Jewelry Materials

Silver is a white metallic element, harder than gold, softer than copper and second only to gold in malleability and ductility. Represented on the Periodic Table ...
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Two or more elemental metals mixed to form a homogeneous mass are an alloy. Sometimes metals are alloyed with a ...
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A bead is small decorative ornament pierced for stringing. Beads come in all shapes and sizes: round, cylindrical, square, tubular, ...
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Belais Diamond Dinner Ring in 18k White Gold and Platinum.Belais Manufacturing Co., founded by David Belais (1863 - June 5, ...
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 Biscuit is unglazed porcelain ...
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Bones are the rigid skeletal parts that form the framework that supports the bodies of vertebrates. Bone has been used ...
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A cameo is a glyptograph or bas-relief carving, (the opposite of the technique used in intaglios) usually depicting a scene or portrait, for ...
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Camphor glass is clear glass that has been treated with hydrofluoric acid vapors to give it a frosted, whitish appearance ...
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Celluloid is an early plastic used in costume jewelry. It is a highly flammable compound made from camphor and guncotton ...
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Chains are interconnected links in a series used to create flexible necklaces, bracelets and fasteners in a variety of styles. They have been ...
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Cord is produced by twisting, plaiting or weaving threads together to form a thicker, sturdier "rope." Almost any material can ...
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A late Victorian Fob/Locket with a Daguerreotype. A daguerreotype is an early type of photograph that was first discovered and ...
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Egyptian Blue Faience.Egyptian blue was a synthetic pigment used in Egypt, starting around 3rd millennium BC, to imitate turquoise and lapis lazuli. Blue ...
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Émail brun (from French: "brown enamel") was developed in the Rhineland area around the time that they adopted the champlevé technique. Contrary to ...
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Victorian Cloisonné Enameled Pocket Watch.Enamel is a type of allochromatic glass that consists usually of quartz sand, iron oxide, potassium oxide ...
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Enameling is a decoration technique in which a glass of certain composition is fused to the surrounding or under laying ...
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Faience Wedjat Eye Pendant.Courtesy of the British Museum.Faience, when used in combination with the prefix 'Egyptian' refers to a non-clay ...
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A metal so rare and special, it takes neutron stars to die twice before it is created. Virtually indestructible, the ...
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Gold Alloy Colors     Gold Alloy Names     Gold Plating & Bonding     Gold Smudge     Gold Imitations Gold Alloy Colors Two ...
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One of the most basic and most versatile facets of goldsmithing, wire lays at the very foundation of jewelry as ...
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Guilloché is a decoration of concentric design engraved on metal, through the use of a lathe, resulting in an elaborate ...
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Gutta-percha is a dark rubbery, organic substance derived from tropical trees (Sapotaceae palaquium). From the mid 1800's it was used ...
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Ingots are cast metal bars. In jewelry fabrication these precious metal bars are rolled into sheet, drawn into wire and stamped into shapes and designs. A two-part iron mold with adjustable, ...
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Jasperware was matte finish pottery product (some refer to it as porcelain) developed by Josiah Wedgwood and used to imitate ...
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A Jet Box with a Pietra Dura Inlay. Jet is a type of brown coal used since the Stone Age ...
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Karat is the weight measurement equal to one twenty-fourth part of the metallic element gold in an alloy. The Byzantine coin, the solidus, ...
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Art Deco Lacquered Cigarette Box with Diamond-Set Findings.Lacquer is a spirit based varnish used to coat metal or wood and ...
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A married jewel or marriage is a jewel which was created in the style - and time - of a specific period and was ...
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Meershaum is a smooth porous clay-like material that is light enough to float. Its whitish color makes it similar in ...
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All metals are chemical elements that conduct heat and electricity. Their densely packed crystal structure causes them to be heavy, ...
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Millefiori (from Italian: "1000 flowers") are multicolored glass tesserae or smalti used in micro-mosaics.Micromosaic with Colorful Floral Motif Composed of Tiny Tesserae ...
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Compose the niello in this manner; take pure silver and divide it into equal parts, adding to it a third ...
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Noble metals are naturally occurring pure metals that resist oxidation and corrosion including gold, silver and the platinum group. French Handmade Gold Longchain.Platinum and Diamond ...
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Cowrie Shell Necklace. © Trustees of the British Museum.Objets trouvés are literally found objects. The earliest "jewels" with which humans chose ...
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Paillonné enamelling is a 19th-century technique of applying layers of translucent colored enamel over very fine sheets of silver or gold resulting in dramatically bright and brilliant colors ...
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Limoges Enamel on Copper - The Dauphin, Later Frances II. When a flat surface is decorated by applying enamel with ...
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Pearls are organic gems, produced in pearl oysters. Pearl oysters are not edible, and edible oysters do not produce gem ...
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Pertabghar is an Indian enamel technique where a thick layer of, hot, green paste was applied to a golden openworked surface and ...
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Plastics are man-made substances used in jewelry to imitate natural gem materials. Early plastics were organically derived, like the combination ...
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History Early UseThe earliest references to the use of platinum are to be found in Egypt at the time of ...
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The platinum family, or platinum group, is comprised of six metallic elements; platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, and ruthenium. Along ...
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Plique-à-Jour Dragonfly Brooch.Plique-à-jour, a French term that translates (as nearly as can be determined) to "letting in the daylight" and ...
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Polychrome Enamel Aquamarine, Ruby, and Pearl Brooch, c. Mid-1800s.Polychrome is the combination of the Greek words "poly" and "chroma", meaning ...
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Porcelain is a ceramic material which has specific properties - such as hardness, heat resistance, translucency and toughness - that ...
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Precious metals are those rare and expensive metals that make up the noble metals. These metals are usually valued in jewelry for their ...
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Purpurin is a unique and beautiful rich red glass used in the Fabergé workshops during the time of Peter Carl ...
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Shagreen is the skin of a ray or shark with characteristic calcified papillae, called placoid scales, resulting in a rough ...
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Shakudo is a Japanese alloy used in sheet metal inlay or wire inlay. The technique involves inlaying gold, silver, and copper into a darkened ...
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