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Jewelry Design - Jewelry terms Category: Hobbies and Crafts > Jewelry Designs Date & country: 31/08/2013, USA Words: 160

Altered Stone
Any stone that has been changed in appearance,particularly in color, by an artificial process. Also referred toas an Enhanced Gemstone or a Treated Gemstone. Heating,irradiation, and dyeing are among the processes used to changegemstone appearance.

Amethystine
The color violet to purple in gemstones.

Angle of Incidence
The angle at which a ray of light enters a stone asmeasured from normal.

Angle of Reflection
The angle at which a reflected ray of light leaves asurface as measured from normal.

Angle of Refraction
The angle at which a reflected ray of light leaves asurface as measured from normal.

Anisotropic
Term used in gemology for double refraction.

Artificial Stone
A man-made, imitation or synthetic gem.

Asterism
The appearance of a rayed figure or rayed star in agemstone, caused by the reflection of light from minuteinclusions. Star Sapphires and Star Rubies are two well-knownexamples of gemstones featuring a rayed star.

Aventurescence
A glittery appearance of the surface of a gemstone,caused by the reflection of light off small mineral inclusions.Aventurine Quartz and Goldstone (glass) both have aventurescence.

Balas Ruby
Trade name for Red Spinel.

Baroque
May apply to certain gemstones or pearls. Either agemstone or pearl with an irregular shape, such as Tumbled Stonesor Baroque Pearls.

Base
The portion of a facetted gemstone below the Girdle.Also known as the Pavilion.

Baton
The English name for the Baguette cut.

Bead Setting
A method of securing a facetted stone. A small burr ofmetal is raised with a graver and worked to the edge of the stone.This burr is then burnished with a concave tipped punch into asmall ball over the girdle of the stone. Normally used to securevery small gemstones, usually in multiples.

Bearing
The supporting ledge of a stone setting.

Bezel
A thin strip of metal that holds a gemstone in place.Used in place of prongs.

Biaxial
A double-refractive gemstone, which has two directionsof single refraction or optic axes.

Birefringence
The numerical measurement of double refraction ingemstones.

Blocking
The process of placing the facets on a stone.

Body Appearance
The optical characteristic of a gem produced by internalinclusions, fractures or layers.

Body Color
The dominant hue within a gemstone.

Box Setting
A method of stone setting in which the gem is enclosedin a box and the edges of the metal are pressed down to securethe stone.

Brilliancy
The total amount of white light returned to the viewerby a gem. This includes internal and external reflections.

Bristol Stone/Bristol Diamond
Old trade-term for colorless crystal quartz. Also atrade name for colored glass imitations, Bristol Glass orBristows.

Bruting
A method of rough-diamond fashioning by rubbing onediamond against another.

Cabochon
A gemstone with an unfacetted domed form. The oldestform of gem cutting.

Calibre Cut
Gemstones cut to a specific, standardized size formounting. Also, small gem material cut for pave' setting.

Cameo
A gem or shell material--usually with two or moredistinct colored layers. The top layer is carved in relief andthe bottom layer acts as a contrasting background.

Carat
A unit of weight measure for gems.

Change of Color
A phenomenon seen in some gems which have a differentcolor in natural light than in artificial light. The color-changeis caused by selective absorption and transmission of light.Alexandrite has become a very well known color-change gem, butother gemstones may exhibit the phenomenon.

Chatoyancy
The appearance of well-defined bands or threads of lightacross the surface of a gemstone. This appearance is caused bythe reflection of light off small parallel mineral inclusions.May appear as a single-band chatoyancy--Cat's Eye--or a series ofbands--Tiger's Eye.

Checking
The tendency of Opals to crack when exposed to heat ordrying air. Also known as Crazing.

Chevee
A gemstone with a smooth concave depression.

Chip
A popular, common name for a small rose-cut or single-cutgemstone.

Claw Setting
A stone setting of projecting metal claws which grip thestone at--and just above--the girdle.

Clean
A trade term for gemstones which are free of noticeableflaws.

Cleavage
A smooth, flat break or separation in a gem along thedirection of its atomic structure.

Cloud/Cloudy
A group of small, white inclusions that give a cloudyappearance to a diamond.

Cluster Setting
Closely set gemstones arranged to give the illusion of asingle, larger gemstone.

Coated Stone
A gemstone covered by an artificially appliedtransparent material to enhance its color. Often used with Topaz.

Collet Set
A variation on box setting in which the sides of the boxare filed away to sallow more light to enter the gemstone.

Color Zoning
Uneven color in gemstones in irregular patches. Can beeither different colors or different tones of the same color.

Colored Stones
A gemstone other than a diamond.

Crazing
The tendency of Opals to crack when exposed to heat ordrying air. Also known as Checking.

Critical Angle
Greatest angle measured from normal at which light canbe refracted out of a stone. Small angle at which light istotally internally reflected.

Crown
The part of a facetted gemstone above the girdle.

Crown Setting
A collet setting consisting off a flared cylinder withone end of the cylinder notched to form prongs.

Cryptocrystalline
Extremely small crystals which cannot be seenseparately, even under high magnification.

Crystal
A solid made up of atoms, bounded by natural planarsurfaces.

