Grading Guide

GRADING GUIDE

Disclaimer: Please note that all pinmakers have their own criteria when grading pins so what is considered B grade in one shop may be considered standard in another. Below is how I determine grades of my pins to make things less subjective.

As of 10/2021 I have been rolling out a new grading guide to having 2 grade instead of my previous 3.

Before I go into grading, just want to reiterate the same thing stated in my FAQ that as pins are 100% handmade, enamel is hand mixed and pins are hand filled. Please understand that there is no such thing as a perfect pin, so there occasionally will be very minor errors even in standard graded pins. If you are a super perfectionist, please understand this. By purchasing a pin from my shop, you are agreeing to my grading standards, if you don't agree with them, then please refrain from making a purchase.

Please also note that standards are the best pins out the batch. If the whole batch has issues, then standards will be considered the best out of the bunch since unfortunately I have no control over the quality I am receiving.

STANDARD: Standard graded pins are the best pins out of the batch that I have received. My standard graded pins generally are ones that are the closest to unblemished as possible out of the batch. These may have minor issues that aren't super noticeable such as tiny areas of underfill or small specs/holes in areas that aren't noticable.

MONO SPECIFIC NOTES:

Forever Rain: Almost all of my batch, all the standards will have slight underfill to the black moon. This is noticeable under certain lightnings, but does not take away from the design

Seoul: Due to the sheer detail of this pin, there may be small areas of overfill

SECONDS: These are pins that that have more noticeable flaws. These are a combination of what my B/C graded pins used to be. Seconds are great for normal everyday wear as they’re still great to show off and you don’t have to worry about them & are still great for display.

Examples include: scratches on the enamel or metal, underfill/overfill areas, areas of missing enamel (small detail areas),wrong colored enamel in large areas, enamel leakage

SUPER SECONDS: These are what my old seconds were, these are grabbag only pins & have major flaws

COMMON QUESTIONS/ AREAS OF CONCERN

Swirls in enamel: This is either caused from hand mixing the enamel color OR when the pin is being filled (since it’s filled with a needle and that needle can be swirled around to cover the area. That being said, swirls are considered minor and unless if the color was not mixed well at all in the enamel, or if it’s severely causing the area to be underfilled, overfilled or bumpy, this will not be a reason why a pin will be considered a b grade vs standard as most of these are negligible

Specs & Spot & Stray Glitter: I general if the spot is super noticeable, it will be graded as a B, if it’s minimal and in less than 2 places, it will be graded as standard.

Back of pin: Any blemishes on the BACK of the pin will not be taken into account during grading with exception of pin posts.

Closing notes:

Please also understand that due to volume, there may be human error when it comes to grading as I normally do a glance over to check for unified fill, metal, and color so there is a possibility that I've missed something. That and lighting, I usually grade my pins at night without natural light, so that also can impact things that are noticeable to me.

If you think you've received an incorrectly graded pin, please read this guide and let me know via email and we can work something out. I will be following my guide up above to determine proper grading.