FRESHWATER PEARLS
Surface Quality
No two pearls are the same and one of the
factors that makes each different is its surface
quality. Virtually no pearl is perfect and flawless
pearl specimens are very expensive.
The smoothness of the pearl's surface ranges
from clean to heavily blemished. Cracks or breaks
in the nacre are considered damage. Because
freshwater pearls are grown in a mussel and are
organic gems they are almost never flawless but the
flaws are generally not noticeable at arm's
length.
The majority of pearls will have a degree of
surface imperfections. Pearl specialists know that
even the finest pearls have irregularities on the
surface. The key factors to surface quality
irregularities are how noticeable they are and if
they seriously affect the durability of the
pearl.
 Types
of Surface Quality Characteristics
Serious surface quality issues are chips and
gaps, which will lower the value of even the most
lustrous pearls as these particular imperfections
can cause the pearl to crack and/or peel. Other
characteristics include:
* Abrasions, scratches or scuffs that affect the
luster or color of the pearl.
* Spots and minor color variations.
* Bumps or tiny bubbles on the surface of the
pearl
* Wrinkles where the nacre isn't smooth.
Some surface characteristics are hardly
noticeable, even to a pearl expert. A good example
would be a minor flaw near the hole drilled in the
pearl.
Factors That Affect Surface
Quality
Some value factors can actually make up for a
few minor flaws in a pearl. If a gem is large, a
couple of small imperfections will not decrease its
value. High luster helps because it can actually
make some surface quality variances less
noticeable. One or two pearls with noticeable
imperfections in a strand may not lower the value
of the piece if the rest of the pearls are near
flawless, because value is determined by
uniformity, not minor variations.
The cleaner the surface of the pearl, the more
valuable it will be. A good quality pearl will have
few blemishes or marks but remember that a pearl is
an organic gem, from mother nature, and some minor
blemishes should be expected on all but the finest
expensive strands.
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