Free Jewelry Dictionary. Have you ever come across jewelry-making terms like “sagenite,” “pillions,” or “gangue” without knowing their meanings? We’ve made it easy for you! This dictionary of standard—and some not-so-common—terms for jewelry artists will guide you through the intriguing world of jewelry making. You’ll never have to wonder what “adularescence” means again!
Let’s Explore Our Free Jewelry Dictionary
A
Abrasives The grits, usually silicon carbide or dia mond, used to shape gemstones.
Acetylene Torch Portable silversmithing torch which burns acetylene and air.
Adamantine The diamond-like luster of certain gems.
Adularescence A milky reflection of light on a gem such as the blue or silvery appearance of moon stone.
Airbrasive Unit A small-scale sandblaster used with a vari ety of powdered abrasives for the delicate cleaning of fossils.
Alcohol Lamp A small lamp often used for dopping cabo chons or faceted stones.
Alloy Two or more metals in combination. (For example, sterling is silver plus copper.)
Almag An oil often used as a coolant for slab or trim saws.
Alumina Highly refined aluminum oxide used as a polishing agent.
Aluminum Pencil This pencil leaves guidelines on stones which will not wash off.
Amber Fossilized tree sap, occasionally containing preserved insects as inclusions.
Ammonite A group of mollusks (molluscs) extinct since the Cretaceous Period whose mod ern relatives include the chambered nauti lus, squid, and octopus.
Amorphous Meaning formless; describes gem materi als without orderly atomic structure.
Angle Pointer Points to the desired angle on a faceting head.
Angle Quadrant Shows the degrees from 0 to 90 for facet ing angles.
Angle Stop Prevents accidentally overcutting the desired angle on a faceting machine.
Asterism A quality present in some gem materi als which makes it possible to cut “star” cabochons. Inclusions make the stars possible.
Anode The positive terminal of an electrolytic cell used with a plating solution.
Anti-oxidant Liquid applied to places solder should not flow.
Antiquing Applying a finish to jewelry to make it look old. For example, using liver-of-sulfur to blacken silver.
Anvil Metal stake used for forming or raising metal.
Apex The bottom point of a faceted stone.
Appliqué Laying one layer of metal upon another to produce dimension and design.
Arbor A rod, bar, or shaft which holds the wheels for cutting, grinding, sanding, and polishing.
Art Deco Jewelry of the early 20th century featuring abstract and geometric lines.
Art Nouveau Jewelry of the turn of the 20th century with flowing lines and realistic motifs.
Assembled Carving A carving made of several parts, often of different materials and colors assembled into one unit.
B
Baculite A common uncoiled ammonite of the late Crustaceous Period.
Baguette A facet cut for small gems, step cut, and rectangular.
Bail Holder for the top of a pendant. Leather as a Jeweler’s Tool Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist, April 2014
Bangle A rigid, entirely round, loose-fitting brace let.
Bar Pin Narrow decorative pins of a more or less rectangular shape.
Barion A mixed facet cut combining emerald cut crowns with brilliant cut bases.
Baroque Pearl A pearl of irregular shape.
Bas Relief A low relief carving — raised slightly above the background material.
Basse Taille A transparent enamel technique with repoussé.
Bead Board A wood or plastic grooved board for arranging bead necklaces before stringing.
Bead Mill A machine to finish spherical beads.
Bead Thread Silk or nylon thread of various sizes for beading.
Bead Wire Fine nylon-coated wire for beads.
Bearings Supports for rotary shafts of revolving lapi dary machines.
Beeswax Used for cementing and dopping.
Belcher Mounting Pronged modification of the gypsy mount ing for rings.
Bell Cap A metal bell-shaped cap with loop top for attaching stones.
Bench Pin A notched hardwood pin to be attached to the workbench to hold jewelry during specific stages.
Bench Vise A small vise with can attach the pin or vari ous other tools to the workbench.
Bevel A small rim around the bottom edge of a cabochon with an angle of about 45 degrees.
Bezel A shape made of flat wire to hold the stone in place in a piece of jewelry.
Bezel Pusher A tool to flatten and smooth the edge of the bezel firmly around the stone.
Bezel Wire A metal wire with a collar and sometimes fancy designs for making bezels.
Biaxial Stones with two optic axes and directions.
Binding Wire A soft iron wire for holding together parts to be soldered.
