In order to help you understand better some of the terms used to describe our products, we have created the list of Jewellery terms used by jewellery experts.
Annealing
This is a heat treatment process which softens material that has hardened during rolling or drawing processes.
Baguette
This is a gemstone, often a diamond, cut in a narrow rectangular shape. Small diamonds cut this way are often used as accents.
Bezel
An item used as a mount between the ring shank and the setting, available in different sizes to match the individual settings.
Bezel Setting
A method of setting gemstones in which the stone is held in the mounting by a narrow band of metal surrounding the girdle (outside perimeter) of the stone.
Briolette
A tear-drop shaped stone in the round.
Butterflies
A component used in the manufacture of earrings for pierced ears. It holds the earring onto the ear by attaching to the pin. It can also be known as a scroll piece.
Cabochon
A gemstone cut with a domed top and a flat bottom. These are usually round or oval, but can be other shapes as well.
Cabochon Box
A stamped product used for the setting of deep stones in fine jewellery items.
Cameo
A style of carving in which the design motif is left and the surrounding surface is cut away, leaving the design in relief. Cameos have been popular from ancient times and ancient motifs, such as the goddess Athena, were popular cameo subjects from Victorian times through to the 1930's. Cameos are still made today in Italy.
Carat
A unit of weight measurement for precious stones. It is important not to confuse this with ‘karat’, which is a measure of the purity of gold. ‘Carat’ is abbreviated to "ct." One carat is equal to 1/5 of a gram (200 milligrams). Stones are measured to the nearest hundredth of a carat. There are a hundred points in a carat, so that a .10 carat stone can also be described as a 10 point stone. Smaller stones are most often referred to by point designations.
An average one-carat round diamond usually measures approximately 6.5mm in diameter. This relationship of weight and size, however, is different for each family of stones. Rubies and sapphires, for example, are both heavier than diamonds, so a one carat ruby or sapphire is smaller in size than a one carat diamond.
Chandelier earrings
These closely resemble mini chandeliers. They are long, exceptionally glamorous and favoured by several celebrities. The are also known as shoulder dusters.
Chatoyancy
This word is derived from the French words chat (‘cat’) and oeil (‘eye’) and describes the phenomenon whereby a strip of light is reflected onto the surface of the stone and glints back and forth, resembling the feline eye. It is most prominent in chrysoberyl, but is also found in a few other gemstones including tourmaline.
Crown
The top half of a gemstone.
Cushion
This can be a type of diamond cut incorporating both a round and square shape (therefore resembling a cushion). It also refers to a style of signet ring stamping, which is also cushion-like, being square with rounded corners.
Decoration Etched
This is a very faintly carved surface decoration.
Diamanté
Diamanté stones (or Rhinestones) are highly reflective glass made to imitate gemstones. The originals were colourless quartz obtained from the River Rhine, which were cut in an attempt to resemble diamonds. The finest diamanté today is made of highly reflective lead glass, which is facetted and polished. Click here to see our range of diamante jewellery.
Emerald Cut
This is the stepped, normally rectangular gemstone-cut with cropped corners.
Enamel
Loosely speaking, all enamel is produced by fusing coloured powdered glass ‘paste’ to metal (usually bronze, copper or gold) to produce a glass-like, decorative surface. The colour of the enamel and its transparency depend on the metal oxides in the glass and the temperature at which the glass melts and coheres to the surface. In some cases, the enamel may be translucent with fancy engraving on the metal underneath, which produces guilloche (pronounced ‘ghee-yosh’) enamel.
Engrave
This is gouging out a design in metal with graver's tools, or embellishing metal or other material with patterns using a stamping tool or drill. This was fashionable in mid-Victorian jewellery. The resulting depressions were often filled with coloured enamel.
Facet
The polished face of a gemstone.
Faceted
A faceted stone has small, flat-cut surfaces that make a sparkling effect on transparent stones. Diamonds, rubies and sapphires are nearly always faceted. Some translucent and even opaque stones are also faceted, although this is rarer.
Filigree
This is a technique used to produce delicate, intricate patterns in metal. It is often used for metal beads and clasps.
Gold filled
14k Gold Fill is not the same as gold plated. There is approx. 100 times more gold in gold fill than there is on plated wire. Gold filled looks and usually wears as well as karat gold. Often referred to as rolled gold, Gold Fill is very hard wearing and should last under normal wear conditions it should last a lifetime. Gold-filled pieces must be at least 1/20 by weight in gold to be classified as gold-filled.
Gold-plated A base metal such as steel or brass is dipped into a bath of electroplating solution, with a lump of solid gold. When an electric current is applied, a thin layer of gold is deposited on the metal. Since the plating is quite thin, the plate (and hence the colour) on findings can wear off. Gold Vermeil
Gold vermeil: pronounced "vermay," vermeil is a French word describing sterling silver that is coated with heavy 22k or 24k gold electroplate that is used in jewellery making. It is used as an economical alternative to solid gold. To be considered vermeil, the gold must also be at least 10 carat (42 %) and be at least 1.5 micrometres thick. The original fire-gilding process was developed in France in the mid-1700s; however, France later banned the production of vermeil because over time artisans developed blindness due to mercury involved in the process. Today, vermeil is safely produced by electrolysis.
