Pure Pearls Glossary
AA Grade
Good lustre with visible but minor surface marking. The everyday-wear grade, and where most sensible value sits.
An AA pearl has clear lustre and a surface that shows some marking on inspection at close range. Shape is acceptable for its type without being exemplary.
At arm's length, and certainly across a room, AA and AAA are difficult to tell apart. The difference emerges when you hold the piece up under a light.
Below AA, at A grade, lustre becomes noticeably dull and blemishes cover a large part of the surface. That is where quality genuinely starts to show in wear.
When you are buying
AA is the right grade for a piece that will be worn hard: an everyday bracelet, a child's set, a bulk gifting order. Spend the difference on a better clasp or thicker stringing instead.
Read next
Pearl Grading
The A to AAA scale used to rate a pearl on lustre, surface, shape, colour matching and nacre. There is no global standards body enforcing it.
AAA Grade
The top of the standard pearl scale: sharp lustre, near-clean surface, well matched, and shape true to its type.
Lustre
How sharply a pearl reflects light. The single most important quality factor, and the one you can judge without any training.
Surface Blemish
Pits, bumps, creases and dull patches on a pearl's surface. Some marking is present on essentially every pearl.
Not sure what you are being sold?
Paste any pearl description — another shop’s listing, a message from a jeweller, an old certificate — and we will break it down term by term.