Pure Pearls Glossary
Know exactly what you are buying
14 terms on quality & grading, each linked to the pieces we actually have.
Decode a listing
Paste a description from anywhere. We will tell you what it actually says, what to be wary of, and what the same thing costs here.
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Freshwater, saltwater, South Sea, keshi, and how to tell a real pearl from a coated bead.
Round, baroque, drop, coin and the rest, and what each one is worth paying for.
What AAA actually means, plus lustre, nacre, orient and the claims to be sceptical of.
Millimetres, choker to rope, bangle sizing, and which length suits which neckline.
Jhumka, mangalsutra, kundan, polki, temple work and the rest of the Indian vocabulary.
925 silver, plating thickness, American diamond, coral, hallmarks and karat versus carat.
Clasps, knotting, drilling and settings — the parts that decide whether a piece survives.
Storing pearls, the tooth test, restringing, and the astrological terms buyers ask about.
Or by letter
Quality & Grading
Showing 1 to 14 of 14
AA Grade
Good lustre with visible but minor surface marking. The everyday-wear grade, and where most sensible value sits.
AAA Grade
The top of the standard pearl scale: sharp lustre, near-clean surface, well matched, and shape true to its type.
186 in stock · from ₹9,500
Basra Pearl
Natural pearls historically fished from the Persian Gulf. The name is now used far more often than the pearls exist.
Body Colour
A pearl's dominant underlying colour, before any overtone is considered.
Certificate of Authenticity
A document stating what a pearl is. Useful in proportion to who issued it and what it actually tests.
Lustre
How sharply a pearl reflects light. The single most important quality factor, and the one you can judge without any training.
Matching
How consistently the pearls within one piece agree on size, colour, lustre and shape. A grading factor in its own right.
Multi Shaded
A piece deliberately strung from pearls of different colours, arranged as a gradient or a scatter.
27 in stock · from ₹1,600
Nacre
The material a pearl is made of: microscopic aragonite platelets glued in layers by conchiolin. Thickness determines both lustre and lifespan.
Orient
The faint shifting rainbow that plays across the surface of a fine pearl, distinct from its lustre or its colour.
Overtone
A translucent secondary colour lying over a pearl's main body colour — most often rose, silver or green.
Peacock
A dark pearl showing green, blue and rose flashes over a near-black body. The most prized colour effect in dark pearls.
35 in stock · from ₹400
Pearl Grading
The A to AAA scale used to rate a pearl on lustre, surface, shape, colour matching and nacre. There is no global standards body enforcing it.
91 in stock · from ₹18,000
Surface Blemish
Pits, bumps, creases and dull patches on a pearl's surface. Some marking is present on essentially every pearl.
Still deciding?
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