Copy of `Days of Elegance - Jewelry Encyclopaedia`

The wordlist doesn't exist anymore, or, the website doesn't exist anymore. On this page you can find a copy of the original information. The information may have been taken offline because it is outdated.

Days of Elegance - Jewelry Encyclopaedia Category: Arts > Jewelry Terms Date & country: 26/08/2013, USA Words: 84

Abalone
A deposit made from inside a seashell, also called mother-of-pearl.

Alexandrite
Discovered in 1830 in Russia, and named after Czar Alexander II of who was then Crown Prince of Russia, alexandrite is a form of the mineral chrysoberyl noted for its color change in different forms of light. In sunlight, alexandrite looks blue-green, but in indoor (tungsten) light it the same stone changes to reddish-purple. Natural alexandrite wi...

Amethyst
A form of quartz in shades of purple ranging from light lavender to deep, intense purple with subtle flashes of red.

Amulet
A pendant or charm that is worn for protective magical power.

Art Deco
A style characterized by angular geometric shapes, zigzags, bold colors, molded or faceted Czech glass beads, plastics (like celluloid or Bakelite) and chrome, unlike the curves of the previous era. Also known as the geometric style that succeeded Edwardian jewelry beginning in the 1910s through the mid-1920's. Colored stones were util...

Arts and Crafts
A design movement that began in the late 1800s as a rebellion against the mass-produced, machine made designs of questionable aesthetic value common in the late Victorian era. The designers felt that their work should look handmade, and therefore they often left hammer marks on the piece. Although pieces were made of gold, silver was more commonly ...

Aurora Borealis
(abbreviated AB) A name for faceted glass beads that have an added iridescent coating. Also, a multi-color-producing light coating on part of beads or tops of rhinestones.

Baguette
A gemstone, often a diamond, cut in a narrow rectangular shape. Small diamonds cut this way are often used as accents. A tapered baguette has one short end narrower than the opposite end, forming a trapezoid.

Bakelite
A synthetic patented in 1909, bakelite, also called catalin, was used in jewelry extensively during the U.S. Great Depression of the 1930's. Bakelite can be molded, lathe-carved, and one color can be inlaid into another, as in polka dots. The inlaid and carved pieces are especially popular with collectors today. It has a distinct scent when rubbed ...

Baroque
An irregular, rounded stone, glass or bead; also, an imitation pearl with an uneven or craggy shape and/or surface.

Belle Epoque
Another name for the Edwardian period.

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.

Bookchain
A Victorian style of chain in which the links are rectangular, folded pieces of metal. Each link resembles a book. These book chains often had large lockets attached, and the whole piece was often elaborately engraved. They were made in gold, gold-filled and sterling silver.

Brass
An alloy of copper and zinc which has a nice yellow color.

Britannia or pewter
A somewhat dull silver-colored alloy of tin, antimony, and copper.

Bronze
A brownish alloy of copper and tin that is not used much in costume jewelry because it is very dense and therefore heavy.

Cabochon
A stone with a rounded surface, rather than with facets. This style is commonly used with opaque to translucent stones such as opal, moonstone, jade and turquoise. Less expensive transparent stones such as amethyst and garnet, are also sometimes fashioned as cabochons. A garnet cabochon is also referred to as a carbuncle.

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 in jewelry are often made of shell, although hard stone cameos such as sardonyx are more valuable. Cameos have been carved from ancient times, and ancient motifs such as the goddess Athena or a Baccante or follower of Ba...

Cast
Made by a centrifugal method of casting metal which becomes thick and hard.

Celluloid
One of the earliest plastics, celluloid is derived from cellulose, a natural plant fiber, and was first synthesized around 1870. Items commonly found today include hair combs, dresser articles. Celluloid items for wear were often set with pave rhinestones. Celluloid is flammable and deteriorates easily if exposed to moisture, so care should be take...

Channel set
A gem setting technique in which a number of square or rectangular stones are set side by side in a grooved channel. Unlike most setting methods, the stones are not secured individually, so there is no metal visible between the stones.

Choker
A short, close fitting necklace; like a collar.

