---
title: "Bearded girdle: meaning in gemology"
description: "A bearded girdle has very small feathers that run from the girdle surface into the stone. They can come from the cutting process."
url: https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/bearded-girdle
image: https://digitalgemology.com/img/og-digital-gemology.png?v=d224fb01
---

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[Glossary](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary) · Clarity characteristics

# Bearded girdle

Also called bearding, beard

A bearded girdle has very small feathers that run from the girdle surface into the stone. They can come from the cutting process.

## In more detail

Fine, hairlike bearding is a clue to diamond. In GIA's 1997 study, moissanite girdles were frosted, polished or striated, without bearding.

## On a grading report

Drawn in red on the clarity plot of a full GIA report and named in the key to symbols. A Dossier has no plot but can name it in its list of up to four.

## Related terms

- [Girdle](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/girdle): The girdle is the narrow band at the widest part of a cut stone, between the crown and the pavilion. It is the edge that a setting grips.
- [Feather](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/feather): A feather is the general trade term for a break in a gemstone. It often looks white and feathery.
- [Rough girdle](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/rough-girdle): A rough girdle has an irregular or granular girdle surface.
- [Inclusion](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary/inclusion): An inclusion is a clarity characteristic inside a diamond, or one that reaches the surface from inside.

## Learn more

- [The loupe test: doubled facet edges in moissanite](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/diamond-vs-moissanite/moissanite-doubled-facets-loupe-test)

[All 328 terms](https://digitalgemology.com/learn/glossary)