A Grade
These pins are the best of the batch and ideal for display purposes. The metal should be smooth and shiny, and enamel fill should be correctly-coloured, clear of any obvious specks of dust and undamaged.
However, as enamel pins are made by hand, they are not necessarily flawless. A grade pins may exhibit the following:
- Polishing marks
- Slight variance in line thickness
- Very minor underfill/overfill in hard enamel pins (slight bumps in enamel level)
- Small specks of dust in inconspicuous areas
These pins have small flaws. B grade pins are good for outdoor use (e.g. on bags, etc.) where the pin might be viewed at a distance/may receive minor scuffs anyway. You can find these pins listed under my Enamel Pin Seconds listing if they're available.
B grade pins may exhibit the following:
- Wrong enamel colours, but not very noticeable
- Small specks in conspicuous areas of enamel
- More conspicuously underfilled/overfilled enamel in hard enamel pins
- Flaws in metal (insufficient metal, tiny surface bubbles, unintended variance in line thickness etc.)
C grade pins are obviously wrong. They occur rarely in pin batches, and I may or may not choose to make them available. These can include flaws such as:
- Conspicuously wrong enamel colours
- Large discoloured areas
- Enamel underfill that shows the metal underneath
- Damage to the metal/enamel
- Large specks/other dirt embedded in the enamel fill