Jewelry Glossary 5

S

Safety Catch
Safety Catch is another latch to ensure that a piece of jewelry will not open and fall off.

Safety Chain
Safety Chain is another device sometimes placed on a piece of jewelry to ensure that it will not fall off.

Sapphire
Sapphire is a corundum that varies in color from blue, pink, yellow, green, white, to purple.  Sapphires are precious gemstones and are related to rubies.

Sapphire Quartz
Sapphire Quartz is a blue chalcedony.  Another name for a sapphire quartz is a blue quartz.

Satin Finish
Satin Finish is a finish made to give a material a shiny satin look.

Sautoir
Sautoir is a long necklace with either a pendant or a tassel dangling from it.

Screw Back
Screw Back is a type of clip on earring that does not require a piercing; instead it is attached to the ear by screwing a piece at the back until the earring fits tightly against the ear.

Seed Pearl
Seed Pearl is a small pearl that is less than 2mm in diameter.

Semi precious Gemstones
Semi precious Gemstones include stones like amethyst, aventurine, garnet, opal, peridot, quartz, etc.

Setting
Setting of a stone ensures that the stone is locked into the metal.  There are many types of settings and many times the style of the ring effects which type of setting will be used.

Shank
Shank is the name of the part of the ring that circles the finger and does not include the setting.

Silver
Silver is a silver white metal used as an inexpensive material for jewelry.

Sleeper
Sleeper is a gold earring that is used to keep a piercing open.

Slide
Slide is a bead shaped pendant that sits around a necklace and is not secured into place allowing it to slide about the necklace, hence the name.

Slide Bracelet
Slide Bracelet is a modern rendition of the Victorian era charm bracelet.

Smoky Quartz
Smoky Quartz is a quartz that is smoky brown in color.

Smoky Topaz
Smoky Topaz is a topaz that is smoky brown in color. 

Snake Chain
Snake Chain is another name for the Brazilian Chain, which is a chain made up of small linked cups.

Solitaire
Solitaire is a piece of jewelry that features a solo stone.  Most commonly refers to a ring set with a diamond.  It is also the most popular style of engagement ring.

Spectroscope
Spectroscope is an instrument used to recognize authentic gemstones.

Spessartine Garnet
Spessartine Garnet is a garnet that is orange in color.

Spiral
Spiral is a type of body jewelry that is in the shape of a spiral and has two balls on both ends.

Split Ring
Split Ring looks like a key chain and works to link charms to a piece of jewelry.

Straight Barbell
Straight Barbell is a piece of body jewelry with a straight bar and two balls on either end; one ball screws off for application.

Star Garnet
Star Garnet is an almandine, a type of garnet that has an asterism (a six-pointed star that reflects light) making it look star-shaped.  It ranges in color from a deep red to a brownish red.

Star Ruby
Star Ruby is a ruby with an asterism (a six-pointed star that reflects light.)

Star Sapphire
Star Sapphire is a sapphire with an asterism (a six-pointed star that reflects light.)

Sterling
Sterling is a malleable silver alloy.

Striations
Striations are natural grooves in some minerals.

Stud
Stud is a type of pierced earring that has a solitaire stone or metal bead on a post that is inserted through the piercing.  It is commonly worn in the ear, but can also be worn in the naval or nostril.

Sugar Beads
Sugar Beads are beads that look like they are covered in sugar.

Synthetic Stones
Synthetic Stones are stones that have been made in laboratories.
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T

Table
Table is the flat area on the top of a cut gemstone.

Tanvorite
Tanvorite is a trademarked synthetic gemstone that is a deep bluish-purple.

Tanzanite
Tanzanite is similar to a violet sapphire.

Temper
Temper is a process of heating and cooling metal to harden it.

Tennis Bracelet
Tennis Bracelet is a bracelet made up of a chain of same sizes and colored gemstones, typically diamonds.  This style of bracelet was coined tennis bracelet after Chris Everett dropped her diamond bracelet during a tennis match in 1987.  She stopped the match to find her bracelet and ever since it was called a tennis bracelet.

