong pearl goes into the wrong box and the only way we are able to make an absolute decision is by examining the drill hole with a loupe.

Do you have the same photo sans photoshop? It is usually easier to distinguish similar pearls with a raw, untouched photo.

[Mikeyy]

I say the one on the right is Akoya. What do I win?

[Ashley]

I vote FW on the right side- there appears to be slight variation, almost a wobble in the sphere... additionally, the reflected light sources don't appear to be as smooth or crisp as in the pearl on the Left. Just a guess- Hope I'm right!

[Pearl_dreams]

Wait, are we voting on right pearl vs. left pearl, or pair #1 vs. pair #2?

[The Pearl Outlet]

The difference is picture #1 vs. picture #2, not left vs. right. I think you guys are looking for differences that don't exist when going left vs. right.

At this point I could easily say both are pictures of Akoya or both are pictures of FW, or any combination thereof. To tell you the truth, one is FW and one is Akoya, and I don't know for sure which is which just from the picture (even the raw one). Even in person, they are visually close enough that the question cannot be answered with certainty via visual inspection (since they are mounted).

So what point am I trying to make? Hmmm... I think that was it.

[Mervione]

I don´t guess at anything because I´ll just be wrong but is it AAA akoya and gem quality freshwaters? I remember that picture with hanadama and freshadamas but I think that the reason the luster was higher on the freshadamas were that they were unusually good even for gem quality and that the hanadamas might have been less good than most hanadama grade strands, since there will be quality differences even in the same grade. It doesn´t matter to me that akoyas usually are shinier and more round, I´d go for freshwaters anytime because they are more like the real thing, nacre all through and not bleached unless white.

[john675]

My question, too. I think it is pair 1 vs pair 2 (right and left are the same pearl, I think).

[The Pearl Outlet]

The freshwater pair is our standard AAA quality for FW earrings.

[Caitlin]

It just goes to show you that CFWP can be indistinguishable from akoyas

Mervione

the hanadamas might have been less good than most hanadama grade strands,

The range of handama quality is VERY narrow. It is like the top 1% of the top 1% There should be no distinguishable variation in Hanadama pearls. The Japanese Lab that certifies handama is notoriously strict, it turns away anything less than perfection. I don't think you will ever see much variation from pearl to pearl, except size.

[Mervione]

But what about freshadama?

[Mervione]

And what grade is the akoyas?

[Caitlin]

My guess is that they are both AAA