It's difficult to determine the true quality of a pearl in the bricks-and-mortar and online jewelry stores of today. So how do you know if you're getting your money's worth? Educating yourself about pearls before shopping will help.

Many buyers aren't aware that there is no internationally recognized standard for grading pearls. This leaves the door open for some sellers to stretch the truth – and sometimes quite a bit. The most common pearl, the one you think about in the traditional pearl necklace, is the Akoya pearl. These pearls, and freshwater pearls, which look similar to Akoyas but are rarely perfectly round, are graded by the A-AAA system by most reputable retailers. A is the lowest quality acceptable in jewelry. AA quality is very fine, and AAA is considered gem-quality or flawless.

One of the biggest jewelry scams today is retailers selling AAAA or AAA+ pearls. If the seller is offering pearls above AAA quality, it means that their AAA pearls aren't as high-quality as other retailers, and they often are trying to sell them for the same amount!

Pearl buyers have absolutely nothing to compare quality with in a made-up system, so if your jeweler doesn't give full details about how they determine their pearl quality, watch out! It is very possible that a sellers AAA+ or AAAA pearls are equivalent in quality to a reputable seller's AA pearls or even the A in some cases.

Another way to tell if you are dealing with a reputable pearl jeweler is that they should have very few AAA pearls. Experts say that a pearl farm producing 250,000 pearls in one harvest will produce enough AAA pearls for only 50 necklaces! So if your retailer has a store full of AAA-quality strands, beware! Here is another rule of thumb – the typical pearl farm's wholesale prices of gem-quality or AAA strands, based on pearl size:

* 18" - 6-6.5mm ($250-$300)
* 18" - 6.5-7mm ($290-$400)
* 18" - 7-7.5mm ($380-$500)
* 18" - 7.5-8mm ($680-$900)

These are the average prices that the pearl farms charge for AAA pearls. These prices are also only available from a few select pearl sellers who deal directly with pearl farms. Most pearl sellers deal with wholesalers, who charge a commission on top of these prices. So, if a seller is claiming to sell an AAA quality, 7.5mm pearl necklace for $300, unless they are selling at a loss, the pearl quality is very likely to be much less than what they are claiming.