Glossary

A

Agate
A type of chalcedony quartz found in a variety of colors and patterns, frequently with varying color layers.

Alexandrite
A stone which changes color or appears to change color as the source of light changes.

Alloy
A mixture of two or more metals.

Amber
Fossilized resin of conifer trees. Colors range from honey to yellow to reddish brown.

Amethyst
A transparent variety of crystallized quartz, typically purple or violet in color.

Aquamarine
A blue gemstone in the beryl family.

Aventurine
A translucent greenish quartz mineral which is internally granular. Often mistaken for jade, another green stone.

Azurite Malachite
A mineral which is characterized in appearance by bands of light and dark blue.

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B

Baguette
Small stones which are rectangular and faceted.

Beryl
A mineral. If medium to dark green, it is an emerald. If light blue, it is an aquamarine.

Bezel
A technique of stone setting using a thin piece of metal to create a “cup” which is hammered over the stone (as opposed to prong set).

Bloodstone
A variety of chalcedony that is usually greenish in color with red spots resembling blood.

Brilliant Cut
A round cut of 58 facets mathematically devised to produce the greatest brilliance.

Brooch
An ornamental piece of jewelry with a pin and clasp to be attached to clothing.

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C

Cabochon
A domed gemstone with a highly polished curved surface without faceting.

Cameo
A carved gem or shell in which the outer layers are cut away so that the design stands out in relief against a background (which is sometimes of a different color).

Carat
A measure of weight for gemstones, with 100 points to a carat. Five carats weigh one gram. The words karat and carat both came from the carob seed which was used in ancient times to weigh gold and gemstones.

Carnelian
Pale red quartz which was once believed to benefit the wearer's health and love life. Most carnelian comes from Brazil, India, Siberia, and Germany.

Chalcedony
Refers to various types of colored quartz, usually those with a milky appearance such as carnelian, agate, cat's eye, and jasper.

Chatoyancy
French for the cat’s eye effect observed in some gems, usually the result of parallel lines of needle inclusions within the stone. Doesn’t everything sound better in French?

Chrysoprase
A variety of chalcedony which is apple-green in color.

Citrine
A variety of quartz which ranges from brownish orange to golden in color.

Cloisonne
Decorative enamel work which is set in between thin strips of wire.

Coral
The skeletal remains of marine animals that range in color from red to pink to salmon.

Corundum
A mineral. A red corundum is a ruby by definition. Any other color is a sapphire, which occur in every color.

Cultured Pearls
Pearls which have been seeded by man, mimicking the natural pearl process in live mollusks. A pearl is formed as a result of implanting a piece of mantle from a mollusk into another host mollusk. Pearls have been cultured by man since the 19th century. Saltwater pearls like the Japanese Akoya and South Sea pearls come from oysters and have a spherical mother of pearl seed. Fresh water pearls come from mussels and are seeded with an organic implant.

Cushion Cut
A square cut with rounded corners.

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D

Diamond
A gemstone composed of pure carbon which is the hardest of all known substances. Rated 10 on the Mohs scale.

Diamond Cut
Same as brilliant cut.

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E

Electroplating
The process of covering a base metal with a thin film of gold. The base metal is set in a chemical solution through which an electric current flows, coating it with precious metal.

Emerald
A green beryl and one of the most valuable of all gemstones.

Emerald Cut
A cut which is usually rectangular but sometimes square, with rows of step cuts along the edges and at the corners.

Enamel
Powdered colored glass which is fused to the surface of precious metal. Cloisonne, champleve and plique-a-jour are enameling techniques.

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F

Facet
A small plane which is cut into a surface to enhance the reflection of light.

Fancy Cut
Refers to gems which are cut other than in the round brilliant shape (such as single cut marquise, emerald, pear, heart, oval, square, baguette, triangle, etc.).

Filigree
Lacey ornamental work made from intricately arranged, intertwined wires.

Florentine Finish
A surface in which parallel lines are engraved in one direction, then crossed with lighter perpendicular lines.

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G

Garnet
A family of crystals whose name is derived from their resemblance to red pomegranate seeds. Usually a reddish-brown color; they can range from true red to violet or blackish red. Often semi-opaque.

Gemstone
A mineral which occurs in a usually translucent to transparent crystalline form. The old distinction between precious (diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald) and semi-precious is no longer used. There are tourmalines which cost many thousands per carat- precious by any standard.

Gold
A heavy, yellow, metallic element used for coins and jewelry since prehistoric times.

Gold Filled
A thin sheet of gold laminated to brass, usually 5% gold by weight.

Gold Plated
A thin coating of electroplated or mechanically plated gold on top of a base metal.

Green Gold
An alloy of gold, silver, zinc, and often cadmium.

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H

Hallmark
The mark stamped on some items of gold and silver, certifying the purity of the metal.

Hardness
A relative scale ranking what will scratch what. The Mohs scale of hardness ranges from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond). Hardness does not necessarily equate durability- diamonds have a cleavage plane in one crystal direction and can chip.

Hessonite
A variety of garnet which is yellow in color.

High Polish
A surface which is polished to a mirror-like finish.

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I

Inlay
A decorative element, such as a stone, which is imbedded into another surface so it is flush (or level) with it.

Iolite
A mineral used as a gemstone that appears as deep blue, light blue-gray, or yellow-white.

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J

Jade
A gemstone that is typically greenish.

