• Finest Tahitian pearl grade available.
• Luster is excellent, shiny metallic quality. 
• Crisp, distinguished reflected light sources and detailed facial features may be observed in surface.
• No blemishing or inclusions may be seen.
• Perfectly spherical pearl shapes.
• Minimum nacre thickness 0.8mm and up. 
• Earrings set perfectly clean.
• Necklace will be very clean upon close inspection.  

• Minimum nacre thickness 0.8mm and up.
• Luster is very sharp and slightly metallic. 
• Reflected light sources have crisp edges; some slight satining or blurring may be observed.
• Blemish rate less than 10% on each pearl surface, with only 1 deep blemish permitted.
• Earrings will set clean in front.
• Strands will be mostly clean to the eye upon inspection.
• Near-perfect matching; little to no variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

• Minimum nacre thickness 0.8mm and up.
• Luster is mostly sharp with fair rate of reflection.
• Detailed facial features are not always recognizable in pearl surfaces.
• Reflected light sources have blurred edges.
• Blemish rate less than 20% on each pearl surface.
• One to two heavy blemishes allowable on 18-inch strand. 
• Very good matching; little variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

• Minimum nacre thickness 0.8mm and up.
• Luster is good to soft, with fair rate of reflection.
• Detailed facial features are typically not observed on pearl surfaces.
• Reflected light sources have blurred, satiny edges.
• Blemish rate less than 30% on each pearl surface.
• One to two heavy blemishes allowable on 18-inch strand. 
• Very good matching; little variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

• Minimum nacre thickness 0.8mm and up.
• Luster is fair to soft with low rate of reflection.
• Reflected light sources are blurry or satiny. 
• Facial features cannot be observed in pearl surfaces.
• Blemish rate less than 40% on each pearl surface.
• Some heavy blemishes may be observed throughout layout, however deep inclusions should not make up more than 10-15% of a necklace overall.
• Fair to good matching; some variation in color, tone, luster, shape or size.

   By law, all Tahitian pearls must meet a minimum nacre depth requirement of 0.8mm in order to qualify for export; if thin-nacred pearls are found, they are usually destroyed and the nuclei are recycled. 

Baroque or drop-shaped pearls are graded on the A-AAA scale as well; in addition to luster, color and surface quality, symmetry of shapes and shape matching play more important roles in determining the pearls' quality. 

Black Tahitian pearls are the only commercially available naturally black cultured pearls on the market today. PurePearls.com guarantees that no black Tahitian pearl imported or sold by us has been color or luster-treated in any way whatsoever, with the exception of Chocolate Tahitian pearls.