The quality of a pearl depends upon several factors such as the color of the pearl, the shape and the size of the pear, pearl type, Pearl luster, the nacre thickness etc. The pearls are created by the living organisms. So these factors have a lot of influence on the quality of the pearl. Some of these quality factors are very important while the others are only based on the taste of an individual.
The Pearl whether it is an Akoya Pearl, Fresh water Pearl(Handama Pearls) etc. are created by the living creatures living in different climatic conditions. These conditions have a lot of impact on a pearl quality. Some pearls are very rare and some are very common. So availability factor is also an important factor in determining pearl quality.
For example the Tahitian Pearls are cheaper than the Akoya Pearls because of their large availability. Nacre is a substance which is hugely responsible for the pearl quality. It is responsible for the creation of the layers of the pearls. It also provides shine and luster to the pearls. If the pearl is more thick then it is of very high quality.
The pearl with thin nacre must have very dim or dull exposure while pearls with nacre are so shiny that you can see your image in it. For this reason the fresh water pearls are lower in quality then the salt water pearls.
The other important factor for determining pearl quality is the surface appearance. A good quality pearl must have smooth, regular and shiny surface in comparison with the rough, irregular and dull lower quality pearls. The shape of pearl is another factor which plays an important role in Pearl quality. The round or spherical shaped pearl are very rare and therefore are precious when compared with button shaped and ring shape pearls. The color is also a factor which determines which pearl is of high quality.
The nature colors such as white, gold, cream, blue and green are of higher quality then artificial colors. The last but not the least factor to determine pearl quality is size of the pearl. larger the size of the pearl more costly it is. So the Freshwater Pearls are more costly then the Akoya pearls because of their large size.
The Pearl quality depends upon their availability. Because of this reason the Freshwater Pearls are more costly then Akoya Pearls which are generally used for the creation of Pearl Earrings.
By Pattrick Jhonson