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GABLONZ
Gablonz (Jablonec nad Nisou)
is a city in the Czech Republic,
in Bohemia, that is a center
of jewelry making. Before
World War 2, Gablonz was a
center of high-quality glass-blowing,
bead-making, and other costume-jewelry
related products.
GADROON
A series of small vertical,
diagonal or twisted grooves
applied as a border decoration
on silverware.
GAGATE
Gagate (popularly known as
jet) is fossilized coal. It
is a hard, lustrous black
stone that was used in mourning
jewelry during the Victorian
era (especially after Queen
Victoria's husband died and
she went into a long-lasting
mourning, affecting fashion).
Jet is frequently cabochon
cut. Gagate has been mined
near Whitby (on the Yorkshire
coast of England) since prehistoric
times. It is also found in
Spain. France, Germany, and
Russia, but these other sources
are said to be inferior to
the harder, more elastic Whitby
jet. Jet/gagate has a hardness
of 2.5-4 (quite soft) and
a specific gravity of 1.30-1.35
(it is relatively lightweight).
Jet leaves a brown streak.
When burnt with a red-hot
needle, jet smells like coal
Black glass and plastics are
often used to imitate jet
(glass is much heavier and
harder than jet) - jet is
warm to the touch.
GAHNOSPINEL
Gahnospinel is a rare blue
spinel stone that is high
in zinc and magnesium. It
can only be distinguished
from most spinel
by its high specific gravity
and high refractive index.
Gahnospinel has a hardness
of 8, a specific
gravity of 3.97. Its chemical
formula is (Mg, Zn)Al2O4.
GALLERY
A type of mounting with a
pierced, openwork design resembling
the gallery, (rear platform),
of an early sailing ship.
GARLAND STYLE
A jewelry style popular in
the early 20th century made
possible by the introduction
of the widespread use of platinum
and characterized by lightness
and delicacy that employed
motifs such as garlands, ribbon
bows, swags, and tassels.
GARNÉ
Garné was a trademark
of the Garne jewelry company,
New York, New York, USA, which
produced average-quality costume
jewelry. The Garne mark was
first used in June, 1945.
The small Garne company made
necklaces, pins, bracelets,
earrings, watch fobs, and
chatelaines
GARNET
Type
of Garnet |
Color
of Gem |
| Grossular |
Colorless, orange,
yellow, pink, or brown |
| Pyrope |
Colorless, pink, or
red |
| Pyrope-Almadine |
Red-orange to red-purple |
| Almandine-spessartine |
Red-orange |
| Chrome pyrope |
Orange-red |
| Almandine |
Orange-red to purple-red |
| Hessonite |
Yellow-orange to red |
| Spessartine |
Yellow-orange |
| Topazolite |
Yellow to orange-yellow |
| Malaia |
Yellow to red-orange
to brown |
| Andradite |
Yellow-green to orange-yellow
to black |
| Demantoid |
Green to yellow green
andradite |
| Tsavorite |
Green to yellow-green |
| Pyrope-Spessartine |
Green-yellow to purple |
| Color-change garnet |
Blue green in sunlight;
purple-red in incandescent
light |
| Transvaal "jade" |
Bright green grossular
garnet |
| Uvarovite |
Emerald green |
| Grape |
Purple |
| Rhodolite |
Purple-red |
| Xalostocite |
Pink grossular garnet |
GARNET
A family of stones having
many varieties differing in
color and in their constituents,
but all are silicates with
the same isometric crystallization
and conforming to the same
general chemical formula.
Garnet is a very commonly
found in gneiss and mica slate.
The name is derived from its
resemblance in color and shape
to the seeds of the pomegranate.
The most common color of garnets
range from light red to violet
or plum-red, but can also
be white, green, yellow, brown,
and black varieties. It seems
as though every shade and
color of garnet is given its
own name. Known varieties
of garnet include Andradite,
Tsavorite, Grossularite, Essonite,
Pyrope, Almandine, Spessartite,
Melanite, Allochroite, Ouvarovite,
Demantoid, and Rhodalite.
