Glossary

For those wanting a little more information we have put together a glossary with details and facts on the materials we use in our jewellery:

Amethyst - Transparent and opaque varieties of crystallised quartz, typically purple or violet in colour, exhibiting colour zoning. Our Amethyst is mined in Zambia & Russia.

Ametrine - A variety of quartz that contains both amethyst and citrine sectors in the same crystal so partly purple and partly yellow.

Apatite - Transparent to translucent, aqua to evergreen coloured stone.

Aquamarine - A sea green (hence the name) semi-precious stone in the beryl family. Can be confused with Blue Topaz, but is generally much more expensive.

Aventurine Quartz - Translucent green quartz mineral, internally granular. Often mistaken for jade. When held up to the light you will be able to see the small inclusions of Mica, a dark green colour.

Baroque - Irregular shape. Term most commonly used for the freshwater pearls we use.

Base metal - Any non-precious metal.

Black Onyx - A crytocrystaline quartz opaque black stone.

Blue Topaz - Electric blue stone. Looks similar to a very good quality Aquamarine, but much more affordable.

Cabochon - A domed gemstone. Highly polished curved surface without faceting.

Carnelian Orange/Red Quartz - Most of our carnelian comes from Brazil, India, Siberia, and Germany.

Chalcedony - Translucent / milky appearance, often dyed.

Chrysoprase - A variety of chalcedony which is apple green in colour. Mined specifically in Australia.

Citrine - A yellow to brownish-orange quartz stone.

Coral - The skeletal remains of marine plants or animals, in a range in colours including red, pink and salmon. We mainly use a variety known as sea bamboo which is environmentally friendly as the broken pieces are collected from the beach. It is then dyed red or pink.

Cultured pearl - Created through a painstaking process of mimicking the natural pearl process in live molluscs. A pearl is formed as a result of implanting a piece of mantle from a mollusc into another host mollusc. All pearls available on the high street are cultured.

Pearl - A smooth, round growth formed naturally within the shell of a mollusc and used as a gem.

Drop - A small ornament suspended from a piece of jewellery.

Emerald - A green beryl and one of the most valuable of all gemstones. The ones we use however are in boulder form.

Enamel - Coloured, opaque glassy material fused onto metal, pottery or glass.

Extension chain - A chain which attaches to a necklace, bracelet etc to provide a longer length.

Facet - A polished surface; a small plane cut into a surface to enhance its reflection of light.

Faceted - A piece that has been cut with facets.

Fancy cut - Gems cut in shapes other than the standard round brilliant shape; such as single cut marquise, emerald, pear, heart, oval, square, baguette, triangle, etc. Also called fancy shape.

Freshwater pearl - A pearl formed by a mussel living in a lake or river.

Garnet - A family of crystals whose name derives from their resemblance to red pomegranate seeds. A semi-precious stone, ranging in colour from true red to violet or very dark red. Often semi-opaque. We use the dark red variety.

Gem - A mineral, rock or other natural material which has been cut and polished for use in jewellery, and has the qualities of beauty, durability and rarity.

Iolite - A transparent mineral in shades of deep (denim) blue, light blue-grey, and yellow-white.

Jade - An ornamental gemstone, typically green in colour.

Jasper - An opaque stone. Usually yellowish, reddish, or brown. USA and Brazil are our most common sources. Rainbow Jasper can display several colours.

Labradorite - Mined in Labrador, Canada. Grey translucent stone, showing magnificent iridescence. (Rainbow moonstone is a colourless variety of this stone). Often heavily included and fractured due to nature of crystal growth.

Lapis lazuli - A semi-precious stone of an azure blue colour and golden pyrite inclusions.

Malachite - Opaque green stone. A mineral which is characterised by bands of light and dark green. Our Malchite is mined in Africa.

Marcasite - Crystallised iron pyrites ("fool's gold"), cut or uncut. Marcasite is a grey, lustrous mineral. Often used in Victorian jewellery.

Marquise - An oval shaped gemstone, cut to have pointed ends. It's named after the Marquise de Pompadour, Mistress of King Louis XV.

Onyx - A semi-precious white or grey stone composed of chalcedony (a variety of quartz).

Peridot - A transparent, bright olive green gem.

Quartz - A usually transparent crystalline mineral used for gems.

Rhodium - A white, metallic element similar to platinum. Some of our silver is rhodium plated.

Rock crystal - A transparent colourless mineral; see also quartz.

Rose quartz - Delicate pink quartz with a milky appearance.

Ruby - A highly precious and valued red corundum. We sometimes use the boulder variety which is much more affordable, and a ruby that grows in a stone called Zoisite. Ruby in Zoisite is a fantastic opaque red and green stone.

Rutilated quartz - A variety of quartz with streaks of rutile crystal; needle-like minerals with a reddish-brown appearance. It looks like Rock Crystal with pieces of hay through it.

Sapphire - A highly valued and precious stone and a member of the corundum group. Most commonly in blue. We sometimes use the boulder variety which is much more affordable.

Smokey quartz - Brownish transparent quartz with a smokey appearance.

Sodalite - A mineral which is a component of lapis and generally translucent, usually blue in colour (denim). Sometimes with white flecks (this is generally what distinguishes it from Lapis Lazuli).

Sterling silver - Silver that is at least 92.5 percent pure with 7.5 parts of another metal.

Tiger's eye - A semi-precious variety of quartz found in South Africa, in yellowish-brown, blue or red. When cabochon cut, shows a single light streak across its face.

Topaz - A transparent gem; the most precious type is wine-yellow. Also found in shades of white, blue, brown, orange and pink. We mostly use the blue variety in our jewellery.

Tourmaline - Crystalline mineral. Comes in a variety of colours, the most commonly seen of which is watermelon tourmaline shades of pink and green.

Turquoise - Greenish-blue opaque stone. Often reconstituted with a resin to strengthen it. Howlite is a similar white stone, which when dyed makes a good stimulant.