Citrine
A variety of quartz, citrine occurs in a color range ranging from light yellow to a brilliant orange that may be confused with fine imperial topaz.

Coin silver
A silver-colored metal that is a mixture of 80% silver and 20% copper. A lot of European silver pieces are coin silver and are marked 800, the number of parts out of 1000 that are silver.

Coral
Formed when small sea animals create living quarters, coral comes in colors ranging from vivid orange to palest pink. During the mid-Victorian large brooches of coral finely carved in high-relief floral sprays, or faces were popular. At the turn of the century, small natural pieces of branch coral or small cameos of coral were more popular.

Crimp Bead
Small, soft metal beads that are squeezed shut to secure loops of threading material fasteners onto clasps.

Crystal
A glass stone or bead, usually with high lead content.

Decoration
Etched: Very faintly carved surface decoration Lightly Carved: Faint carving Medium Carved: Average depth carving Deeply Carved: Deeper than average carving Heavily Carved: Extremely deeply carved Faceted: Carved with a regular pattern of facets Grooved: Routed out in a line Pierced: The material has been cut completely through Inlaid: A space is r...

Doublet
A form of gemstone trickery that was devised to allow inexpensive materials to imitate the more valuable gemstones before modern synthetics were available. A doublet can take several forms but always involves a fake gemstone produced by gluing together two different materials to form an illusion. A very common one in Victorian times was the garnet ...

Duette
A combination of two clips on a pin back. Duette was a registered design by Coro, but is now used generically for this design.

Edwardian
Refers to the period during the reign of Edward VII of England (1901-1910), but the style has it's beginnings during the final years of Victoria's reign, and continued until shortly before World War I when the more geometric influences later to be called Art Deco began to make headway. In jewelry, this period was characterized by delicate filigree ...

Emerald
A gemstone of the beryl family, fine emeralds are among the most valuable gemstones. Unlike most gemstones, flaws (called inclusions by gemologists )are quite common in emeralds, so they lower the value much less than with other precious stones such a diamonds. The most highly prized emeralds are mined in Columbia. A valuable emerald will be a brig...

Enamel
In its simplest terms, all enamel is produced by fusing colored powdered glass to metal to produce a vitreous or glass-like, decorative surface. The enamel may be translucent with fancy engraving on the metal underneath, which produces guilloche (ghee-YOSH) enamel. Popular during during the mid-Victorian period was a solid black blue or white ename...

Engrave
To decorate metal by gouging a design with graver's tools; embellishing metal or other material with patterns using a stamping tool or drill. This was a popular technique in mid-Victorian jewelry. The resulting depressions were often filled with colored enamel. Also refers to inscribing a dedication or monogram to identify a piece. Stamped pieces c...

European Cut
European Cut The style of diamond cutting popular from approximately 1890 to the 1930s. Unlike the old mine cut preceding it, the European cut has a round girdle (perimeter) made possible by the introduction of the power bruiting machine (Bruiting is the term for shaping the girdle of a diamond, the first step in the cutting process). The European ...

Eyepin
A wire finding with a loop at one end. used for linking beads or beaded links together

Faceted
Cut with many facets or planes.

Faux
Pronounced: fo (like go) Faux is a French word used to describe something made to resemble something else. The original French word means false, fake, imitation or artificial. Faux marble looks like marble. Faux bois looks like wood. Faux porphyry looks like stone.

Fetish
An amulet, pendant or charm often representing an animal or person.

Filigree
A technique used to produce fine intricate patterns in metal. Often used for metal beads, clasps, and bead caps.

Findings
All types of fasteners, and construction components used in jewelry making.

Florentine Finish
Finish has a brushed or striated appearance.

Fob
A short chain with a decorative seal or other device attached to the end. The fob and chain hung outside watch pocket, and could be used to pull the watch out of the pocket.

French Jet
Black glass fashioned to imitate real jet. Glass is heavier than real jet, and can feel cold to the touch compared to real jet.

Freshwater Pearl
A pearl produced by a mollusk that inhabits freshwater, usually these pearls are shaped like an uneven grain of rice. There is also a variety called Tennessee fresh water pearls that taper like a long tooth, as in the illustrated 1940's brooch.

