Glossary of Jewelry terms
A
Abalone - Shell from an abalone, similar to mother of pearl but with greater iridescence.
Acid Test - a method used to determine the karat of various types of gold. The gold in question is rubbed on a black stone
along side several known carats of gold. When an acid is applied to the strips of gold the non-gold parts of the alloy are
eaten away at different rates of speed. The strip that dissolves at the same rate of speed determines the karat.
Agate - a member of the quartz group which comes in vast varieties.
Alabaster - a large, fine grained variety of gypsum.
Alexandrite - Chrysoberyl in a gem grade which changes colors under different light sources. Usually a greenish in
daylight and shades of blue and purple under artificial light. Natural alexandrite is very rare.
Amalgam - Alloy of mercury with another metal or metals.
Amazonite - A green type of feldspar, also sometimes referred to as Baraketh.
Amber - Fossilized tree sap, or the preserved gum of coniferous trees. Most common in the Baltic area.
Insects have been found uncommonly trapped inside of amber.
Amethyst - A purple stone in the quartz family, the deepest purple is known as Russian Amethyst.
Amorphous - Meaning "without form". Stones with no definite, internal, crystalline structure.
Amulet - a pendant worn for superstitious reason to ward of some sort of evil.
Ankh Symbol - Ancient Egyptian symbol for "life".
Annealing - a process of softening metals by heating to high temperatures and then rapidly cooling it.
Apache Tears - Smokey colored obsidian. Has also been used to refer to Smokey quartz.
Aquamarine - Green to blue colored beryl.
Arabic Numerals - Numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and 0. As opposed to roman numerals.
Arizona Diamond - An incorrect name for quartz.
Art Deco - Art style popularized in the 1920's. Often characterized by simple lines and simple patterns.
Art Nouveau - Style made popular in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Characterized by curves and
flowing patterns, leaves, insects and natural objects which intertwine.
Aventurine - Many applications: Green quartz, Sunstone, feldspar with hematite, glass which contains
many flecks of copper (goldstone).
B
Baguette - A rectangular-shaped small diamond or other gem stone.
Bail - An attachment to stones or pendants that allow them to be worn on a chain.
Baltic Amber - Amber mined from East Prussia and surrounding areas.
Banded Agate - Agate stone which has formed in a series of bands, or different colors.
Bangle - A solid or hollow non-flexible bracelet, or wire bracelet.
Baroque - A heavy type of decorative ornament used in the later part of the Renaissance or and irregularly shaped pearl.
Barrette - An ornamental bar with a clasp on the back that is meant to be worn in the hair.
Base Metal - Any non-precious metal.
Beryl - A precious gemstone with a hardness around 8 that comes in a number of colors. Includes Emerald and Aquamarine.
Bezel - The upper part of a gem, or the crown facets. 2. A continuous groove of a form to fit a stone into a piece of jewelry
with metal at the top of a groove burnished over the edge of the stone to hold it in place.
Birefringence - A technical term for the double refractive qualities of certain gemstones such as peridot.
Black Amber - An incorrect name for Jet.
Black Diamond - A diamond that contains so much carbon (inclusions) that it actually appears to be completely black.
Bony Amber - Opaque, white colored amber. Can have brown tinting and can resemble Ivory.
Boulder Opal - Natural opal with traces of the bedrock it was cut from showing through the opal crystal.
Bracelet - A circular ornament worn on the arm. Bracelets have been found as far back as 3,000 BC.
Brass - An alloy of zinc and copper.
Brilliant Cut - A specific cut primarily used on diamonds involving 58 facets and cutting the stone in a round shape.
Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin.
Brooch - A piece of jewelry that is worn pinned to the clothing at the neck, chest, shoulder, hat, or worn in the hair.
Bunn Special - High grade railroad quality pocket watch involving a movement from Illinois Watch Co.
C
Cabochon - An un-faceted gemstone with a rounded smooth surface. Typically for opaque stones but almost all stones may be cut cabochon.
Cameo - A stone, shell, or other material, normally made up of 2 or more layers of color which has been carved in a way to bring and image
out of the base material. Common cameo materials are onyx, sardonyx, conch shell, porcelain (wedge wood), volcanic lava, and glass.
Assembled cameos are comprised of 2 different materials which have been permanently fixed together.
Canary Diamond - A fancy yellow diamond. The largest know is the Tiffany diamond at 128 1/2 carats.
Carat - A unit of weight for all gemstones, not just diamonds. Historically this measurement has varied the currently accepted metric carat
is 1/5 of a gram or 200 milligrams. The word carat comes from the seed of the carob tree which in ancient times was used as a standard
measurement by pearl merchants.
Carnelian - An orange, or reddish orange agate. Sometimes spelled cornelian.
Cat's eye - The name given to most gemstones that, when cut cabochon, show 1 or more streaks of light that move back and forth as the
stone is moved. Common cat's eye stones are Tigers eye and Hawk's eye.
Celestial stone - Another name for Turquoise.
Celluloid - An early type of plastic made of camphor and guncotton.
Ceragate - a waxy yellowish agate.
Ceramic - Baked clay; porcelain, china, are pottery examples of ceramic items.
Ceylon sapphire - a sapphire that is lighter in color that a traditional blue sapphire.
Chai symbol - a Hebrew symbol meaning "Life". More info Here.
Chalcedony - a variety of quartz with very tight crystalline structure. Various levels of translucence in colors from nearly clear, to blue,
brown, grey, white, and near black.
Channel set - A way of setting gemstones in which the stones are held in place by a strip of metal above and below the edges and secured
by pressure. Typically used for a line of gemstones of uniform size.
Charm - a small object of nearly any kind which is attached in a variety of ways to a necklace, pin, or bracelet. Charm bracelets normally
reflect certain characteristics of the wearer; hobbies, jobs, travel destinations and the like.
Chatoyancy - The line of shifting light seen in Cat's eye stones, such as Tigers eye.
Chip - A diamond fragment which is less than 1 carat in size.
2. Surface damage to a gemstone where a small piece of the stone is broken.
Choker - A very short necklace that is just slightly larger than the diameter of the wearers neck. Normally a 14" strand of pearls.
Chrysoberyl - A gemstone composed of beryllium aluminum oxide. Chrysoberyl comes in a variety of colors and its best known
variety is Alexandrite.
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z