Pure Pearls Glossary
Freshwater Pearl
A pearl grown inside a mussel in a river or lake, rather than an oyster in the sea. Most pearl jewellery sold today is freshwater.
Freshwater pearls are cultured in mussels farmed in lakes and rivers. A single mussel can carry twenty to thirty pearls at once, which is why freshwater pearls come in far more shapes, colours and sizes than sea pearls, and cost a fraction of the price.
The important structural difference: most freshwater pearls are tissue-nucleated, meaning there is no bead at the centre. The pearl is nacre almost all the way through. A saltwater pearl is usually grown around a round shell bead, so its nacre is a thin shell over that core.
That solid-nacre construction is why a good freshwater pearl can be re-polished, survives decades of wear, and does not peel the way a thin-nacre saltwater pearl eventually can.
What you will hear
“Freshwater pearls are fake, or lower quality than sea pearls.”
In fact: They are entirely real pearls, and they carry more nacre than most saltwater pearls. The gap is in perfect roundness and size, not in authenticity.
When you are buying
Freshwater is the right default for almost every buyer. It gives you real nacre, real lustre and a wearable price. Save saltwater for one statement piece or an astrological requirement, not for your everyday strand.
Freshwater pearl jewellery
910 pieces in the collection right now, from ₹400.
Pearl finger ring in black pearl for women
Rich and Traditional Pearl Studs Just like the ones made in Gold
Cute Pearl Studs in leaf like Zircon Stones
The Moonrise Ring
Lustrous Gold Finish Pendant Accentuated With 7mm Oval White Pearl
Twirled Knot Pendant Accentuated With 7mm Oval White Pearl & CZ
Pretty Flower Earrings Featuring White Mother Of Pearl Petals & Peach Pearls
Stunning Linear AD Studs With White Oval Pearl Drops
Read next
Saltwater Pearl
A pearl grown in an oyster in the sea. Rounder and rarer than freshwater, and considerably more expensive.
Cultured Pearl
A real pearl grown in a farmed mollusc after a technician places an irritant inside it. Essentially every pearl on the market is cultured.
Nacre
The material a pearl is made of: microscopic aragonite platelets glued in layers by conchiolin. Thickness determines both lustre and lifespan.
Tissue Nucleated
Grown around a scrap of mantle tissue instead of a bead, so the pearl is solid nacre throughout. The freshwater method.
Not sure what you are being sold?
Paste any pearl description — another shop’s listing, a message from a jeweller, an old certificate — and we will break it down term by term.