The White House has a collection of vermeil tableware kept on display (when not in use) in the Vermeil Room.
Guilloche enamel
This is when translucent enamel is applied to metal which has detailed engraving on it. Pronounced ‘ghee-yosh’.
Grain
This is a unit sometimes used to measure pearls – a metric or pearl grain is equal to 50 milligrams or ¼ of a carat.
Grooved
Routed out in a line.
Hallmark
This is a stamped mark applied to items of jewellery and silverware by the Assay Offices of Britain as a guarantee of authenticity. The mark consists of four components: The sponsor (or manufacturer) mark; the standard mark, which denotes the precious metal content of the item; the Assay Office Mark (Assay Offices are found in London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh) and the date letter which shows the year in which the article was hallmarked.
Inclusion
This is a particle of solid, liquid or gaseous foreign matter contained within a stone. It can take, for example, the form of an air bubble or a foreign object. Some inclusions decrease the value of a stone, but some, such as needles in rutilated quartz and ‘spangles’ in amber, are prized.
Inlaid
This is when a space is routed out of the metal and a contrasting material is fitted into that space. Bakelite polka dot bracelets are an excellent example of inlay technique.
Intaglio
This is Italian for ‘carving’. An Intaglio is a carved gem from which the design is engraved or carved into the object so that it sits below the surface plane of the material, in perfect opposite to a cameo. This technique was often used for seals, to make a raised impression in the wax.
Iridescence
This is an optical phenomenon in which the hue on the surface of the stone changes according to the angle from which the surface is viewed. A similar phenomenon may be seen on the surface of soap bubbles and on butterfly wings.
The word is derived in part from the Greek word iris, meaning ‘rainbow’, from the goddess Iris, the personification of the rainbow in Greek mythology.
Joints
This is a semi-finished product used in the manufacture of brooches or any item which includes a pin for fastening. The joint holds the pin at one end allowing it to swivel for opening and closing.
Karat
It is important not to confuse karat with "carat". Carat is a measure of the weight of gemstones, whereas karat is a measure of the purity of gold. The ratio of gold to other metals is measured in 24 parts, called ‘karats’ – hence 24 karat gold is pure gold, while, for example, 9 karat gold is 9 parts gold and 15 parts other metal.
Loupe
This is a magnifying glass used by jewellers to see the inclusions and imperfections inside gemstones.
Navette
An oval stone which is pointed at both ends.
Opalescence
In this phenomenon, the material appears yellowish-red in transmitted light and blue in scattered light. The phenomenon is named after the appearance of opals.
This can be seen in nature in the way the sky is blue in the daytime and yellowish-red at sunset.
Ounce
This is a pre-metric unit of weight. The unit used to measure gemstones is known as a ‘troy ounce’. The metric equivalent of one troy ounce is 31.1035 grams.
Patina
Patina is the natural effect of use and age on a surface. Tiny, almost imperceptible scratches eventually merge to form a new lustrous finish. A rich patina on fine sterling silver and karat gold enhances its beauty over time.
Pavilion
The lower-half of a gemstone.
Pave
Stones set close together, showing no metal between them
Pierced
This is when the material has been cut completely through with a very small hole.
Pleochroic
This is the phenomenon where many different colours are displayed within one stone.
Rhodium plated
Rhodium is a transition element, belonging to the platinum group of metals. Rhodium plating is silvery-white in colour and used to both harden the surface it covers, and to create a brighter, more polished look to gold, especially white gold. Gemstones then show to their best effect and the claws holding the gems are firmer and less likely to damage. Rhodium plated jewellery is extremely hard wearing, tarnish resistant and will not be affected by body enzymes, perfumes and hair sprays, helping it to look good for years to come.
Schiller
The ‘flecks’ in the iridescent colour display found in labradorite and moonstone.
Scroll Piece
A component used in the manufacture of earrings for pierced ears. It holds the earring onto the ear by attaching to the pin. It can also be known as a butterfly.
Seed Pearl
This is a very small round pearl. These were strung on horsehair and used in intricately woven jewellery during the early-mid Victorian period and are still popular in fine jewellery today.
Stone set
This is a style of signet ring, usually stamped, where the head has been pierced to take a semi-precious stone. Onyx is commonly used for this.
Translucent
Translucent stones allow light to pass through them, but the light is scattered, so it is not possible to look directly through. Translucent stones include moonstones, opals and carnelian.
Transparent
Transparent stones allow light to pass through them without scattering, so that it is possible to see right through them. Transparent stones include diamond, zircon, emerald and ruby. |