Garnet
A group stones that share a similar chemical structure, the garnet family includes pyrope, almandine, and demantoid, among others. Almandine garnet are red varieties, with pyrope being the common Bohemian garnet found in much Victorian and turn of the century jewelry. Demantoid garnet is a much rarer bright green variety, first mined in the mid-nin...

Gemstones
Include diamond, brilliant, beryl, emerald chalcedony, agate, heliotrope; onyx, plasma; tourmaline, chrysolite; sapphire, ruby, synthetic ruby; spinel, spinelle; oriental topaz; turquoise, zircon, cubic zirconia; jacinth, hyacinth, carbuncle, amethyst; alexandrite, cat's eye, bloodstone, hematite, jasper, moonstone, sunstone.

Gilt
Gold plating.

Gold
Since ancient times, gold has been prized for its beauty, and purity since it does not oxidize or tarnish like most other metals. It has also been used as a store of value to build wealth and shield against hard times. Gold used in jewelry is almost always alloyed with other metals since gold in its pure form is very soft and malleable, and would n...

Gold Filled
Goldfilled, or gold-filled, abbreviated g.f. = lower in gold content than 10 KT, usually 1/20 or 1/12 KT.In this technique a sheet of gold is mechanically applied to the surface. Victorian pieces are likely to be unmarked, but later pieces are marked with the fineness of the gold layer, and the part by weight of the gold. For example a piece marked...

Goldplate
A layer of gold applied to base metal, usually by electroplating. This is usually a very thin layer, only a few microns, which is likely to wear much more quickly than gold-filled.

Hair Jewelry
In the mid-19th century lockets of hair of loved ones were often preserved under glass in brooches. The hair was sometimes intricately curled or woven, and these pieces are often inscribed on the back to identify the donors. Later in the century, hair was woven into watch chains, bracelets, even earrings and given as tokens of affection. All forms ...

Intaglio
A design carved down into a gemstone, unlike a cameo in which the design is raised from it's background, in relief. This technique was often used for seals, which made an impression in wax used to seal a letter or authenticate a document. It is also common on watch fobs, since the watch fob was originally a good place to carry a seal. Once seals fe...

Jet
A form of fossilized coal that became popular for mourning jewelry after Queen Victoria's husband, Albert died in 1861. Produced mainly in Whitby, England, it is a very lightweight substance. Black glass was often used to imitate jet which became a fashion item, not just for mourning.

Jewelry
Ornaments worn by people on the body [Fr]; trinket; fine jewelry; costume jewelry, junk jewelry; gem, gemstone, precious stone. Forms of jewelry: necklace, bracelet, anklet; earring; locket, pendant, charm bracelet; ring, pinky ring; carcanet, chain, chatelaine; broach, pin, lapel pin, torque.

Jump Ring
A small wire ring, not soldered shut, used to link elements of jewelry.

Lapidary
Cutting, shaping, polishing and creating jewelry from precious and semi-precious stones.

Living Jewelry
Jewelry materials derived from living organisms: pearl, cultured pearl, fresh-water pearl; mother of pearl; coral.

Lost Wax Casting
A model is made of wax and coated with clay. The wax is melted and poured out from the shape that can then be used to cast metal.

Lucite
Popular in the 1940's for ladies purses and jewelry, lucite is a clear, strong plastic that can be molded and carved.

Mabe' or Mobe'
A half sphere or domed stone, usually a fake pearl.

Mine Cut
A style of diamond cutting popular before 1890 or so, it features a cushion shaped outline, rather than the round outline of the modern cut and old European cuts, and has a different facet arrangement.

Navette
An oval stone which is pointed at both ends.

Nickel silver
A white metal mixture of copper, zinc, and nickel which contains no silver.

Parure
A suite of matching jewelry consisting of several pieces. Commonly, a set of three or more matching pieces; three of either earrings, bracelet, and necklace, or pin/brooch. In Victorian times, a complete parure consisted of two matching bracelets, necklace, earrings and a brooch. Note that before wristwatches became widely worn, it was quite common...

