Pure Pearls Glossary
Rice Pearl
A small elongated freshwater pearl shaped like a grain of rice, usually with visible surface rippling.
Rice pearls were the first mass-produced tissue-nucleated freshwater pearls, and they are what made pearls affordable in the first place.
They are typically 3mm to 6mm, oval to slightly crinkled, and strung in multiple lines because a single strand of small pearls reads as sparse.
Modern farming produces rounder freshwater pearls than it used to, so rice pearls now read as deliberately traditional rather than as a compromise.
When you are buying
Rice pearls are the most economical way to get real pearls into a multi-line piece. For a young girl's first pearl set or a large-volume gifting order, they are the practical choice.
Rice pearl jewellery
10 pieces in the collection right now, from ₹2,500.
Regal White Rice Pearls Mala With Traditional SP Ruby & CZ Pendant
Exquisite White Rice Pearl Necklace With MOP Statement Pendant
Glorious White Rice Pearl Necklace With MOP Statement Pendant
15 Strands Finest Rice Pearl Necklace - 18 Inches
15 Strands Finest Rice Pearl Necklace - 22 Inches
Spectacular & Elegant 15 Strands White Rice Pearls Mala
Radiant & Lavish 15 Strands Peach Rice Pearls Mala
Sold OutWhite Rice Pearl Cluster Studs
Read next
Seed Pearl
A very small pearl, under about 2mm, used in clusters, embroidery and temple work.
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.
Lines
How many parallel strands a necklace is made from. A 3-line necklace has three rows running together into one clasp.
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.