Jadeite
A variety of jade which is rarer than the other varieties of nephrite. Hard and translucent, it comes in many colors such as orange, pink, yellow, brown, blue, violet, and black.

Jasper
A semi-opaque to opaque rose quartz that is usually yellowish, reddish, or brown. Jasper was once believed to have curative powers and the U.S. and Brazil are the most common sources.

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K

Karat
A measure of gold purity (ranging from 1 to 24) used to indicate how much of a piece of jewelry is gold content and how much an alloy. Gold jewelry is often stamped with a hallmark (number) indicating the karat, i.e. 750 is 18K.

10 karat - (10K) gold is 10 parts gold to 14 parts other metals.
12 karat - (12K) gold is 12 parts gold to 12 parts other metals.
14 karat - (14k) gold is 14 parts of gold to 10 parts other metal.
18 karat - (18k) gold is 18 parts of gold to 6 parts other metals.
24 karat - (24k) gold is pure gold containing no other metals.

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L

Lapis Lazuli
A gemstone of an azure blue color.

Lariat
An open-ended, long strand necklace. Sometimes looped into a knot or used with a slide so that the two ends hang free.

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M

Mabe
A Japanese term for half-sphere cultured pearls, which are cultured against the shell so that only half a cultured pearl is formed.

Malachite
A mineral which is characterized in appearance by bands of light and dark green.

Marcasite
A gray, lustrous mineral (crystallized iron pyrites) that is mounted in groups, cut or uncut, on brooches and other pieces of jewelry.

Marquise
An oval shape gemstone cut with pointed ends. It's named for the Marquise de Pompadour, Mistress of King Louis XV.

Melee
A French word for small faceted stones that weigh less than .15 ct.

Moonstone
A translucent stone which is often bluish in color, yet sometimes white.

Mother-Of-Pearl
A hard, iridescent substance that forms on the inside layer of a pearl-bearing mollusk.

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O

Onyx
A gemstone composed of chalcedony (a variety of quartz) found naturally in white or gray. The white variety is generally dyed black for onyx.

Opal
A non-crystalline, iridescent silica.

Oxidation
Metal blackened (for appearance) by a reaction with oxygen. This is accomplished by chemical means.

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P

Pave Setting
A setting in which small stones are set as close as possible, so that the piece literally looks "paved" with stones.

Peridot
A transparent gemstone which is light olive green in color.

Plating
An electronic deposition of a thin layer of metal on another metal, the thickness measured in microns.

Platinum
Considered the finest metal for jewelry because of its beauty and durability, it is typically used at 90-95% purity.

Point
A unit of weight for gemstones equal to one-hundredth of a carat.

Princess Cut
A modification of a brilliant square-cut gemstone.

Prong
One of several claw-like wires used to hold a gem or stone in place.

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Q

Quartz
A crystalline mineral used for gems, usually colorless and translucent.

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R

Rhodium
A white, metallic element which is a platinum family metal.

Rose Gold
An alloy of gold and copper.

Ruby
A highly valued red corundum whose color is obtained from chromium oxide. Rubies symbolize beauty, charity, love, passion, power, and royalty.

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S

Sapphire
A highly valued corundum, most commonly seen in blue, but also occurs in other colors.

Satin Finish
A matte finish achieved by sandblasting, brushing with a stiff wire brush, or chemically altering a high shine surface. Satin finish has a soft, pearl-like luster instead of a bright polish.

Scarab
A gemstone cut in the shape of a beetle and copied from the ancient Egyptian fertility symbol.

Shank
The part of the ring that circles the finger and to which the setting is attached.

Signet
A ring with a flat table or face on which there is an inscription of a coat of arms, family crest, or some other type of insignia or monogram.

Square Cut
A gemstone cut in which the stone is square and bordered by four long narrow facets that are step cut. Similar to emerald cut.

Stainless Steel
Steel that contains chromium and is resistant to rust and corrosion.

Step Cut
A gem cut with a varying number of sloping parallel rows of four-sided facets, giving the impression of steps.

Sterling Silver
Silver that is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. Fine silver is .999 silver.

Synthetic vs. Simulant Gems
A synthetic has the same chemical and basic physical properties as the natural gem. A simulant gem looks like the natural gemstone. A lab grown diamond is crystalline carbon. Cubic Zirconia and moissanite are lab grown gems that simulate (look like) diamonds.

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T

Table
The large, flat, horizontal top facet of a ring.

Tanzanite
A deep blue-violet variety of zoisite.

Tiger’s Eye
The name given to a gem which when a cabochon cut shows a single light streak across its face. A variety of quartz found in South Africa, it may be yellowish-brown, bluish, or red in color.

Titanium
A metallic element that has been used mainly in industry, but is now also used in some jewelry because of the range of colors it produces when heated.

Topaz
A transparent gem found in many colors such as white, blue, brown, orange and pink, with the most precious type being wine-yellow in color.

Tourmaline
A crystalline mineral which is used as a gemstone. It typically comes in a variety of colors, the most common of which is black.

Turquoise
An opaque gemstone which is greenish-blue in color.

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V

Vermeil
French for gold plated silver.

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W

White Gold
An alloy of gold which has a white metal like palladium added to it, turning it white. Most white gold is a grayish-yellow tinted white color and is plated with rhodium (a platinum family metal) to give it a bright white color.