Tie Tacs
Tie Tacs are pieces of jewelry that are pinned into the tie and attach to the shirt in order to keep the tie in place.

Tiffany Setting
Tiffany Setting is a type of setting that was introduced by Tiffany & Co.  It is a high setting for a solitaire on a simple band.

Tiger's Eye
Tiger's Eye is a gemstone that resembles a tiger's eye because it has bands of yellow and brown.

Toe Ring
Toe Ring is a form of body jewelry, it is worn like a ring but instead of on a finger it is placed on a toe.

Toggle Clasp
Toggle Clasp is a type of clasp where a bar is inserted into a ring in order to fasten two ends of a piece of jewelry together.

Topaz
Topaz is a gemstone that varies in color from brown, yellow, blue, to pink.  It was possibly named after Topazos, an island in the Red Sea, by the Romans who found it. 

Torsade
Torsade is a multi stranded necklace that are twisted together.

Tourmaline
Tourmaline is a crystalline silicate gemstone that has the greatest range of colors of all gemstones.  Generally the transparent colors are more valuable, but tourmaline ranges in color from red, pink, green and purple to black.

Translucent
Translucent refers to a material that admits the passage of light and diffusion of light.  Examples of translucent materials are opals, moonstones, and some plastics.

Transparent
Transparent refers to a material that admits the passage of light without diffusing it.  Examples of transparent materials are diamonds, emeralds, and rubies.

Trapiche Emerald
Trapiche Emerald is a rare type of emerald that is black in color and has a six-rayed star.  They are found in Columbia, South America.

Trembler
Trembler is an ornament that is attached to a piece of jewelry by a spring.

Triangle Cut
Triangle Cut is a trillion cut, which is a brilliant cut in the shape of a triangle.

Trillion Cut
Trillion Cut is a type of triangle shaped cut with truncated edges.

Triplet
Triplet is a stone comprised on three adhered layers of stone, it is manmade.

Tumbled
Tumbled refers to a technique of smoothing stones.  The stones are placed into a machine called a tumbler and are tumbled around into the edges are smoothed.

Tummy Huggies
Tummy Huggies are pieces of body jewelry that are worn in the naval.

Turquoise
Turquoise is a bluish-green mineral of aluminum and copper, and is found in deserts across the world.  Turquoise is a valued gemstone that was named after Turkey, the region it was first found.

Twinning
Twinning is an effect that occurs when two crystals are formed together as one.

Two Toned
Two Toned refers to a piece of jewelry that features two different colored metals, i.e. yellow gold and white gold.

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U

Uniaxial Gemstones
In uniaxial stones, the optic axis is parallel to the c-axis. Biaxial gemstones have two optical axes that do not line up with the c-axis.

Uncut Stones
Gem stones which are in their natural or rough state which describes a stone that has not been cut or finished but is in its original form

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V

Venus' Hair Stone
Venus' Hair Stone is a Rutilated Quartz, which is a rock crystal cut like a cabochon.

Vermeil
Vermeil is gold plated silver.

Vitreous
Vitreous refers to a material that is glass like. .

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W

Watch
Watch is a piece of jewelry typically worn on the wrist and functions as a device to tell time.

Water Sapphire
Water Sapphire is a sapphire that is found in different shades of blue, reminiscent of water.

White Gold
White Gold is an alloy comprised of gold and nickel.

Width
Width is the horizontal measurement of a piece of jewelry..

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X

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Y

Yellow Gold
Yellow Gold is an alloy comprised of gold, copper, and silver. 

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Z

Zoning
Angular or straight color banding or "zoning" in natural gemstones and synthetics.

Zircon
Zircon, a naturally occurring gemstone, has colorless, yellow, orange, red, blue, brown and green varieties. Zircon, by it's name, is sometimes confused with cubic zirconia ("CZ"), which is synthetic. In addition, both have been used as diamond substitutes. Zircon has a high refractive index which is responsible for it's diamond like appearance. Zircon can be distinguished from diamond by it's double refraction and by wear and tear of it's edges, as compared to diamond which is very much harder. 

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