Jewelry lexicon

A

amethyst
Amethyst is a common quartz stone. The purple color of amethyst ranges from a very light, slightly pink to a very dark purple. The distribution of color in the crystal is usually irregular. Large and clear specimens that are suitable for processing as gemstones are comparatively limited to a few locations. There are deposits in Brazil, Uruguay, Namibia, Madagascar, Russia, Sri Lanka and Morocco.

amulet
An amulet was already used in ancient times. It is said to have magical power and bring the wearer good luck and protect them from harm. They are often worn as jewelry, but can also be hung in the vehicle or home.

Trailer
A pendant is a piece of jewelry and can be combined with a bracelet, a necklace or earrings. Many pendants also have a symbolic meaning such as symbols of friendship or love. A big trend is also collecting pendants with different motifs.

Anchor chain
The anchor chain not only has the name, but is also modeled on the appearance of a ship's anchor chain. It consists of individual oval links. It is a classic basic piece of jewelry and can be combined in many different ways.

Aquamarine
Aquamarine is the blue variety of the silicate mineral beryl and is often used as a gemstone. Just as the name suggests, the color can vary between light blue and delicate green. The most sought-after are the blue-transparent aquamarines, which are very rarely found in nature in this form.

bracelet
Is a piece of jewelry that is worn on the wrist. It was already worn in the Paleolithic period. Back then it was made from animal teeth or amber. Today the bracelets or bangles are available in silver, gold, white gold, set with pearls or made of leather with various decorative elements. In addition to a very decorative look, bracelets also have a very emotional aspect. Above all, they are an expression and sign of friendship, close connection and love.

Automatic watch
An automatic watch is a mechanical wristwatch that gets its energy from the wearer's arm movements. The spring is wound up automatically as it moves through a rotor using gear transmission. One also speaks of a watch with automatic winding.

b

Baguette cut
Baguette cut French "rod" or "stick" describes the cutting method of the diamond. Baguette is an exact rectangle with a large surface area. The cut was developed in Paris in the 1920s and stands out clearly from other shapes and techniques.

Bayonet fitting
A bayonet is a fastening part for chains in which two cylindrical parts that fit together are connected to each other by means of a rotary movement.

Baroque pearl
Baroque pearls are not round pearls, but irregularly shaped pearls.

Amber
It comes mainly in brown and yellow and has become a popular gemstone over the years. Amber is a compressed and hardened resin that was created approximately 50 million years ago. It has been traded as a decorative stone for over 6,000 years. The name comes from the Middle Low German name “Börnsteen”.

beryl
The emerald and the aquamarine are the best known and most important stones of the beryl group. The precious beryls include goshenite, gold beryl, helioder and morganite.

Bicolor
Bicolor is called two-tone jewelry.

Brilliant
Brilliant is the most commonly used cut shape for diamonds. Only when a diamond has the characteristic facet cut is it considered a brilliant. It is characterized by a circular shape and 56 facets. Every brilliant is always a diamond, while a diamond does not necessarily have to be a brilliant.

C

Calcite
Calcite, calcite or calcite is a mineral from the mineral class “carbonates and nitrates”. It comes in many colors and is a soft gemstone.

Charming
Charms are small pieces of jewelry that are threaded onto a bracelet or necklace. They can then be easily removed and replaced with new ones. They are often collected and are perfect as gifts. Charms are available in many variations in silver or gold with gemstones.

Citrine
Citrine is named for its yellow color and is a rare stone from the quartz group. Since natural citrines are very rare, they are burnt amethyst or smoky quartz. During their creation, the stones were heated under high pressure and then turned yellow.

Cocktail ring
Cocktail rings are opulent and eye-catching rings. A consistent feature is a large gemstone. They first came into fashion around 1920 and were a self-confident statement of luxury and enjoyment. The name comes from the fact that back then every woman liked to wear such a ring at every cocktail party.

Conch pearl
Conch pearl is a very rare pearl made from a seawater snail. It is usually 3-12mm in size and comes in many color shades. The colors range from white to intense pink. They come in oval, teardrop or baroque shapes. Since there is no way to breed the conch pearl, it is an extraordinary rarity and therefore particularly valuable.

Hoop earrings
Hoop earrings are ring-shaped earrings and are one of the most popular pieces of jewelry. They would be worn by sailors in colonial times. They were marked with their initials so that they could be better identified after a maritime accident. Today this piece of jewelry is one of the classics.

D

diamond
Diamond is the hardest naturally occurring mineral. It is the most famous gemstone. How valuable a diamond is depends on its cut, color, clarity and carat.

E

precious metal
Precious metals include gold, silver, platinum and all platinum minor metals. They have been used to make jewelry for thousands of years. Precious metals do not rust or rust very slowly and are not attacked by most acids.

stainless steel
Stainless steel are alloyed and unalloyed steels with a special degree of purity. Ie steels whose sulfur and phosphorus content does not exceed 0.025%.

wedding rings
Wedding rings symbolize the eternal bond between a man and a woman as a couple. Even the Romans and Egyptians in ancient times wore the wedding ring on the ring finger of their left hand. But it wasn't until around 850 AD that the wedding ring was considered a symbol of marriage by Pope Nicholas I.

Pea chain
The pea chain consists of round links that interlock. A tight mesh pattern is created by the interplay of a lying and standing chain link. The pea necklace is popular with both women and men and is a classic in the jewelry world.

