Freshadama vs. Presidential Grade

[emiko]

Does anyone know if the quality of Presidential Grade freshwater pearls from PearlsofJoy.com are comparable to the Freshadama pearls from PearlParadise.com?

I''ve read all the very positive reviews about the Freshadamas and I''m wondering if the Presidential Grade pearls are similar. Are the Freshadamas worth the extra money?

Thanks.

 

[innerkitten]

I only have experience with freshadamas but I''ve heard great things about presidential line too. For some reason they are less expensive in the large sizes.

 

[Skippy123]

I guess if I was going for a larger size and the discount they have going on for Mother's day I would maybe buy from the Pearls of Joy since they have the 90 return policy. I have freshadamas and they are so beautiful but I read that the Presidential Line is suppose to be the same grade as the Freshadamas; I think if I were in the market for some larger ones I would try Pearls of Joy and I am glad you posted so I check out there prices too in the future.

 

[JulieN]

same grade.

 

[brightlight]

I think they''re essentially the same. I called another vendor also asking about their gem grade freshwaters compared to the freshadamas and was told they were the same. Pearl Paradise may place more of an emphasize on orient (i.e., more lenient on roundness/surface markings if the pearl has good orient) than the other vendors. I say this only because I''ve seen a few really off-round pearls in freshadama strands - even in the stock photos they post on their website. If you want a strand of large gem grade freshwaters, I would suggest saving yourself a couple hundred bucks and purchasing from Pearls of Joy. I guess it really depends on how important orient is to you. I''ve ordered loose freshadamas for earrings, and they had a lot more scratches than AAA pearls I''ve ordered from them. It was actually shocking to me how many scratches they had. Don''t get me wrong, it''s not like the pearls were bad pearls. It''s just that freshadamas are supposed to be the cream of the crop, and I just didn''t expect any surface markings especially since they were loose pearls and my AAA pearls didn''t have any markings.

 

[suana]

don''t trust the name.
freshwater pearls haven''t authority grading yet.
many retailers name their freshwater pearls as presidential, freshadama, gem grade, AAAA grade, it only indicate that is the best quality their company carried, but it''s meaningless.

 

[ksinger]

No, you don't trust the name, but you DO look at the stated grading scale and what the vendor is calling A, A+, etc. Anything over AAA+ is pretty much bogus. There is "gem grade" which is a loose term for the top of the most accepted FW scale - again the one that stops at AAA+, but AAAAAAAAAA etc, is out.

Different vendors tend to emphasize different things - some go for orient, some for absolute roundness. In any case, the reputation of the vendor is key. I have Freshadamas from PP and gem grades from PearlOutlet. Both are gorgeous, and unless you're looking with a loupe, you cannot see a difference. I think the Freshadamas may be a TIIIINY bit cleaner than the gem grades, but it's nothing you'll ever see. Both of these vendors have stellar reputations - you can trust their stated grading to be as written - and I've heard nothing bad about Presidential line pearls or PearlsOfJoy. I'd love to try some Presidential pearls, and would if I just had more disposable!