Assael Collection: 9.0–11.0 mm White and Golden South Sea Ombré Pearl Necklace, 35.25 inches

White South Sea and Golden South Sea tone

How we read the tone of this piece

When we buy White South Sea and Golden South Sea pearls we do not buy them by hue. We buy them by tone, meaning how light or dark the bodycolor is. A parcel is sorted along that scale first and the color names come afterward. It is the working vocabulary of the trade, and almost nobody explains it to buyers.

• OmbréThis piece. Graduated from light at the ends to dark at the center, so it carries no single tone.

The reason this matters is practical. Two strands can both be honestly described as green with peacock overtones and look nothing alike, because one is pale enough to read as silver in daylight and the other is nearly black. Color does not separate them. Tone does.

Darker is not better, and it does not cost more by itself. Tone tells you which piece suits you, not which is finer.

White South Sea and Golden South Sea grading

What AAA means on this strand

Our grades consider luster, shape, surface and matching together, and luster is what they turn on. For surface we describe what the piece actually looks like rather than quoting a clean percentage. At these sizes a piece will almost always carry some marking, and a number cannot tell you whether that marking matters.

• ALow to medium luster, noticeable variation from the stated shape, and marking readily visible across the piece.
• AA+Medium to high luster with some variation in shape. More marking, sometimes accepted for the beauty of the piece as a whole.
• AA+/AAAVery high luster, closely conforming to its stated shape. Most pearls very clean, with a few carrying more. The combined grade describes variation in surface, not mixed luster or an inconsistently matched strand.
• AAAThis piece. Very high luster, closely conforming to its stated shape, clean overall with any marking minor enough not to draw the eye.

Select Gem A selection that sits outside this scale rather than above it. Not a tier we sort into, but a collection built over time: exceptional natural color, shape and surface at once, with any marking slight or sitting where a setting will cover it. Collected one pearl at a time, then assembled pearl by pearl.