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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.

Gold is a precious metal that is very soft when pure (24 Kt.) as seen in gold coins. Gold is alloyed (mixed with other metals, usually silver and copper) this makes it more workable for jewelry manufacturing makes it less expensive and stronger. The purity of gold jewelry is measured in karats. Hallmarks on gold is done with a three-digit number that indicates the parts per thousand of gold. In this system, "750" means 750/1000 gold (equal to 18K); "585" means 585/1000 gold (equal to 14K). Alloyed gold comes in many colors:

14kt White Gold
noun A pale alloy of gold especially with nickel or palladium that resembles platinum in appearance. .525% = the percentage of 24kt gold which is pure 100% (found in most coins) Marked 14kt or 585.

14kt Yellow Gold
noun Date: 1666: a yellow alloy of gold. Looks from a medium to heavy yellow in color appearance. .585 = the percentage of 24kt gold which is pure 100% (found in most coins) Marked 14kt or 585.

14kt Pink Gold
noun Date: 1666: a pinkish yellow alloy of gold. Looks from a medium to heavy pink in color appearance. .525% = the percentage of 24kt gold which is pure 100% (found in most coins) Marked 14kt or 585.

18kt White Gold
noun Date: 1666: a pale alloy of gold especially with nickel or palladium that resembles platinum in appearance. .525% = the percentage of 24kt gold which is pure 100% (found in most coins) Marked 18kt or 750.

18kt Yellow Gold
noun Date: 1666: a yellow alloy of gold. Looks from a medium to heavy yellow in color appearance. .525% = the percentage of 24kt gold which is pure 100% (found in most coins) Marked 18kt or 750.

18kt Pink Gold
noun Date: 1666: a pinkish yellow alloy of gold. Looks from a medium to heavy pink in color appearance. .525% = the percentage of 24kt gold which is pure 100% (found in most coins) Marked 18kt or 750.

24kt Gold
noun Date: 1666: a pure dark yellow non-alloy, pure gold. Looks Dark yellow in color appearance. 100% = the percentage of 24kt gold which is pure 100% (found in most coins) Marked 24 karat.

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 or 100 points.

Green Diamonds

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 Emerald

Pronunciation: 'em-r&ld, 'e-m&- Function: noun
Emeralds are a very hard, green precious stone (beryl, Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈, colored by chromium and some vanadium impurities). Flaws and cloudiness (called jardin) are very common in emeralds, so many emeralds are oiled, irradiatied,and dyed to improve their look. Synthetic emeralds (developed by Carroll Chatham in the 1930's) have fewer imperfections and are very hard to distinguish from natural emeralds. Emeralds belong the beryl group of stones which also includes aquamarines, morganite, and chrysoberyl). Emeralds have a hardness of 7-8 and a specific gravity of 2.6 - 2.8. Emerald (and all forms of beryl) have large, perfect, six-sided crystals. Emeralds were long thought to have healing powers, especially for eyesight. During the renaissance, emeralds were used as a test for friendship among the aristocracy; an emerald given to a friend would remain perfect as long as the friendship endure.

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

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A hallmark is an official mark (or a series of marks) made in metal that indicates the fineness of the metal and the manufacturer's mark. For example, a hallmark of 925 indicates 925 parts of gold per 1000 weight. Other hallmarks indicate the maker of the piece and sometimes the year of manufacture. In many countries (like Britain) it is illegal to hallmark metal incorrectly; some countries are notoriously lax in their enforcement of hallmark honesty.

Hardness

A substance's hardness is how resistant it is to being scratched. Hardness is measured using the Mohs Scale of Hardness. In the Mohs scale, one substance is harder than another if it can scratch it. For example, a diamond will scratch garnet, but not the other way around, so a diamond in harder than garnet.

Heat Treatment

Heat treatment is the heating of stones to a high temperature in order to enhance the color or clarity. For example, blue-green aquamarine becomes blue with heat treatment and brown zircon becomes blue or clear.

Inclusion

An inclusion is a particle of foreign matter contained within a mineral. Inclusions can be solid, liquid, or gaseous. Many inclusions decrease the value of a stone, but some, like rutile forming asterisms in star sapphires and needles in rutilated quartz and tourmalinated quartz, are prized.

