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.
Shapes
1–14 of 14
Baroque
Any pearl with no axis of symmetry. Once treated as a reject, now the shape most associated with contemporary pearl design.
40 in stock · from ₹1,500
Button
Round from the front, flattened from the side. The standard shape for stud earrings.
11 in stock · from ₹1,500
Coin
A flat, round disc. Large surface area for the weight, so it makes bold pieces that stay light.
6 in stock · from ₹3,750
Drop
Tapered at one end and rounded at the other, like a teardrop. Highly valued when the taper is symmetrical.
10 in stock · from ₹2,500
Flat
Deliberately flattened pearls, including squares, pentagons and irregular tablets.
3 in stock · from ₹3,750
Graduated
A strand where pearls increase in size from the clasp to the centre: small at the neck, largest at the throat.
32 in stock · from ₹4,900
Off-Round
A catch-all for pearls that aim at round and miss. Covers semi-round through roundish.
Oval
Symmetrically elongated, like an egg. Reads as elegant rather than compromised, and flatters a longer neckline.
135 in stock · from ₹700
Pear
A drop with a more pronounced shoulder, wider at the base and distinctly narrow at the top.
3 in stock · from ₹23,920
Potato
Lumpy and roughly oval, with visible dimples. The most economical real freshwater pearl.
3 in stock · from ₹2,250
Round
A true sphere. The rarest and most expensive pearl shape, and the benchmark every other shape is priced against.
246 in stock · from ₹1,400
Roundish
Recognisably round in outline but visibly imperfect on close inspection.
16 in stock · from ₹4,760
Semi-Round
Very slightly out of true: round to the eye, measurably not. The best value in the whole shape range.
16 in stock · from ₹4,760
Uniform Strand
A strand where every pearl is the same size, within a tight tolerance.