Orient and freshadama/mettalic freshwater questions

[jshepherd]

I would say the majority of the pearls at the shows in Hong Kong are commercial grade, or the sort of thing you see in most department stores. Fine jewelry grade is available from some of the bigger suppliers and loose grade is really only available in loose and not strands.

There is no industry standard for what constitutes commercial grade but it is more or less understood. Commercial grade freshwater pearls are very off-round or very marked up and typically measured in full millimeter increments. You can buy 7-8 mm strands that one would expect to see in Sears for $10 a strand in Hong Kong. You can also pay $200 a strand for 7.5-8 mm. One of the reasons you almost never see the latter in jewelry stores in the States is because typical markups as those strands make their way to the stores would push the prices into the thousands.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

I'm reading these terms in your post, Jeremy: Commercial grade, Fine jewelry grade, Loose grade. Are there other grade categories (is Gem grade a category?)

What about the terms AAA, AA+ etc. Are these letter terms really only used when pearls are being sold as finished jewelry? That is, are A-AAA not the term used in the industry between suppliers and vendors?

Or is there a correlation e.g. commercial grade = A/AA, fine grade = AA+/ AAA, gem grade = ...? hanadama etc.

 

[JerseyPearl]

And to be sure, the more hands that touch a pearl, the more mark up in the price.

 

[jshepherd]

I'm reading these terms in your post, Jeremy: Commercial grade, Fine jewelry grade, Loose grade. Are there other grade categories (is Gem grade a category?)

What about the terms AAA, AA+ etc. Are these letter terms really only used when pearls are being sold as finished jewelry? That is, are A-AAA not the term used in the industry between suppliers and vendors?

Or is there a correlation e.g. commercial grade = A/AA, fine grade = AA+/ AAA, gem grade = ...? hanadama etc.

There is very little used in letter terms, or at least letter terms people would recognize and understand. A lot of vendors use them, but they are all for internal use not marketing. Some examples from one vendor would be LVT, LYT. They are considered the same jewelry grade - one is round with light blemishing, the other is short potato with clean surfaces.

There is no straight, clean correlation, which is one of the reasons it's impossible to compare companies based on grading alone.

We shot this two years ago and just pieced it together this year. It will give you a better idea. For example, within loose grade, there are typically three grades. The pearls Sheri sorted through when she came with us to Hong Kong, however, would be considered a separate, special loose grade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aISVS_CcYpA

 

[Pearl Dreams]

Thanks Jeremy. I hadn't seen that particular video before.

 

[Katbran]

Thanks Jeremy - Just out of curiosity - do you know what the individual letters stand for ? L V T L U T ? Or just what the combination means?

 

[bluidragon]

I did not see this picture before. The colors are amazing as the luster.