Pure Pearls Glossary
Know exactly what you are buying
14 terms on shapes, 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.
Browse by subject
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
Shapes
Showing 1 to 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.
20 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.
9 in stock · from ₹7,700
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.
34 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.
127 in stock · from ₹1,800
Pear
A drop with a more pronounced shoulder — wider at the base, 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.
184 in stock · from ₹1,800
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.
133 in stock · from ₹2,600
Uniform Strand
A strand where every pearl is the same size, within a tight tolerance.
Still deciding?
Every term here links to what we actually have in stock. Or start from the collection and filter your way in.