Birefringence Doubly refractive materials.
Blank A piece of gem material which was been sawed and ground to the approximate size and outline of the planned cabochon.
Blazer Blades Modern long-lasting diamond saw blades.
Bobbing Compound A fine abrasive which leaves metal scratch free with a dull finish.
Bola Slide The slide which moves up a bola tie cord.
Bola Tie A neckpiece consisting of a length of cord with tips and held together by a movable slide of metal and often set with a stone.
Borax Mineral powder used as a flux to control oxidation during melting of metal. Also, when combined with boric acid, used for flux during soldering.
Bort Industrial diamond for lapidary purposes.
Botryoidal A smoothly curved group of rounded mounds on some gem rough which resem bles a pile of marbles or grapes.
Boule The pear-shaped gem material resulting from early synthetic production.
Box Clasp Fiesta Bonefish Step by Step Wire Jewelry, August/September 2014 A standard box-shaped jewelry clasp with a tongue which slides into the end opening.
Brass A copper-zinc alloy used for jewelry and decorative objects.
Breccia Cutting material made of angular bits which have been naturally cemented together by some mineral, often chalcedony.
Brick A brick is often used for initial cuts and for deglazing diamond saw blades.
Brilliancy The total light reflection of a gemstone.
Brilliant A basic facet cut of 58 facets, primarily for round stones.
Briolette A drop-shaped facet cut with the crown similar to the rose cut.
Britannia Metal Modern pewter alloy of tin, antimony, and copper.
Bronze An alloy of copper and tin.
Bruce Bar A patented polish compound in stick form.
Buff The wheels or pads used for polishing gem materials. Usually leather, felt, muslin, Pellon, etc.
Bur Carbon steel tool which can be one of 30 or more shapes to be used in a flexible shaft tool.
Burnisher Oval-shaped blade tapering to a fine point for setting stones and smoothing metal.
Bushing A replaceable lining for a bearing or the removable cylindrical lining of the grinding wheel holes
C
Cab Mate Complete cabochon machine with light.
Cable Chain Simple chain with interlocking identical links in a pattern of vertical links connected by horizontal links. Cabochon A polished gemstone with a flat bottom and domed top, usually oval or round (not faceted). However, cabochons may also be shapes such as hearts, crosses, freeform, and other shapes.
Cabochon Unit A combination machine used for making cabochons from the sawing through pol ishing stages.
Cameo An engraved cabochon, usually cut from a color-layered material.
Champlevé An enamel technique in which depressed areas in the metal are filled with enamel.
Carat A unit of weight for gemstones. There are 5 carats to a gram. Carborundum Silicon carbide. Synthetic hard material used for grinding wheels, cutting and sand ing grits, and lapidary tools.
Carriage That part of the saw which feeds the mate rial into the blade.
Casting Flask Steel flask to hold the investment for cast ing.
Casting Machine Any of several kinds of machines made for casting metal.
Cat’s-Eye The phenomenal property of some gems with fiber or tube inclusions to produce luminous “eyes” if properly oriented.
Caulking Compound Used as a grout for some mosaics.
Centrifugal Caster A casting machine with a heavy spring which swings the arm to force the molten metal into the flask.
Ceramic Soldering Block A lightweight, fire-proof, smooth block for soldering.
Chamois Buff A wheel buff or hand buff with chamois surface for polishing jewelry.
Channel Stone inlay in a metal framework of flat wire cells.
Charge Impregnating a grinding or polishing wheel or disc with the desired compound.
Chasing Texturizing metal with chisel-like tools.
Chasing Hammer A hammer with a large flat head used for striking the chasing tool.
Chatelaine A metal pin with swivel chains for hanging objects such as a watch, keys, scissors, etc.
Chatoyance The phenomenal quality of some gems to reflect movable light bands.
Cheater A faceting machine device for moving a mounted gemstone sideways.
Chinese White A white substance which is brushed on metal so a pattern or design can be drawn on it.
Chrome Oxide A dark green polish powder often used for jade.
Chuck An attachment for holding the mounted preform or other piece of work. A clamp for holding the dop sitck for a faceting handpiece.
Clamps Usually refers to C-clamps, which have a C shape and a threaded bolt which can be tightened to hold two parts together.
Cleavage The property of a crystalline material to break in a specific way, leaving a some what smooth break.