(See individual listings).
Garnets have a hardness that
varies between 6-8 on the
Mohs scale. It was believed
that the wearer of garnets
was kept in good health and
protected while traveling.
Garnets are worn to signify
truth and faith. Red garnet
is the birthstone for January.
GASPEITE
Gaspeite is a pale green to
apple-green semi-precious
gemstone that often has brown
inclusions of its host rock.
Gaspeite is translucent to
opaque. This beautiful stone
has only recently been used
in jewelry, and is often set
in silver. Gaspeite has a
hardness of 4.5 - 5, and a
specific gravity of 3.7. Gaspeite
is Nickel Magnesium Iron Carbonate;
its chemical formula is (Ni,
Mg, Fe)CO3.
This stone is found in Gaspe
Peninsula, Quebec, Canada
(where it was originally found
and from which it derives
its name) and Kambalda and
Widgie Mooltha, Western Australia,
Australia.
GEODE
A geode is a rock whose crystal-filled
interior can be hollow or
filled. The crystals that
form within the mineral crust
of the geode is called druze.
From the outside, geodes look
like rounded, but otherwise
ordinary rocks.
GEM
(Gemstone). A precious or
semiprecious stone that may
be used as a jewel when cut
and polished. Include diamond,
beryl, emerald, chalcedony,
agate, onyx, tourmaline, chrysolite,
sapphire, ruby, spinel, topaz,
turquoise, zircon, cubic zirconia,
jacinth, hyacinth, carbuncle,
amethyst, alexandrite, cat's
eye, bloodstone, hematite,
jasper, moonstone, sunstone,
and many others. Several organic
materials like coral and pearls
are also considered gemstones.
GEMSTONE
A gemstone (also called a
precious stone) is a mineral
that is valuable, rare and
often beautiful. A few organic
materials, like amber, coral
and pearls are also considered
gemstones.
GENUINE
Unless the word "genuine"
is included in the description
of a piece of jewelry, it
could simply be using the
term to describe the color
of the piece rather than its
actual content. For example,
"gold" meaning gold
toned, rather than actual
gold. (See below) Or "amethyst"
meaning amethyst colored,
rather than containing an
actual amethyst stone.
GENUINE PEARL
A smooth, round growth used
as a gem, a "genuine"
pearl is one that formed naturally
within the shell of a mollusk
due to an irritant rather
than having the irritant placed
into the mollusk by hand or
being made out of plastic.
GERMAN SILVER
German silver (also know as
nickel silver) is an alloy
consisting of mostly copper
(roughly 60 percent), and
approximately 20 percent nickel,
about 20 percent zinc, and
sometimes about 5 percent
tin (then the alloy is called
alpaca). There is no silver
at all in German silver. This
alloy was invented around
1860 in Germany as a silver
substitute.
GERRY'S
Gerry's is a mark of Gerry's
Creations, Inc., a costume
jewelry company. Gerry's produced
medium-quality to inexpensive
jewelry, including figural
pins (often depicting cute
animals).
GIA
GIA stands for the Gemological
Institute of America.
GILDING
An object decorated with a
thin layer of gold, gold leaf
or gold foil.
GILT
Gold plated.
GIMMEL
RING
A gimmel ring is a double
ring that was designed during
the Renaissance. It consists
of two or more interlocking
rings. A gimmel ring symbolizes
the union of two people.
GIPSY SETTING
The gipsy setting is a recessed
setting in which the stone
is sunk into the metal. There
are often engraved
designs around the stone (especially
star patterns). This type
of setting was developed in
the late 1800's and was often
used for rings. The gipsy
setting is also known as the
"star setting."
GIRANDÔLE
A style of earring or brooch
in which a large stone or
decorative element suspends
three smaller pear-shaped
pendants of similar design.
