Most of us perhaps have no real idea as to how pearls are graded and valued when it comes to quality and pricing.
Unlike diamonds that are evaluated based on four C's: Cut, Carat, Color and Clarity, pearls being natural gems are grown naturally in oyster's womb.
They grow in many shapes and sizes and we human have little or no control.
More so, the water quality and climatic conditions often play a major role during pearl farming.
There are many types of pearls depending upon oysters family type and are named as follows: Freshwater pearls, Akoya Seawater pearls, Tahitian Pearls and South Sea Pearls.
All these types are cultured pearls and natural pearls are rarity.
Freshwater pearls that are harvested in freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers are the cheapest of all and abundantly available.
They are very much affordable.
Next comes the Akoya Seawater pearls and the name akoya means saltwater in Japanese language.
The culturing technique was originally developed by famous Japanese man name Mikimoto in early part of 19th Century.
But now China has taken over the pearl farming of both akoya and freshwater pearls to a much larger scale.
Since pearls come in all different sizes, shapes and colors, they are graded from A to AAA depending upon quality.
Luster is the king as no one would like to buy dull looking pearls no matter how cheap they are.
Often many jewelers sell them as AAAA and that's just the hype perhaps to get more money.
There are SIX factors that determine the value of pearls: Pearl Luster, Pearl Surface, Pearl Size, Pearl Color and Pearl Shape.
The entire pearl jewelry industry evaluation of any pearls types is based on these six parameters.
AAA quality is always the best and you get you money's worth manifold overtime.