Irradiated Diamonds

Irradiated diamonds are diamonds that have been exposed to radiation. This changes the diamond's color (as the radiation changes the crystalline structure of the diamond). The change in the diamond is permanent. Older radiation treatments involving exposing the stone to radium; newer treatments bombard the stone with atomic particles in a cyclotron (which accelerates protons, neutrons, or alpha-partices to high speeds). The irradiated stones take on a greenish or an aquamarine hue. Irradiations of diamonds was first done in 1904 by Sir William Crookes, who exposed diamonds to radium, giving them a permanent greenish color; his diamonds are still slightly radioactive (at the level of radium-painted watch). Newer irradiation techniques bombard the crystal with atomic particles in a cyclotron, and then the stone is heated to about 800 degrees Centigrade, producing a stone with very little radioactivity and a permanent color change.

Irradiation

Irradiation is the act of being exposed to radiation. Many stones (like kunzite) are irradiated in order to enhance their color. Being irradiated changes the crystal structure of the mineral by moving electrons. Irradiation techniques bombard the crystal with high-energy radiation (like gamma rays), producing a stone with very little radioactivity and a change of color. Some color changes caused by Irradiation are permanent, others care unstable and be reversed by heating or exposure to sunlight. For example, colorless topaz changes to a cinnamon brown color after ibeing irradiated with cobalt-60 radiation, but the color fades as the stone is exposed to sunlight. A new method of irradiation changes clear topaz to a brilliant, non-fading blue.

Ivory

Ivory is elephant tusks (the large, upper incisor teeth), which used to be carved into beautiful jewelry, trinkets, and piano keys. The finest ivory is the white African elephant ivory; Asian elephant ivory is yellower. Ivory has a complex characteristic grain which helps distinguish it from imitations. Using ivory is now banned since elephants are in danger of going extinct. Other tusk-like material is often substituted for ivory, including walrus tusks, whale teeth, hippopotamus teeth, animal bone, palm seed, and more recently, plastics. Vegetable ivory comes from the inner seed of the South American ivory palm and was used for small items, like dice. Synthetic ivory is made from plastics (like celluloid) and is called "French Ivory," Ivoride, Ivorine, or "Genuine French Ivory."

Jade is a semi-precious stone that ranges in color from green to white to lilac to brown to almost black. Translucent jade is more highly valued than opaque jade. Jade is often cabochon set; stones with imperfections are often carved (the imperfections are simply carved away). Two different minerals are known as jade: jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite is the harder of the two; it is usually used in jewelry production. Nephrite is slightly softer and is often veined; it is used in carvings, for making beautiful bowls and vases.

Jet

(also known as gagate) is fossilized coal. It is a hard, lightweight lustrous black stone that was used in mourning jewelry during the Victorian era (especially after Queen Victoria's husband died in 1861 and she went into long period of mourning, greatly affecting jewelry fashion). Jet is frequently cabochon cut. Most jet is from Whitby, England; jet 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 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

Jewelry

Jewelry (spelled jewellery in Britain) is articles of personal adornment, like rings, necklaces, bracelets, cuff links, and pins. Jewelry is made from metals (especially gold and silver), stones, glass, plastic, and other materials.

Jewelry Type

This drop down menu is made for you and your customer to select a type of jewelry you are looking for. If you continue to narrow down your search you will have no problem finding what you need!

Kunzite

Kunzite is a transparent pink, light pink, or light purple gemstone that resembles roze quartz. It is a variety of the mineral spodumene. Kunzite can fade after prolonged exposure to light. Kunzite is also called "evening stone," because of its propensity to fade in bright light. The original color of some kunzite stones can be restored or even intensified by irradiation. It is usually used as a large stone and is easily chipped; small stones of kunzite are difficult to cut. Kunzite is often used in pendants. Kunzite has a hardness of 6-7 and a specific gravity of 3.1 - 3.2. Kunzite was first found in 1902 in Pala, California, USA, and is named for the gemologist George F. Kunz. Kunzite's chemical composition is LiAlSi₂O₆

Kyanite

Kyanite is a deep sapphire blue, green, gray, or white gemstone. The color is not always uniform; it can be blotchy or in streaks. The cystals are crystals are transparent to translucent. Kyanite has a hardness of 4.5 to 6.5; the hardness varies depending on which way it is scratched (this happens because kyanite consists of long, thin crystals). It has a specific gravity of 3.58. Kyanite is found in Brazil, Burma, Kenya, Europe, India, Australia, Kenya, and the USA. Kyanite's chemical composition is Al₂SiO₅; it is composed of andalusite and sillimanite

The feminine or male gender> The behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with either sex. Male or female items! Both would be UNISEX.