GIRASOL
Girasol (which means sunflower
in Spanish) is a yellow or
orange type of precious opal.
Girasol is also known as hyacinth
opal. In girasol, the play
of colors seems to come from
within the stone, like a floating
light, and seems to follow
the light source.
GIRDLE
The outermost edge of a cut
gem when viewed from the side
and top. It is the edge formed
by where the top section (crown)
and the bottom section (pavilion)
of the cut stone meet.
GIVRÉ BEADS
Givré beads are beads
made of transparent glass
fused around a translucent
core. Givré means frost
in French.
GLASS
Glass is often used in jewelry,
as beads (faceted or spherical),
rhinestones and as poured
glass.
GLASS PASTE
Glass paste (also known as
pate de verre) is glass that
is ground into a paste, put
into a mold, and then melted.
The final piece is an opaque,
dense glass with a frosted
surface.
GLOVE RING
A glove ring is a clip-like
device that is used to attach
one's gloves to a purse (or
other object). The glove ring
has a clip on one end (for
the gloves) and a chain with
a clasp on the other end (to
attach the device to a purse
handle).
GLUCINUM
(Also called "Beryllium")
A rare silver-white metallic
element resembling magnesium.
It is only found in nature
combined with other elements,
usually silica or alumina,
in the minerals phenacite,
chrysoberyl, beryl, euclase,
and danalite.
GLYPTOGRAPHY
Glyptography is the art of
engraving gemstones, making
intaglio and cameos. Stones
are engraved using grindstones
with powdered emory or diamond
as an abrasive
Karat |
Percent
Gold |
24
Kt. |
100%
Gold |
18
Kt. |
75%
Gold |
14
Kt. |
58.3%
Gold |
10
Kt. |
41.7% |
GNEISS
A form of granite, but having
the component materials, especially
the mica, arranged in planes
so that it breaks rather easily
into coarse slabs or flags.
GOLD
A yellow precious metal which
is valued for its beauty and
purity since it does not oxidize
or tarnish like most other
metals. It has been used for
coins and jewelry for over
6000 years and from this has
become regarded as a symbol
of wealth. Gold is very ductile
and is the most malleable
of all metals. It can be cast
into huge statues or beaten
into wafer thin sheets of
gold leaf. This malleability
makes it too soft to be used
in jewelry without being alloyed
with other metals.
GOLD DORE
Gold doré (pronounced
gold doh-ray) is a bar of
semi-purified gold (e.g. bullion).
After being mined, the first
stage in the purification
process of the gold ore produces
a cast bar (gold dore) that
is approximately 90% gold.
The other 10% is mostly metals
like silver and copper.
GOLDETTE
Goldette is the mark of the
Circle Jewelry Products Company,
New York, New York, USA (owned
by David Gartner). The Goldette
mark has been used since October,
1958. Goldette made good quality
jewelry often based on Victorian
styles, featuring gold-tone
metalwork, intaglio, and/or
enamelwork.
GOLD
ELECTROPLATING
Process by which sheets of
gold of at least 10 karats
and no less than seven-millionths
of an inch thick are electro-chemically
bonded to another metal.
GOLD FILLED
(Also "Goldfilled",
or "gold-filled",
abbreviated g.f.) A piece
of jewelry with a layer of
gold mechanically applied
to the surface of a base metal,
(like brass or copper), can
be called Gold Filled if the
amount of gold equals one-twentieth
of the total weight of the
piece. Victorian pieces are
likely to be unmarked, but
later pieces are marked with
the fineness of the gold layer,
and the part by weight of
the gold. For example a piece
marked "1/10 12K G.F."
is composed of at least 1/10
12K gold based on the weight
of the finished piece. An
older unmarked gold piece
may often be identified by
wear through to base metal,
especially when viewing corners
or edges under magnification.
Look for a change to a darker,
brassy colored material at
these spots.
GOLD
PLATED
A piece of jewelry with a
wafer thin coating of gold
electroplated or mechanically
plated onto a base metal.