Patina
As a general term, patina refers to the change in an object's surface resulting from natural aging. (Patina preservation is the reason to avoid all but very superficial cleaning of old objects.) In bronze sculpture, patina specifically refers to the surface of the bronze itself often altered by the sculptor with acid or the application of other che...

Pave'
(pah-VAY) very tightly set stones, as in a pavement; a gem setting technique in which the stones are set low and very closely spaced, so that the surface appears to be paved with gemstones. Most commonly seen with diamonds, but may be used with any stone.

Pearl
A natural gemstone formed when a oyster is irritated by a substance that gets into its shell. If the irritation is a naturally occurring grain of sand, it is an Oriental pearl. If it is produced by purposefully inserting a mother-of-pearl bead, a cultured pearl is formed. A pearl that forms attached to the shell is a blister pearl, while a pearl th...

Plique-a-jour
A form of cloisonn in which the enamel in the cells has no backing, producing a translucent effect. This technique was used to good effect by Rene' Lalique and others during the Art Nouveau period to depict dragonfly wings and other translucent objects.

Pot metal
Pot metal is a term used to cover many, many different mixtures which do not have gold, silver, or platinum as a major component.

Retro
A recent designation for the period in the forties when when large scale, stylized geometric forms were the rage. Pink gold, set with colored stones, sometimes in floral forms was common.

Rhodium
A metal that is part of the platinum family. Silver, gold, and even base metals were often Rhodium plated during the 30's and 40's to give them the white, shiny look associated with platinum. Genuine rhodium in raw state is liquid. Although in the platinum family of metals, it is not the same as platinum which is a solid precious metal.

Rhodium-plating
A thin plating of rhodium, which is one of the members of the platinum family, applied over either sterling or other alloy to give a bright, shiny, longlasting silver-colored finish to a piece.

Ruby
A precious gemstone, and a member of the corundum family, rubies are always, by definition, red, but be aware that many other red gemstones and imitations might be assumed to be a ruby. Fine rubies of good color can be more valuable than diamonds, but the first synthetic ruby was created in the 1890's and became quite popular in jewelry. Synthetic ...

Sautoir
(Soh-TWAH) a long rope style necklace, often with a tassel or pendant at the end, these were popularized in the Edwardian era because Edward's Queen Alexandra often wore them.

Seed Pearl
Refers to a very small round pearl or a very small imitation pearl, or f.pearl. These were strung on horsehair and used in intricately woven jewelry during the early-mid Victorian period. In the late Victorian period accents set into gold jewelry. During the Edwardian period, they were sometimes woven into long fringed necklaces called sautoirs.

Split Ring
Small base metal finding resembling a key-ring.

Sterling Silver
925 parts silver, legal standard. 800 or less amount of silver is known as silver parts, as marked on the jewelry, not sterling silver.

Taxco
(TAHKS' coh) The small town in Mexico where William Spratling, an American set up his workshop in 1929. Many other silversmiths eventually set up shop here making Taxco the center of silversmithing in Mexico. Much silver is made in Taxco to this day, but the earlier silver , up to about 1970 is considered collectible. In 1979 the government began t...

Tiffany Setting
The high pronged setting most common today for large stones such as a diamond solitaire, this setting was introduced by Tiffany & Co. in 1886.

Tortoise shell
A popular material for 19th century jewelry and haircombs, tortoiseshell was banned and is no longer used for these items. There are very close plastic imitations of tortoiseshell. One technique to differentiate tortoise from its imitators is to touch the surface with a hot pinpoint. Tortoise will give off a smell like burning hair, while plastic w...

Turquoise
Turquoise is a semi-precious gemstone found in desert regions throughout the world. All the cultures use it--Mongolian, Chinese, Native Australian, Persian & Southwestern Native American. It is considered a source of good fortune and beauty. If you see brown or grey streaks in turquoise, they are caused bythe matrix, or mothe...

Vermeil
(Vehr-MAY) Silver with gold plating.

Victorian
The designation given to the period from approximately 1837 when Victoria became Queen of England until 1901 when she died. This long period is divided into early (approx. 1840-1860), mid (approx. 1860 - 1880) and late (approx. 1880-1900) since it covers a wide span of time, and a number of distinctive design trends. This period was preceded by the...