Cleavage Angle The angle created between cleavage faces when a mineral is split.
Clipped Solder Metal solder which can be purchased ready for use in bottles of 1mm squares.
Cloisonné Cells of rectangular wire are placed in a pattern on a metal surface, filled with enamel, and fired.
Cluster Ring A ring made to set a group of small stones.
Coin Jewelry Coins mounted to wear as jewelry.
Cold Dop A method of dopping sensitive stones with cold cement.
Collet Hammer Hammer with a double head, one part domed, the other a modified shape.
Collet Setting Setting with the stone in a metal collar.
Conchoidal A shell-like fracture of concentric smooth curves found in some minerals such as obsidian.
Concretion A concentration of sediments harder than surrounding rock and usually formed around a nucleus. Conglomerate A cutting material in which rounded grains and pebbles are naturally cemented together by chalcedony or another agent. Contaminant Harder or larger particles on laps or buffs which cause scratches on stones.
Copper Tongs Used for removing metal from pickle.
Core Drill A tube drill which cuts cylinders of stone.
Cork Lap A lap used for cabochons and small flats.
Costume Jewelry Fashion jewelry. Jewelry which keeps pace with current styles and fads.
Crown That part of a faceted stone which is about the girdle.
Crucibles Containers for melting metals.
Cryptocrystalline Materials with microscopic crystalline structure. Crystal A solid with regular atomic internal arrangement bound by definitely patterned external planes.
Crystalite Discs Fast cutting diamond discs.
Crystalline Materials with precise atomic internal structure but without the external shapes composed of definite planes.
Cuff Bracelet Wide rigid bracelet with narrow opening.
Culet The bottom facet on the pavilion of a bril liant cut stone.
Cultured Pearls Induced pearls of various shapes and col ors grown in pearl farms or fisheries and widely used for jewelry.
Curb Chain A chain with flattened links each fastened to the next in the same manner.
Cushion A facet cut shaped like a square with rounded corners.
Cutter A lapidary.
Cuttlebone Casting Carving patterns in cuttlebone for direct casting.
Cylinder Cylinder-shaped cut stones, often with engraved designs
D
Dapping Block Blocks with dies and punches to fit, for shaping metal.
Dapping Punch When tapped with a hammer in the die, forms half a dome.
Dendritic Moss- and branch-like shapes and mark ings; developed during crystallization of ore and manganese compounds, often caused by manganese or iron minerals.
Dental Tools These small, well-made tools are used by carvers.
Diamond Cut Brilliant engraving cuts on metal for greater luster.
Diamond Drill A gem drill using diamond points.
Diamond Dust Also called diamond powder or diamond grits, used in cutting and polishing gem stones.
Dopping Wax Any of several kinds of wax used to attach stones to a dop stick.
Double Cabochon A cabochon which is rounded or domed on the bottom as well as the top. Two-sided cabochon.
Doublet A gemstone made of two layers of material.
Dowel Round wood rods used for dop sticks.
Draw Plates Strong metal plates with many holes for changing wire’s size or shape.
Drawing Wire can be reduced in size or changed in shape by pulling through the draw plate.
Dremel Tool Motorized variable speed handpiece for working on stone.
Drill Bits The points used in a machine for drilling which do the actual cutting.
Diamond Paste Diamond particles in a paste compound.
Diamond Saw A gem-cutting saw with the blade edges with diamonds.
Diamond Wheel Grinding wheel with diamond-impregnated surface.
Diamond Wheel Dresser Tool used to true the silicon carbide grind ing wheels.
Dichroism Literally two colors. A gemstone with this property shows two colors when viewed from different directions.
Dispersion The separation of white light into the col ors of the spectrum.
Dop Also dop stick. A rod of metal or wood to held the gemstone during the required stages for finishing it.
Dopping Block A faceting machine device for correctly aligning two dop sticks for the transfer process.
Drill Press A machine which holds the drill and the work to be drilled.
Drop Casting Dropping molten metal into ice water for freeform shapes.
Drum Sander A sanding wheel for abrasive belts, either strip or endless. Some drum sanders are expandable.
Drusy Cavities Hollow spaces within a rock, such as vol canics, that are filled with a collection of secondary minerals.
Dust Collector A system of filtering dust from the air of a lapidary shop. Combinations of blowers, filters, and suction.
Dwt Abbreviation for the troy weight unit “penny-weight.
