• Minimum nacre thickness 0.4mm each side of pearl.
• Luster is very sharp with very high rate of reflection.
• Easily recognized facial features may be observed in pearl surfaces.
• Reflected light sources have very crisp, distinctive edges.
• Blemish rate between 0-5% on each pearl surface.
• Earrings will set clean.
• Strands will be clean to the eye upon inspection.
• Near-perfect matching; little to no variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size. 

• Visibly thick nacre up to 0.4mm or more.
• Luster is very sharp with high rate of reflection.
• Easily recognized facial features may be observed in pearl surfaces.
• Reflected light sources have crisp, distinctive edges.
• Blemish rate is less than 5% on each pearl surface.
• Earrings will set clean.
• Strands will appear clean to the eye upon inspection.
• Near-perfect matching; little to no variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

• Visibly thick nacre.
• Luster is sharp with good rate of reflection, recognizable facial features.
• Reflected light sources have sharp edges; slight blurring can be seen.
• Blemish rate is between 5-10% on each pearl surface.
• Earrings will set clean on the front.
• Strands will appear mostly clean to the eye upon inspection.
• Very good to excellent matching; very little variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

• Thinner nacre; up close inspection may reveal bead nucleus.
• Luster is good; fair rate of reflection.
• Reflected light sources have blurred, satiny edges.
• Blemish rate is less than 15-20% on each pearl surface.
• Earrings will not set clean.
• Strands will appear slightly spotted to the eye upon inspection.
• Good to very good matching; very little variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

• Thin nacre; up close inspection reveals bead nucleus.
• Luster is fair to poor; low rate of reflection.
• Pearl appearance may be somewhat chalky.
• Reflected light sources have blurry, satiny edges.
• Blemish rate is less than 30% on each pearl surface.
• Strands will appear spotted to the eye upon inspection.
  
• Good to very good matching; very little variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

Hanadama translates to "Spherical Flower" from Japanese; this is the highest grade any Akoya pearl can attain, and they are comparable to Mikimoto's "AAA" Grade pearls. Each strand or pair of earrings is accompanied by an individually numbered gemological certificate from the Pearl Science Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan. Please note  that a grade of "Hanadama" does not exclude the pearls from tiny or even microscopic inclusions- for this reason, no pearl can ever be sold using the term "flawless". 

PurePearls.com does not offer Akoya pearls below AA+ quality, and never uses AAAA or AAA+ grades to describe pearl quality; these are not industry-wide accepted grades.