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Walk into any luxury department store in London, Paris, or Milan and you will see cashmere labelled simply as cashmere — nothing more. No grade, no fibre diameter, no indication of whether what you are holding is the finest material on earth or a mid-range blend that happens to carry the same word on the label.
This opacity is not accidental. When customers cannot distinguish between grades, everyone benefits from confusion — everyone except the buyer. At CloudSpun, every piece is labelled with its grade. Here is what those grades actually mean, and why the difference matters more than most retailers want you to know.
What Cashmere Grade Actually Measures
Cashmere grade is determined by two things: fibre diameter (measured in microns) and fibre length. The finer and longer the fibre, the higher the grade, and the softer, lighter and more durable the resulting cloth.
A single cashmere goat produces only 100-200 grams of usable undercoat per year. Of that, the finest fibres that qualify for Grade AAA represent only a fraction. This scarcity is the real reason quality cashmere commands the price it does. It is not luxury pricing. It is arithmetic.
Grade A Cashmere
Grade A cashmere uses fibres measuring between 15 and 19 microns in diameter. This is the entry point to genuine luxury cashmere — significantly finer than merino wool, but still distinguishable from higher grades when placed side by side. Grade A is the right choice for everyday scarves and shawls worn regularly. It will pill slightly in the first few washes then stabilise. It will last years with proper care. It is genuinely luxurious — it is simply not the finest thing we make.
Grade AA Cashmere
Grade AA uses fibres between 14 and 16 microns. The difference from Grade A is immediately perceptible to the touch — there is a softness and lightness that most people describe as the first time cashmere felt the way they always imagined it should. This is the grade we recommend for gifting: shawls for weddings, blankets for new homes, wraps for occasions. Soft enough to wear against bare skin without irritation, warm enough to replace a coat on mild days.
Grade AAA Cashmere
Grade AAA fibres measure between 13 and 15.5 microns. At this diameter, the fabric is finer than some silks. It does not feel warm in the ordinary sense — it feels as though temperature simply stops being relevant. Grade AAA is the right choice when the piece itself is the point: a wedding shawl, a blanket for a first home, a gift for someone who already has everything except something genuinely extraordinary. Our Grade AAA fibre comes from Inner Mongolian farms where the undercoat is hand-combed once per year during the spring moult, from the finest-coated animals in the herd.
Which Grade for What
- Everyday scarf or shawl: Grade A — excellent quality, worn without anxiety
- Wedding or milestone birthday gift: Grade AA — the quality is obvious to anyone who holds it
- Something intended to last 20+ years: Grade AAA — worth every penny of the difference
- Personalised memorial or anniversary piece: Grade AAA — because it will be kept, not replaced
- Corporate or hotel gifting: Grade A or AA — depending on brand positioning and volume
How to Know You Are Getting What You Pay For
Any reputable cashmere supplier should be able to tell you the grade they are selling. If the answer is vague — premium cashmere, luxury cashmere, finest quality — without a grade designation, that is a signal that either they do not know, or the answer would not help their sale. The burn test is useful: genuine cashmere burns like hair and leaves a crumbling ash. Synthetic fakes melt into a hard plastic bead. But the most reliable test is simply feel. Grade AAA cashmere held in the hand feels like something genuinely different from anything else. If you are not certain, you are probably not holding it.
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