Skip to main content
Your cart is empty :(

Jewelry Terminology

Azure: Detailed wire work/gallery underneath an expensive piece. 

Bridal Jewelry: Any jewelry relating to the state of marriage ,i.e. Engagement rings, wedding bands, wraps, anniversary bands, jackets Cabochon/Cabouchon: a domed smooth polished stone with a flat bottom.

Bridal Terms

  • Anniversary: usually an all-around pattern in a band like silhouette, often containing multiple diamonds and/or colored stones 
  • Wedding/Engagement: solitaire engagement ring, engagement 'sets', wedding band Solitaire Engagement Ring: featuring single large center stone, usually a diamond 
  • Bridal set: Set of rings including mounted solitaire engagement ring and matching wedding band 
  • Jacket: A decorative ring which enhances a solitaire when it is inserted into the jacket from the top 
  • Wraps: a decorative ring which enhances a solitaire, when it worn next to or intertwined with the wrap 
  • Eternity Bands/ET Bands/ET Rings: See Anniversary ring. 

Buff Top Stone: Stone that is smooth and bright on top. 

Collection: A line of jewelry, usually with a cohesive theme 

Color/Colored Stone Jewelry: Jewelry containing precious or semi-precious colored gemstones

Granulation: Ancient technique of delicately adhering beads of metal to a metal surface without using solder. 

Hand Fabricated: Made by hand. Usually built directly in metal 

Line: A group of pieces sold by a company 

Master-model: a model from which other models are made, so that multiple variations of a piece can be produced more easily 

Model: a prototype, usually wax or metal, from which molds and mass-produced copies of a piece are made 

Mokume Gane: A woodgrain effect obtained by the laminating of many thin layers of metals of different colors. The resulting sheet is then deformed by various methods such as punching from the back and then filed smooth which reveals a play of colors and patterns from the different metal colors being thus exposed. 

Prototype: The first working sample or model of a piece of jewelry 

Sample: A finished version of a piece of jewelry

T.W. (total weight): The total carat weight of a group of stones. Sometimes also shown as TCW (total carat weight)

Wax-Set/Cast In Place/Cast In Situ/CSS/CIS: Stones that are placed into their settings when the piece is still in wax. They are then invested and cast along with the wax. This avoids setting costs and labor and is now extensively used in mass production.