Crystal System
The classification of minerals according to thegeometric form in which their crystals grow. Each mineral has adistinct system--Isometric, Tetragonal, Hexagonal, Orthorhombic,Monoclinic and Triclinic.

Crystalline
Having a regular crystal structure.

Crystallography
The science of the internal structure of crystals.

Cubic System
The Isometric crystal system which consists of threeaxes, each of equal length and perpendicular to others.

Culet
A small polished surface placed at what would be thepoint or ridge of a facetted stone, used to reduce chipping.

Cut
The specific from into which a stone is fashioned. Oneof the deciding factors in gemstone value.

Cuvette
A raised relief carved into a gemstone in a concavedepression.

Density
Mass per unit volume. The amount of matter in a givenspace. The higher density/atomic mass of a gemstone, the more itweighs for a given size.

Dentelles
An early term for glass imitation stone without foilbacking.

Dichroism
The transmission of two different colors in twodifferent optical planes as light passes through a gemstone. Maybe used as a method of distinguishing one type of gemstone fromanother.

Dichroscope
An instrument used to view the light passing through agemstone to determine the presence of dichroism.

Dispersion
The separation of light into its spectral colors as itpasses through a gemstone.

Dodecahedron
A twelve-sided geometric solid. One of the crystal formsfound in the Isometric crystal system.

Double Refraction
The separation of a beam of light into two separatebeams as it enters a gemstone. The two beams travel at differentspeeds. May be used to distinguish one gemstone material fromanother. Occurs in all crystal systems except Isometric.

Doublet
An assembled stone of two parts. Colorless cement orheat is used to join the parts together. Often used with Opals.

Durability
The combined characteristics of hardness, toughness andstability in gemstones. One of the deciding factors in gemstonevalue.

Dyed Stone
A gemstone to which an artificial stain is added toimprove color or to imitate a more valuable gemstone.

Face
The plane surfaces which form the sides of a crystal.

Facet
A planar surface which is polished onto a gemstone.

Fancy Cut/Fancy Shape
Any style of gemstone cutting other than the roundbrilliant or single cut.

Fancy Diamond
Any diamond with a body color strong enough to beattractive.

Feather
A trade term referring to any inclusion within a gem,usually a jagged irregular fracture which appears white.

Fingerprint Inclusion
Liquid and/or gas or solid flaws in gemstones whichalign in the form of a human fingerprint.

Finish
The quality of a prepared surface. In facettedgemstones, the placing of the facets and the quality of polish.In cabochon gemstones, the quality of the polish.

Fire
The play of color on or within a gemstone as a result ofdispersion. Prominent valued feature of Opals and Fire Agates.

Flaw
Any visible imperfection within a gemstone.

Fluorescence
The emission of visible light when a gemstone is exposedto ultraviolet light. Used a method of distinguishing onegemstone from another and a natural gemstone from a syntheticgemstone.

Foil Backed
The adding of a layer of metallic foil to the back of agemstone to improve its color or brilliancy.

Fracture
A break or chip in a gemstone in any direction otherthan along a cleavage plane.

Gemology
The study of gemstones--identification, grading,appraisal, marketing, and fashioning.

Gemstone
A cut and polished stone which possesses the beauty,durability and rarity necessary for use in jewelry.

Geode
A rock which contains a cavity lined with quartz orother gemstone crystals.

Girasol
A gemstone with a glowing, milky sheen that moves as thestone is moved in the path of a light source. Opalescence.

Girdle
The outer edge of a gemstone.

Glyptic
The art of engraving or carving gems.

Group
Two or more chemically related gemstone materials,similar in structure and physical properties.

Gypsy Setting
A setting in which the crown of a gem is the onlyportion exposed and the table of the gemstone is nearly levelwith the surrounding metal. No prongs or separate bezel isevident; all means of setting the gemstone are below the metal'ssurface.

Habit
The most common form in which a mineral occurs.

Hardness
A gemstone material's ability to resist scratching.

Head
An added finding to secure a gemstone in a prong setting.

Heat-Treatment
Heating a gemstone material to improve color.

Heavy Liquid
A liquid of known specific gravity, used to test thespecific gravity of a gemstone.

Hexagonal System
A crystal system which consists of four axes, threeintersect at a 60-degree angle of each other while the fourth isperpendicular to the other three.

Hollowed Cab
A cabochon hollowed from the back. Technique is sued tolighten the color of the stone.

Illusion Setting
A setting in which the surrounding metal's surface iscut or shaped to appear to be part of the gemstone. Technique isoften used to enhance the perceived size of small diamonds.

Inclusion
A visible irregularity in a gemstone.

Intaglio
A design carved into the surface of a gemstone--theopposite in character of a cameo.

Intensity
The color of a gemstone from bright to dull.

Interference Colors
Colors revealed by a polarisope as polarized light passthrough a gemstone. Used to detect the presence of doublerefractivity in a gemstone.

Iridescence
Spectral colors observed inside or on a gemstone. It iscaused by light passing through layers of differing refractiveindexes. The colors seen in Opals are a result of iridescence.

Isometric System
The Cubic crystal system which consists of three axes,each of equal length and perpendicular to others.