Jewelry Techniques, Materials & Motifs
The recipe for Jewelry includes not only the metals and gems, but motifs, designs, and techniques that are integral to bringing the jewel to life. Explore these concepts by choosing from the Jewelry Techniques, Materials, & Motifs topics below.
Vignettes
Glyptography comes from the Greek word glyptos which means to carve. In jewelry, glyptography is the art of gemstone carving and applies to both intaglios and cameos. Begun in ancient times as one of the earliest forms...
Throughout history, communication, and therefore symbolism, has been an integral part of human interaction. Symbols play a powerful part in the rituals of expression and we employ thousands of them...
Enameling is a decoration technique in which a glass of certain composition is fused to the surrounding or under laying metal. Although the exact origins are unknown, the art of...
Two or more elemental metals mixed to form a homogeneous mass are an alloy. Sometimes metals are alloyed with a non-metal such as carbon. The newly formed metal is usually...
The platinum family, or platinum group, is comprised of six metallic elements; platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, and ruthenium. Along with gold and silver, they are considered the noble or...
All metals are chemical elements that conduct heat and electricity. Their densely packed crystal structure causes them to be heavy, malleable, ductile strong, opaque, and shiny. Non-noble metals, for jewelry purposes, are those...
As a gemstone and jewellery grading and identification expert at Lang Antiques in San Francisco, Starla Turner FGA GG has seen her fair share of exceptional pieces, both historic and...
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 of the Elements by the symbol Ag, silver is an...
Contrary to gold, encountering silver in a pure metallic form is extremely rare. Most silver occurs in ores containing a mix of metals, most commonly lead, zinc, nickel and/or copper. As...
Popular throughout the Victorian Era, the jewelry we think of as “Scottish” is just as likely to have been made in England as in Scotland. Also referred to as “pebble”...
Egyptomania is an extreme obsession for all things Egyptian and, throughout history, a passion for Egypt has been a recurring theme. By the time Napoléon Bonaparte stormed Egypt at the...
Glyptography is the art of gemstone carving and the term applies to both intaglios and cameos. Begun in ancient times, circa 15,000 B.C., as one of the earliest forms of communication,...
Micromosaics are a type of mosaic created from tiny fragments of glass, called tesserae. The tesserae are mosaic pieces made from an opaque vitreous glass or enamel in a multitude of colors called smalto. The smalto is pulled into rods...
Human hair has been incorporated into jewelry since at least the seventeenth century. Around that time, the hair of the dear departed began to be incorporated into memento mori pieces, as...
Cannetille is a close relative of filigree work. It typically features fine gold wires or thinly hammered sheets. Jewelry with cannetille was very popular in the 1820’s and 1830’s. Motifs included tendrils, scrolls,...
Cut-steel jewelry is jewelry “set” with tiny faceted and polished steel studs, fashioned to resemble gemstones and usually riveted in place. All manner of jewelry was produced from cut-steel: earrings, necklaces, brooches, bracelets, chatelaines, shoe buckles,...
Granulation (from Latin: granum = “grain”) is a goldsmith’s technique whereby the surface of a jewel is decorated with small spheres of precious metal, named granules, according to a design pattern. The...
The Brutalism movement in architecture went beyond Modernism’s form and function, rejecting the role of light and clean lines. This new style, emerging c.1950s, created functional buildings intentionally ignoring all...
Terms & Definitions
QUICK LINKS:
Amatory jewels were a popular type of love jewelry c.late 1700s. These were navette-shaped pendants, or sometimes brooches, with pearl, gem-set or enamel surrounds. The center featured flowers, initials, or sentiments rendered in seed pearls atop a woven...
An anchor chain is a cable chain with an additional cross bar. They are named after the metal chains used to raise or lower a ship’s anchor.
Creating an antique finish involves chemically treating metal to cause it to take on the patina of age.
Aqua Regia translates from Latin as “royal water.” It is a combination of hydrochloric acid and nitric acids that dissolve gold and platinum. Mixed in different concentrations, these acids can be used to...
Archaeological revival refers to the neo-styles of the 18th and 19th centuries inspired by the excavations and discoveries of Roman, Egyptian, Hellenistic and Etruscan sites. The first revival came after...