F

Facet cut
Facet cut from French “Facet” means small diamond surface. Facets are small areas on the surface of a stone that are polished so that they have a higher shine and reflect a lot of light. The beginning of the cut shapes goes back to the 15th century. There are now different facet cuts, such as the brilliant cut.

Fire opal
Fire opal belongs to the opal group and shines in a wonderful orange. It is said to have particularly positive health effects when worn. This comes primarily from old Indian traditions, where it was already used effectively against circulatory diseases.

Flat curb chain
Flat curb chain is a solid chain whose links are each twisted at 90 degrees. Its horizontal chain shape makes it very comfortable to wear as a necklace.

River pearls
River pearls are natural pearls from freshwater mussels. They thrive in streams and rivers with clear and soft water.

G

Garibaldi chain
Garibaldi chain was named after the Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi. The chain has twisted links that are hung together.

gold
Gold is a chemical element and is represented in the periodic table under the symbol Au and the atomic number 79. It is the only precious metal with a golden yellow color. Its name comes from the Indo-European word “ghel”, which simply means yellow. It has been used for the production of coins, jewelry and cult objects for over 2000 years. When pure, gold is very soft and is often refined with other metals. This means you can change not only the degree of hardness, but also the color. (e.g. with palladium gold becomes white gold.

garnet
Garnet is a decorative stone and is one of the silicates and germanates. It can come in different shades, it can be both transparent and opaque. Red is the most dominant color in garnet and is most commonly found in the USA, Sri Lanka and Africa.

engraver
Engraver is the term used to describe the cutting of writing, monograms or ornaments using an engraving burin. The decorations are located on the smooth metal surface and can be engraved in different thicknesses or depths.

H

Hematite
Hematite, also known as bloodstone, also known as iron shine or iserine, belongs to the mineral class of oxides and consists of 70% iron. The hematite is black-gray with a shiny metallic surface. Due to its abundance, it is particularly suitable and preferred for jewelry making.

I

Indigolite
Indigolite refers to a blue tourmaline.

J

jade
Jade is the name of minerals that must have certain optical properties in order to be considered a “real jade” gemstone. The most desirable color is emerald green, but they can also be white, yellow, brown and bluish in color. Jade has been used in China for at least 8,000 years.

K

carat
Karat or carat refers to the unit of measurement for jewelry. It is abbreviated with ct, kt or C and has its origins in the Greek “keráton” and means diminutive of horn. The croissants were previously used as a unit of measurement when weighing. Today, karat is used to indicate the fineness of gold or to measure the mass of gemstones.

L

Labradorite
Labradorite is a dark gray and gray-black gemstone with blue and green effects from the feldspar group. Due to its enchanting shimmer, it is also a very popular gemstone. Labradorite was named after the Labrador Peninsula in Canada.

M

malachite
Malachite, also known as copper spar, is also an extremely beautiful gemstone. It belongs to the class of carbonates and is green. The ancient Romans and Greeks used malachite to make jewelry and statues.

N

nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the symbol Ni and atomic number 28 in the periodic table. It was used in ancient times to make coins and is now often used to make jewelry because of its silvery appearance. However, many people suffer from contact allergies, which can be triggered by individual nickel components.

O

Obsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring glass in shades of black, gray and brown with gold or silver shimmer. In the Stone Age it was valued as a raw material for making tools because of its sharp edges, hardness and glassy structure.

opal
Opal belongs to the quartz group and has been highly valued since ancient times and is often even preferred to diamonds. Its name comes from Latin and means precious stone. The most valuable opals include boulder opal, black opal and fire opal. The most common locations are Mexico and Australia.

P

Curb chain
Curb chains are chains whose links lie flat and interlock with each other and therefore have a flat surface and lie flat. Other forms of curb chain include double armor and flat armor.

Q

quartz
The quartz mineral family has been used in many areas since the dawn of humanity and is the second most common material in the earth's crust. Quartz not only occurs naturally, but can also be manufactured artificially.

R

Rhodium
Rhodium is a chemical element and is represented in the periodic table under the symbol Rh and the atomic number 45. In the jewelry industry, rhodium is primarily used as a coating for jewelry.

S

sapphire
All corundums are called sapphire. They are colorless to colorful. Only the more valuable blue sapphires have a special meaning for jewelry making.

T

topaz
Topaz is one of the best-known gemstones and is most often found in yellow. The purer a topaz is, the more colorless it is. It is believed that the name comes from the Sanskrit word “tapas” and means fire or glow.

U

Watchmaker
A watchmaker is a builder and designer of watches, and above all he is a highly qualified master of precision mechanics of complicated and sensitive watch movements. His area of ​​expertise is primarily the assembly, dismantling, restoration and repair of clock movements and accessories.

v

engagement ring
The engagement ring is humanity's most meaningful and historic piece of jewelry. It symbolizes the promise of marriage, love and loyalty. Traditionally, the ring is placed on the ring finger of the left hand when proposing. The diamond solitaire is particularly popular and classic - a ring with a single diamond.

W

White gold
By adding alloys such as palladium, gold is then turned into white gold. This removes the yellow color from the gold. Platinum was replaced by white gold because it was cheaper and easier to process.

Z

cultured pearl
Cultured pearls are pearls that are produced by humans through systematic cultivation in so-called breeding colonies. They can be grown in both saltwater and freshwater. It can take up to 6 years for the pearls to reach the correct size.