Hanadama Akoya Pearls

I am often asked by clients to define and describe what exactly a Hanadama pearl is. A quality? A collection? A pearl type? In truth, the Hanadama title is all three of those at once. Not only is it a collection of the very finest Akoya pearls in the world, it is a real grade, with quality standards that are simply above and beyond the vast majority of today’s Akoya pearl harvests on the market- the Hanadama grade represents the very pinnacle of Akoya pearls.

The term "Hanadama" loosely translates from Japanese to mean "Flower Pearl" or "Lotus Pearl". The traditional Hanadama Akoya pearls are famous for their intensely bright, sharp luster and shimmering light to deeper pink overtones. The pearls are hand-selected at harvest for being of particularly high quality; they are then sent to the Pearl Science Laboratory of Tokyo, Japan for certification.

In order to qualify for a PSL Hanadama Certificate, the pearls must meet the minimum qualification standards of nacre thickness, teri-value or brightness of luster, shape, color and surface quality.

Hanadama pearls must have at minimum a nacre thickness of 0.4mm which is traditionally considered very thick for Akoya pearls, and the surface quality requirements are a very clean surface with the maximum amount of blemishing on the surface of each pearl within the strand to be 5% or less; only a single “deep” inclusion is allowable on the entire strand of pearls.

Each Hanadama pearl necklace has it's own individually numbered certificate from the PSL detailing all the factors described above. Hanadama pearls are equivalent to Mikimoto's famed AAA Grade, which can only be purchased in one of the four exclusive flagship Mikimoto stores.

The new availability of untreated Hanadama pearls has been an exciting opportunity for many pearl lovers and collectors. Untreated Hanadama pearls skip the standard bleaching and pinking process usually employed for all Akoya pearls, resulting in a particularly bright and luminous surface. Each untreated Hanadama necklace must meet the strict minimum nacre-thickness, teri-value, shape and surface quality requirements of the Pearl Science Laboratory as described for traditional Hanadama pearls.

Untreated Hanadama pearls are nearly all an intensely silver-white color with a lovely iridescence playing over the surface of the pearl. Because standard bleaching no longer plays a factor in the processing of these pearls, the crystalline platelets that make up the body of the pearl are not robbed of their natural iridescence; the resulting luster and luminosity are more full-bodied to the eye, and are able to deliver a full-spectrum orient effect only seen in the rarest pearls.