Moorea Black Pearl - Judging Pearls

French Polynesia Official Classification
In French Polynesia, the trade designation "Tahiti Cultured Pearl" is reserved exclusively for cultured pearls obtained from grafting the locally cultivated black-lipped Pinctada Margaritifera pearl oyster.

Tahiti Cultured Pearls are classified according to their size, shape, quality and color.

Size
Pearls are classified by millimeters and measured by the shortest diameter, which generally ranges between 8 and 14mm.

To date, the record diameter for a round pearl is 21mm, 24.6mm for a semi-round, 26.95mm for a baroque pearl.

Shape
Five basic shapes are defined at the production stage:

round - a perfectly round sphere
semi-round - slightly imperfect in shape
semi-baroque - pear shaped, teardrop, oval or button shaped
baroque - irregular in form with no symmetry
ringed or circled - distinctive bands around the pearl

Though perfectly round pearls are the most rare of Tahitian black pearls, comprising only 5% of production, many jewelers view shape purely as a design element. Be it the sensuous curves of the drop or the free flowing shape of many baroque pearls, most designers agree it is difficult to favor one shape over another.

Quality
Quality is defined by thickness of nacre layer, luster and surface purity: All exported or commercialized Tahitian pearls must have a minimum nacre layer thickness of 0.8mm. Luster is defined as the reflection of light on the pearl surface while surface purity is defined by the presence or absence of slight imperfections on the surface of the pearl.

Quality is defined by four sub-categories:

A - one or more visible imperfections on less than 10% of the surface, with remarkable luster.
B - visible imperfections on less than 1/3rd of the surface, with reasonable or regular luster.
C- visible imperfections on less than 2/3rds of the surface, with regular luster.
D - visible imperfections on more than 2/3rds of the surface, with dull luster.

Color
Though Tahitian cultured pearls are typically referred to as "black pearls" the fact is there exists a wide range of colors. The predominant basic colors are black, gray, blue, green and brown. However there are a variety of overtones, which may be present in a variety of combinations. Specific names given to those colors include:

Peacock -- greenish black
Cherry or Aubergine -- purplish black
Champagne -- yellowish gray
Pistachio -- greenish gray
Lavender -- bluish black
Tahitian gold -- golden black
Pigeon gray -- purplish gray
Silver -- gray
Moon gray -- pale gray
Orient gray -- surface iridescence

All pearls from Moorea Black Pearl meet the requirements of the official classification of French Polynesia.

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