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Lapis Lazuli

Lapis lazuli is a rich blue opaque, semi-precious stone that has been used in jewelry since ancien times. Ground-up lapis lazuli was once used as a pigment for oil paintings. Lapis lazuli is often dyed to deepen and improve its color. Lapis has a hardness of 5.5; it chips and scratches easily. It has a specific gravity of 2.4 to 2.9. Water can dull its sheen. Lapis lazuli contains the minerals calcite (which decreases its value), pyrite (which can increase its value), and sodalite. Swiss lapis is not Lapis lazuli at all; it is dyed jasper. Denim lapis is relatively pale, low-grade, inexpensive lapis from Chile; it is the color of denim cloth because of calcite inclusions (which whiten the color and lower the value).

Linde Star Sapphire

Linde star sapphire ("Linde stars") are synthetic star sapphires that were first made by the Linde Air Products Company in 1947 (they also developed star rubies that year). The Linde company later became a division of Union Carbide. Star sapphires are sapphires that have a six-sided asterism.

London Blue Topaz

London blue topaz (Aluminum silicate fluoride hydroxide) is the darkest blue variety of topaz. Most blue topaz is silver topaz that has been irradiated and heat treated, but some stones are blue naturally. London blue topaz is found in Brazil, U.S.A., Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Russia, Australia, Pakistan, Mexico, Tasmania, Japan, and Africa. Topaz has a hardness of 8 and a specific gravity of 3.5-3.6.

Mine Cut

Mine cut stones have a cushion-shaped girdle. This type of cut was popular in the late 1800's.

Hardness

Talc 1

Fingernail, Ivory, Shell 2

Jet 2.5

Gold 2-3

Bronze, Coral, Pearl 3

Iron 4

Glass 5

Opal 5.5-6.5

Amethyst, Chalcedony, Quartz, Steel (pocket knife) 7

Spinel, Topaz 8

Ruby, Sapphire 9

Diamond 10 (hardest substance)

Mobe’ pearls are large, hemispherical cultured pearls that grow attached to the inside shells of oysters. Mobe’ pearls are used in earrings, pins, and rings.

Give you and you customer even a further way to narrow you search. It gives you all the choices of metals you can choose from.

Within these pages are some of the most spectacular antique and period jewelry items. Our collection includes quality mountings, for engagement rings, wedding bands and any items you may need to make a special order out of gold & silver and platinum and many others. Simply browse our inventory to find the perfect romantic anniversary gift idea. We will make it for you if no one has it!

Pearls are organic gems grown within oysters and a few other mollusks. Pearls are formed when a foreign object (like a tiny stone) has made its way into the mollusk's shell. The mollusk secretes nacre, a lustrous substance that coats the intruding object. As thousands of layers of nacre coat the intruder, a pearl is formed; this process takes up to seven or eight years (an oyster's useful life span). The most valuable pearls are perfectly symmetrical, large, naturally produced, and have a shimmering iridescence (called orient luster). There are many types of pearls, including natural pearls (made with no human interference), cultured pearls (pearls made by inserting a bit of a mother-of-pearl) into [nucleating] a living oyster or by inserting a bit of foreign tissue), baroque pearls (irregularly-shaped pearls), freshwater pearls, seed pearls (tiny pearls), Biwa pearls (a type of freshwater pearl from Lake Biwa, Japan from the freshwater mussel, Hyriopsis schlegeli), blister pearls (grown attached to the shell), black pearls (gray to black pearls), Mobe’ pearls (cultivated blister pearls), etc. Pearls can be gently cleaned with mild soap and water. The biggest natural pearl, known as the "Pearl of Allah" or "Pearl of Lao-tse," weighs 14 pounds (6.4 kg).

Function: noun
Date: circa 1590
It’s an ornament worn around the neck. Old or new it’s avialble at JewelryReserve.com. Do a search and see how easy it is!

Obsidian

Obsidian (also called Apache tears) is a volcanic glass that is usually black, but is occasionally red, brown, gray, green (rare), dark with "snowflakes," or even clear. This glassy, lustrous mineral is found in lava flows, and obsidian stones can be massive. Obsidian is formed when viscous lava (from volcanos) cools rapidly. Most obsidian is 70 percent silica. Obsidian has a hardness of 5 and a specific gravity of 2.35. The pin above is Mahogany (brown) obsidian.

This Is a section you will not believe? No other website makes so much available in one place. So if you need artwork to jewelry you have it all right here! Art (also called ModeArt) was costume jewelry produced by Art Mode Jewelry Creations Inc. It was in business from the 1940's until the late 1960's. Their medium- to high-quality pieces included figurals, Victorian replicas, and many different styles. We carryn the originals Diamond & gold and platinum pieces.