GOLD STONE
Goldstone (also known as aventurine)
is a shimmering quartz stone
that ranges in color from
yellow to red to light green
to light brown. The shimmer
is caused by tiny metallic
particles (mica) within the
stone (not gold).
GOLD TONE
Jewelry finished with a gold
color with almost no appreciable
measurement of weight in actual
gold.
GOLD WASHED
Products that have an extremely
thin layer of gold, (less
than .175 microns thick),
applied by either dipping
or burnishing the metal, but
not plated.. This will wear
away more quickly than pieces
that are gold plated, gold-filled,
or gold electroplated.
GOLDEN FINISH
Jewelry finished so that it
has the look of gold, but
no actual gold content.
GOLDEN VALADIUM
Stainless steel that has been
electro-charged to resemble
real yellow gold.
GOLDSTONE
Aventurine. Aventurine:
(sometimes known as goldstone).
Often mistaken for jade, aventurine
is a granular green or blue
semi-translucent to mostly
opaque quartz stone with mica
flecks that cause a slight
metallic iridescence.
GOOD CONDITION
A piece of jewelry in Good
Condition will show substantial
evidence of wear. It will
have a noticeable patina which
may include numerous very
fine pits or lines. It will
not have cracks, chips, obviously
discolored or poorly replaced
stones, evidence of glue or
other repairs, or other evidence
of hard wear considered to
be damage. Damage of any kind
is separately detailed in
the item description, and
generally items with damage
appear at very reduced prices
in the Bargain section.
GOSHENITE
Goshenite is the pure, colorless
form of beryl (Be3AlSiO6,
related to emerald and aquamarine).
This hard, transparent gemstone
is named for the town of Goshen,
Massachusetts, where it was
first found. Goshenite has
been found in North and South
America (especially Colombia),
Northern Europe, East Africa,
South Africa, and the Himalayan
mountains in Asia. Goshenite
has a hardness of 7.5 - 8.0
and a specific gravity of
2.6 - 2.8. It is not enhanced.
Goshenite is sometimes coated
with a green foil to resemble
an emerald.
GOTHIC REVIVAL
Jewelry that evokes the feeling
of medieval Europe in its
use of styles, symbols, and
motifs. It began in the 18th
century as part of the romantic
movement.
GRADUATED
A graduated necklace of beads
or pearls has beads that go
from a small size in the back
of the neck and gradually
increase in size to a maximum
in the front of the necklace.
GRAIN
A grain is a unit of weight
used for diamonds and natural
pearls. Four grains are equal
to one carat.
GRAIN
A grain is a tiny sphere of
metal.
GRAM WEIGHT
The weight, in grams, of a
specific metal used in a piece
of jewelry.
GRANULATION
Granulation is a method of
decorating metal with tiny
metallic spheres. Tiny beads
of metal are soldered to the
surface to form a pattern.
GRANITE
A common igneous rock composed
of quartz, orthoclase, and
hornblende, often accompanied
by pyroxene or mica. It is
called granite because of
the granular surface. Granite
is frequently used for buildings
and monuments.
GRAPE
GARNET
Grape garnets are a rare,
intense violet to purple-red
garnet. Grape garnets are
made up of almandite and spessartite.
They have a hardness of 7-7.5
and a specific gravity of
3.8 - 3.9. Grape garnets are
found in the Orissa district
of northwestern India.
GRANULATION
A technique often used in Etruscan Revival jewelry, granulation
is the application of minute granules or grains of metal to
the surface of a piece of jewelry to form a decorative pattern.
GREEK KEY
A design motif attributed to the ancient Greeks symbolizing
the bonds of love, friendship and devotion. Greek key designs
are repeating patterns of interlocking geometric shapes.
GREEN DIAMOND
Green diamonds are rare, fancy diamonds and are quite valuable.
