Know exactly what you are buying
300 pearl and jewellery terms, each one linked to a piece you can hold.
Where would you like to begin?
Types of Pearl
Freshwater, saltwater, South Sea, keshi, and how to tell a real pearl from a coated bead.
Shapes
Round, baroque, drop, coin and the rest, and what each one is worth paying for.
Quality & Grading
What AAA actually means, plus lustre, nacre, orient and the claims to be sceptical of.
Size & Length
Millimetres, choker to rope, bangle sizing, and which length suits which neckline.
Jewellery Styles
Jhumka, mangalsutra, kundan, polki, temple work and the rest of the Indian vocabulary.
Gold & Hallmarking
Karat versus carat, 22K and 18K, 916, plating, vermeil and what a BIS hallmark proves.
Gemstones & Cuts
Ruby, emerald, sapphire and zircon, their Indian names, and the cuts from princess to cabochon.
Metals & Plating
925 silver, platinum, brass and the alloys and finishes a piece is actually built from.
Clasps & Construction
Clasps, knotting, drilling and settings, the parts that decide whether a piece survives.
Care & Authenticity
Storing pearls, the tooth test, restringing, and the astrological terms buyers ask about.
Buying & Value
Making charges, wastage, gold rate, GST, buyback and what a piece is actually worth.
Gemstones & Cuts
1–24 of 41
Amethyst
The purple variety of quartz. Affordable, widely available, and hard enough for everyday wear.
16 in stock · from ₹3,750
Aquamarine
The pale blue variety of beryl, the same mineral family as emerald. Usually clean and untroubled.
Asscher Cut
A square step cut with deeply cut corners, giving a distinctive concentric hall-of-mirrors effect.
Baguette Cut
A small rectangular step cut, used almost entirely as a side stone flanking a larger centre.
Blue Sapphire
Blue corundum. Neelam in Hindi, the stone of Saturn, and the most cautiously prescribed gem in Vedic astrology.
Briolette
A faceted teardrop, cut all the way round with no flat face, drilled at the top so it hangs and turns.
Cabochon
A smooth domed top with a flat base, no facets. The only way to show a cat's eye, star or opal fire.
Cat's Eye
A stone showing a single bright band of light that moves across it, like a cat's pupil. The stone of Ketu.
Citrine
The yellow to orange variety of quartz. Most of it is heat-treated amethyst, and it is often mis-sold as yellow sapphire.
Coral
A red to orange organic gem formed from marine coral skeleton. Paired with pearls in traditional Indian sets, and worn as moonga in astrology.
24 in stock · from ₹3,920
Cubic Zirconia
A hard, brilliant lab-made stone used as a diamond substitute. Called American diamond throughout the Indian trade.
Cushion Cut
A square or rectangular cut with rounded corners, like a pillow. Softer and warmer in character than a princess.
Cut
How a stone is shaped and faceted. The one thing that most affects how it looks, and the one buyers examine least.
Diamond
Crystallised carbon, the hardest natural material. Heera in Hindi, and graded on the four Cs.
Emerald
The green variety of beryl. Panna in Hindi, the stone of Mercury, and almost always full of internal inclusions.
34 in stock · from ₹1,600
Emerald Cut
A rectangular step cut with cut corners and long parallel facets. Named for the cut used on emeralds.
Facet
One flat polished surface on a cut stone. Their number and angles decide how it returns light.
Garnet
A family of stones rather than one, running from deep red to green. Hessonite garnet is gomed, the stone of Rahu.
11 in stock · from ₹3,750
Gemstone
Any mineral or organic material cut for jewellery. Traditionally split into precious (diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald) and semi-precious.
15 in stock · from ₹1,600
Heart Cut
A brilliant cut in a heart outline. Difficult to cut well and unforgiving of asymmetry.
Jade
Two different minerals sold under one name: jadeite, the rarer and more valuable, and nephrite.
Lapis Lazuli
An opaque deep blue rock flecked with gold pyrite. One of the oldest ornamental stones in use.
Marquise Cut
A long pointed oval, tapering to a point at both ends. Looks larger than its weight and elongates the finger.
Moissanite
A lab-grown stone that is harder and more fiery than cubic zirconia, and much cheaper than diamond.