Jewelry Techniques

Granulation (from Latin: granum = "grain") is a goldsmith's technique whereby the surface of a jewel is decorated with small spheres ...
Read More

Grisaille is a monochromatic enameling process that begins with a layer of black (or very dark) enamel. White enamel is ...
Read More

Guilloché is a decoration of concentric design engraved on metal, through the use of a lathe, resulting in an elaborate ...
Read More

Human hair has been incorporated into jewelry since at least the seventeenth century. Around that time, the hair of the ...
Read More

A hammered finish is an all over decorative treatment used on metal that is created by repeated blows of a small hammer ...
Read More

To be called handmade, an article must be entirely shaped and formed from raw materials. The finishing must also be ...
Read More

Heishi jewelry is created by Santo Domingo and San Felipe Pueblo Indians from New-Mexico in the south-west of the USA ...
Read More

Incising is cutting into metal to create a sunken line through the use of a graver. Art Nouveau Hand Carved ...
Read More

In jewelry, inlaid metal is embedded so that it is level with the surface of the gemstone or other material. This type ...
Read More

Inlay is a type of decorative work using thin flat gem material or metal to create a design on the surface of wood, metal, ivory or ...
Read More

Limoges enamel is a very fine type of enameling using a technique to paint the enamel on the metal surface. This was ...
Read More

Lost wax casting is a process that involves encasing a wax model in investment. The wax is burned off and ...
Read More

A metal that is malleable is able to be plastically deformed or extended or shaped using rollers, extrusion, or shaped ...
Read More

Matte Finish Victorian Diamond Pendant.A matte finish is an even texture applied to metal resulting in a non-reflective surface. This can be ...
Read More

Japanese Shakudo Jadeite Necklace with Menuki Elements.The reappearance of the Japanese in the world and their subsequent participation in the ...
Read More

TechniqueMicromosaics are a type of mosaic created from tiny fragments of glass, called tesserae. The tesserae are mosaic pieces made from an opaque ...
Read More

Millegraining is an extremely tiny beaded detail that finishes an edge on a piece of jewelry. The detail is applied ...
Read More

A mosaic is created from small glass pieces or gemstones fitted together to form an image or pattern. The technique ...
Read More

...There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones.¹ ...
Read More

Compose the niello in this manner; take pure silver and divide it into equal parts, adding to it a third ...
Read More

Openwork uses piercing techniques to produce decorative motifs by cutting away metal on a flat area or band to allow ...
Read More

Opus interrasile comes from the Latin opus (=work) and interrasile (= openings). It is a metalworking technique that involves creating ...
Read More

Oxidation results when metal combines with oxygen and produces an oxide or antique finish. This is not tarnish but a ...
Read More

An oxide finish is accomplished when a black finish is applied to metal. Sometimes the entire surface is coated and, ...
Read More

Sterling silver can be oxidized by heating it and allowing a copper oxide to form on the surface. Fine silver ...
Read More

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 ...
Read More

Limoges Enamel on Copper - The Dauphin, Later Frances II. When a flat surface is decorated by applying enamel with ...
Read More

Patina is a discoloration that forms on metal from exposure to the atmosphere. This effect is prized on jewelry. An ...
Read More

Pertabghar is an Indian enamel technique where a thick layer of, hot, green paste was applied to a golden openworked surface and ...
Read More

Piercing is the creation of a decorative motif by cutting away metal in a pattern. This is typically accomplished by ...
Read More

Pietra dura (translation hardstone) refers to a Florentine mosaic technique that is descendant from the Roman opus sectile mosaic style. In this technique, ...
Read More

Pique is a technique in which gold or silver is inlaid in tortoiseshell and sometimes ivory or mother-of-pearl. Another meaning is the French word for an inclusion in a diamond. Victorian Pique Brooch ...
Read More

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 ...
Read More

Decoration technique where motifs are created by using small points or dots applied by a sharp tool. The technique was ...
Read More

The term polished can refer to the final lustrous state of a piece of jewelry resulting from machine buffing with ...
Read More

Refining is the process whereby a pure metal is extracted from a mass containing other elements or impurities. The term ...
Read More

Relief is the height of a jewelry feature as it rises above or sinks below the background level of the ...
Read More

Repoussé is a decorative technique whereby three-dimensional relief designs are formed by raising the metal from the reverse. This is accomplished ...
Read More

Victorian Reverse Crystal Intaglio Animal Motif Bracelet. Glyptography is the art of gemstone carving and the term applies to both intaglios ...
Read More

Satin finish is a technique that dulls the surface of jewelry, etc. through the use of a metal brush, sand ...
Read More

Shakudo is a Japanese alloy used in sheet metal inlay or wire inlay. The technique involves inlaying gold, silver, and copper into a darkened ...
Read More

Shibuichi is a Japanese alloy used in sheet metal inlay or wire inlay. The technique involves the inlaying of gold, silver, and copper into a darkened silver base ...
Read More

Solder is an alloy of nonferrous metal that, when melted, becomes fluid and bonds with the metals to be joined ...
Read More

String is a flexible piece of material used to suspend beads. To string is to slide gemstones, pearls and other beads, that have been ...
Read More

Sulphide Portrait of Benjamin Franklin.Photo Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sulphides, medallions encased in glass, were developed and ...
Read More

Main Article: Enamels on Jewelry Matched Victorian Buckle Bracelets with Taille d'Epargné.Taille d'epargné, sometimes referred to as black enamel tracery, ...
Read More

Tarnish is a film that forms on the exposed surface of a metal and is usually a metallic oxide. When ...
Read More

The term temper refers to changing the hardness of steel by a process of gradual heating ...
Read More