Diamonds are precious, lustrous gemstones made of highly-compressed
carbon; they are one of the hardest materials known. Diamonds
have a hardness of 10, a specific gravity of 3.5, and a refractive
index of 2.417 - 2.419.
GREEN GARNET
Green garnets are Demantoid garnets, a valuable green, and
very lustrous type of garnet. They are a rare variety of andradite.
Demantoid garnets have characteristic inclusions that look
like horsetails. Demantoid garnets has a hardness of 6-7 and
a specific gravity of 3.8 - 3.9. Demantoids were very popular
in the 1800's, but are rarely used today.
GREEN GOLD
An alloy made of gold mixed with copper, silver, zinc and
often cadmium. The copper is what gives it the greenish tinge.
It is commonly used with enameling to strengthen the color
of the gold when set beside the bright enamels.
GREEN ROUGE
Green rouge is chromium dioxide,
which is used to polish precious
metals, giving them a luster.
GREENSTONE
A compact variety of tremolite and a form of jade. Often called
"Nephrite" though it can also be found in shades
of grey, brown, and black.
GRELOT
Grelots are small beads that have an elongated, pendant shape.
GREY GOLD
Grey gold is gold that has been alloyed with 15-20% iron.
GRIQUALANDITE
Griqualandite is tiger's eye from Griqualand, South Africa.
It is a yellowish-brown to reddish-brown gemstone that has
a silky luster. This gemstone has bands of yellow and brown;
when viewed from the opposite direction, the colors are reversed.
Tiger's eye is usually highly polished and set as a cabochon
(or cut as a bead) to display the stone's chatoyancy (light
reflected in thin bands within the stone). Tiger's eye is
a type of chatoyant quartz with fibrous inclusions (especially
crocidolite). This stone is sometimes heat-treated. Tiger's
eye has a hardness of 7.0.
GROOVED
The channel routed in a line.
GROSSE
Grosse is a mark of the German jewelry company Henkel and
Grosse. Located in Pforzheim, Germany, this company has been
in business since 1938. Grosse has produced jewelry for Christian
Dior since 1955. Grosse also produces jewelry for Burberry's.
Later marks of Grosse have an acute accent on the final e,
Grossé.
GROSSULAR
Resembling a gooseberry, as with a grossular garnet, also
called Grossularite.
GROSSULAR GARNET
Grossular garnet is a type of garnet, calcium-aluminum silicate.
Hessionite is a transparent brown, yellow, orange, or honey-colored
variety of grossular garnet often used in jewelry. The yellow
variety is called cinnamon stone, hyacinth or jacinth. Transvaal
"jade" is a type of green to gray grossular garnet from South
Africa. Pink grossular garnets varieties include landerite,
rosolite, andXalostocite. Tsavorite is an emerald-green grossular
garnet. Grossular garnet has a hardness of 6-7.5 and a specific
gravity of 3.6.
GROSSULARITE
A translucent garnet of a pale green color like that of
the gooseberry, occurring alone or as a constituent of the
common garnet. It may also be pink, brown, or black.
GUILLOCHÉ
A style of enameling in which a continuous decoration is engraved
by an engine-turned lathe and then covered with translucent
enamel so that the engraving can be seen through the enamel.
GUNMETAL
Gunmetal is a metal alloy that is composed of 90 percent copper
and 10 percent tin.
GUTTA PERCHA
Gutta percha is a resin from the Isonandra Gutta tree. Jewelry
was made from gutta percha in the mid-1800's. Gutta percha
was also used to insulate electrical cables. The Gutta percha
company was founded by Dr. Montgomerie in 1845 and was in
business until 1930.
GYPSUM
A soft, white mineral composed of hydrous sulfate of lime.
It is used as plaster of Paris.
GYPSY RING
A gypsy ring (also
spelled gipsy) is a ring with
a recessed stone or stones.
Also known as "star setting."
GYPSY SETTING
A setting in which the surface of the mount is virtually
flush with the top of the gemstone.
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