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
25–41 of 41
Navratna
A setting of nine gemstones, one for each of the nine planets in Vedic astrology, arranged in a fixed order.
Onyx
A black chalcedony, usually dyed to an even colour. Common as a contrast bead beside white pearls.
27 in stock · from ₹2,250
Opal
A hydrated silica showing shifting spectral colour, called play of colour. Soft, water-bearing and fragile.
Oval Cut
An elongated brilliant. Nearly the sparkle of a round, and it looks larger for the same weight.
Pear Cut
A teardrop outline, round at one end and pointed at the other. The classic pendant and drop-earring shape.
Princess Cut
A square brilliant cut. Nearly as much sparkle as a round, with far less of the rough crystal wasted.
Quartz
The most common gem mineral, covering amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, smoky quartz and clear rock crystal.
18 in stock · from ₹2,700
Radiant Cut
A rectangular outline with cut corners and full brilliant faceting. The sparkle of a round in the shape of an emerald cut.
Rose Cut
A flat-bottomed cut with a domed top of triangular facets. The antique cut that polki descends from.
Round Brilliant
The standard round cut with 57 or 58 facets, engineered to return the maximum light. The most common cut there is.
Ruby
Red corundum, the second hardest gem after diamond. Manik in Hindi, and the stone of the Sun in Vedic astrology.
70 in stock · from ₹1,600
Semi-Precious
A commercial label for every gemstone outside diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald. Not a measure of quality.
15 in stock · from ₹1,600
Topaz
A hard silicate gem, most often seen as blue topaz. Frequently confused with, and substituted for, yellow sapphire.
Trillion Cut
A triangular cut, used both as a centre stone and as a pair of side stones.
Turquoise
An opaque blue to green stone, soft and porous. Called firoza in India and worn for Jupiter in astrology.
16 in stock · from ₹3,750
Yellow Sapphire
Yellow corundum. Pukhraj in Hindi, the stone of Jupiter, and the most commonly prescribed astrological gem in India.
Zircon
A natural gemstone with unusually high fire and brilliance. Confusingly similar in name to cubic zirconia, which is a different, man-made material.
35 in stock · from ₹1,000