The Black Pearl Gem Company Buyer's Guide

Buying black pearls and knowing what to look for is hard for those of us who have had few opportunities to come across black pearls before. To help purchasers make the right choice, the government of Tahiti has issued their set of rules by which Tahitian black pearls should be judged.

The Tahitian Pearls Economic Interest Group breaks the judging down into four categories:

* Size: Most Tahitian black pearls measure between nine and 12 millimeters across. The rare and more valuable pearls measure between 12 and 18 millimeter across. Now, you might just ask the person showing you a pearl to bring out their micrometer so you know exactly how big the pearl is which you are viewing.

* Shape: There are five shape categories for black pearls.
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
Circled: distinctive bands around the pearl

* Quality: This is a tough category. Look for surface imperfections and the luster; the shine, sparkle and ability to reflect light. Surface Quality is further broken down into four sub-categories:

* A - one or more visible imperfections on less than 10 percent of the surface, with Remarkable Luster.
* B -visible imperfections on less than 33 percent of the surface, with Reasonable or Regular luster.
* C - visible imperfections on less than two-thirds of the surface, with Regular luster.
* D - visible imperfections on more than two thirds of the surface, with Dull luster.

* Natural Color: Tahitian black pearls come in many colors. The most common are the black or gray. Overtone colors can come in shades such as lunar blue, silver, gold, gray-pink, with the most valuable colors coming in shades of peacock green, eggplant and rainbow.