Old Mine Cut

Old mine cut is a term that refers to a brilliant cut in which the stone is cushion-shaped and has a high crown (the upper part of a gemstone).

Onyx is a semi-precious stone that is black and white, generally arranged in layers. It is a form of agate with parallel banding. This structure lends itself to cameo making. Onyx is a species of chalcedony (microcrystalline quartz).

Opals are semi-precious stones that are luminous and iridescent, frequently with inclusions of many colors ("fire"). Opal is a mineral composed of noncrystalline (amorphous) silica (and some water) and is a species of quartz. There are three major types of opals: common opal, opalescent precious opal (white or black, with a rainbow-like iridescence caused by tiny crystals of cristobalite), and fire opal (a milky stone that is firey orange to red in color with no opalescence). Contra luz opals are transparent opals that show a brilliant play of iridescence only when light shines through the stone. Many opals have a high water content - they can dry out and crack if they are not cared for well (opals should be stored in damp cotton wool). Opals have a hardness of 5.5 to 6.5 and a specific gravity of 1.98-2.50. Opals are found in many placees worldwide, but Australia has a tremendous variety of beautiful opals.

An opal triplet is a manufactured stone that is composed of three thin layers that are glued together. A thin layer of opal is sandwiched between a layer of clear quartz and a layer of either obsidian or ironstone. The clear quartz is the top layer, making the gem harder (and less susceptible to scratches). An opal triplet is an opal doublet with a quartz layer on top. Triplets must be cleaned very carefully

Padparadscha Sapphires

Padparadscha sapphires (also spelled padparadschah) are a rare pink-orange variety of corundum or the synthetic equivalent. These gems are mined in Sri Lanka and are usually heat treated to improve and intensify the color. The name padparadscha comes from the Sinhalese word for lotus flower. Hardness = 9, Specific Gravity = 4.

Palladium is a valuable, durable, and malleable light-gray metal used in some jewelry; it is related to platinum, but is less dense and has a lower melting point. Unlike platinum, palladium reacts when exposed to aqua regia, sulfuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids. It also develops a tarnish when it is heated. Pallasium is not a shiny as platinum. Palladium was only isolated as an element in 1802 by William Hyde Wollaston and Smithson Tennant. It was first used in jewelry in 1939 (during World War 2, platinum was used for war purposes, and was not available for jewelry making - palladium was temporarily used as a substitute for platinum). White gold is sometimes alloyed with palladium (instead of nickel), resulting in a gray-white gold. After World War 2, palladium was rarely used in jewelry making beacuse of some difficulties in working with it. Palladium was recently discovered to be useful in engine catalytic converters, and its price skyrocketed to over $700 per ounce (it had previously been much less expensive than platinum or gold) and is no longer practical to use as jewelry.

Pavé

Pavé settings are stones set very close together. The stones hide the underlying surface. In better pieces, claw settings are used; in less expensive pieces, the stones are simple glued in.

Pendants

A pendant is a hanging ornament. Necklaces, pins, and earrings often have a pendant to match. The many pendants shown in the website will be items you may have never seen or will ever see again.

Peridot (also known as the "evening emerald" and chrysolite) is a yellow-green semi-precious stone with an oily luster; peridot is a transparent, green form of olivine. Peridot exhibits double refraction; when you look through the stone, things appear double. For example, when looking into a faceted peridot gemstone, the number of bottom facets appears to be double the actual number of facets. Most peridots are from a volcanic island in the Red Sea, Zebergit/St. John, the "Serpent Isle." Peridots have been found in meteorites. Peridot has a hardness of 6.5. Peridot cat's eye also exists.

A pin (also brooch) is an ornament that can be pinned to a garment. There are many to view on our website. So many you will be able to make a sale you never thought you would have the piece to fill the order.

Platinum is a very strong, dense precious metal with a white color. Platinum jewelry is usually 90%-95% pure, is very sturdy, and holds stones well. Platinum is related to iridium. Platinum is 60% heavier than gold. Iridium and platinum are frequently alloyed together, since the Irridium increases the workability of the platinum. Platinum was only discovered in the 1700's in Russia. Platinum is abbreviated Pt. and Plat.

Princess Cut

A princess cut is a square-cut stone. This fancy cut is relatively new and is also known as a Quadrillion or Squarillion cut

Purple Diamond

Purple 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

Grain A grain is a unit of weight used for diamonds and natural pearls. Four grains are equal to one carat or 100 points.

Green Diamonds 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.