To evaluate the quality of a cultured pearl we can rely on 6 main evaluation criteria:

• Form
• Dimension
• Brightness
• Surface
• Degree of cultivation
• Color

It is always good to keep these criteria in mind when buying a cultured pearl of any type. There may be other criteria, but these are certainly the ones that every good buyer has in mind, always taking into consideration the type of pearl in front of you and the price you are looking for.

Always remember that when you buy a cultured pearl you are buying a natural product: it is therefore always good to consider that some imperfections are tolerable.

The shape of cultured pearls

The shape that pearls can have are many. This is due to the fact that the pearl is a product of natural origin and the positioning of the mother-of-pearl layers by the oyster cannot be controlled. The oyster covers the nucleus independently and depending on whether the layers are more or less concentric we will have a more spherical shape or less.

The most common forms on the market are as follows.

• Round

The pearl is perfectly spherical. This form is the most valuable on the market and also the rarest. It is usually found in the best jewelers and is ideal if you are looking for a quality jewel for more formal occasions.

• Oval

The pearl is slightly elongated at one end and its shape resembles an oval. This shape is easy to find on the market and is a less valuable shape than the oval one. When the oval shape is very pronounced and the thin shape you can have pearls that look like grains of rice, these are a very fashionable youth product lately.

• Drop

The drop shape can be understood as a subcategory of the oval shape. Teardrop pearls are similar to oval pearls but the two ends of the major axis are not equal. One of the two is smaller than the other, thus giving the pearl a shape similar to that of a drop. The purest form of drop is the teardrop-shaped one, it is very rare. The value of teardrop pearls is higher than oval ones.

• Baroque

The baroque shape of pearls is a very particular shape and is characterized by the fact that there is a more spherical end and a more elongated end. This is because the mother-of-pearl layers have positioned themselves on the spherical side near the nucleus while on the other side they are not perfectly adherent to it.

• Button

The button shape can be described as a flattened sphere. The button shape has a lower commercial value than the spherical one.