Value Factors

  • What are some techniques for examining pearls?
  • What are the advantages of the GIA Pearl Description System?
  • What are the seven value factors used to judge pearl quality?

In the pearl business, you’ll often see a farmer, dealer, retailer, or experienced customer pick up a single pearl and examine it closely while slowly rotating it in the tips of the thumb, index, and middle fingers. Or you might see someone pick up a strand of pearls, hold a looped end with one hand, and slowly draw the strand across the open palm of the other hand while closely examining the individual pearls.

These are the ways that pearl professionals judge the size and quality of a single pearl or of the pearls in a strand. Size and quality determine value. The characteristics used to assess the beauty and value of a pearl and contribute to a judgment of its quality are called value factors.

The GIA Pearl Description System is a universal and objective system that helps people grade pearls. It consists of seven value factors: size, shape, color, luster, surface, nacre thickness, and matching. The last factor, matching, doesn’t apply to single pearls or intentionally mismatched pearls. It measures the uniformity of appearance of two or more pearls that are intended to look alike.

Courtesy Cultured Pearl Association of America, Inc.
A combination of all the value factors determines the quality of a cultured pearl strand. Other aspects, including customer preference and the romance factor, contribute to pearls’ desirability.