Pure Pearls Glossary
Knotting
A knot tied between each pearl on the thread. It stops pearls rubbing and limits a break to a single lost pearl.
Without knots, pearls slide along the thread and grind against each other, wearing the nacre at the drill holes.
More importantly, if an unknotted strand breaks, every pearl scatters. On a knotted strand, the knots either side hold the rest in place.
Knotting is done by hand with silk or nylon thread and roughly doubles the stringing labour, which is why cheap strands skip it.
When you are buying
For anything above the most basic price point, knotting is not a luxury. Look between the pearls: you should see a small knot filling each gap, with no pearl-on-pearl contact.
Read next
Restringing
Replacing the thread a strand is built on. Routine maintenance, not repair, and overdue on most pearl necklaces.
Stringing
The thread a strand is built on, and the craft of assembling it.
Nacre
The material a pearl is made of: microscopic aragonite platelets glued in layers by conchiolin. Thickness determines both lustre and lifespan.
Japa Mala
A string of 108 beads used for counting mantra repetitions, with a larger guru bead marking the start.
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.