Materials and Techniques

 

Bezel: A setting for a stone, that has a collar instead of prongs, in order to secure the stone

Coral: A form of Calcium Carbonate, secreted in long chains by coral polyps who live in colonies under the ocean

Cultured Pearl: A pearl created by a mussel farmer or oyster farmer, under controlled conditions

Fine Silver: Soft metal 100% silver

Freshwater Pearls: An irregular pearl of various colors, produced by fresh water mollusks such as mussels and clams

Mother of Pearl: The iridescent coating on the inside of oyster shells. Mother-of-pearl is used for jewellery, buttons, and other uses. It is also called nacre.

Pearl: An organic gem grown within oysters and other mollusks which is most valued and sought after when it is perfectly round and lustrous

Reticulation silver: An alloy of 85% silver and 15% copper. Using a process  wherein the metal is repeatedly heated, quenched and pickled, the copper eventually becomes concentrated at the core of the metal, surrounded by a skin of fine silver (99.999). Final heating results in fine silver skin contracting in ridges and vein-like texture.

Sterling Silver: A silver alloy made up of at least 92.5% pure Silver, which is the standard fineness for Silver

Seed Pearl: A very small pearl popular during the Victorian period as accents set into gold jewelry or woven into long fringed necklaces