Definitions of Silver

AG - the element silver

Argentium silver - invented in 1996 by Peter Johns, like sterling silver is at least .925 pure silver. Unlike sterling which is 0.75 alloy copper, argentium has a small amount of germanium instead of copper. It is free from tarnish and firescale, more malleable, easily fused and fired with metal clay. Germanium is an element similar to tin and silicon.

A.B.S. Platinum silver - created by American Bullion Precious Metals in Carson, CA in 2003. It has three formulas all beginning with .925 sterling and 1%, 3.5% or 5% platinum. This metal is a cheaper alternative to white gold. This new alloy can be fabricated and cast more easily than platinum and is tarnish/firescale resistant. Platinum is a white metal, but unlike gold it is used in jewelry in almost its pure form (approximately 95% pure). Platinum is very dense and heavy metal, extremely long wearing and very white, so it does not need to be rhodium plated like white gold does.

Aurora borealis - a rhinestone that has a metallic finish to produce sparkling colorful reflections.

Bakelite - carbolic acid and formaldehyde when heated, form a phenolic resin or phenol-formaldehyde which is a very early, very hard plastic discovered in 1908 by Dr. Leo Baekeland. For End of Day Bakelite see below.

Basse-taille (bas TIE yuh) - an enameling technique that applies translucent enameling over an engraved, or decorated metal base.

Bezel - the metal around a stone that holds it in place.

Bezel set - a stone is set by tightly wrapping metal around it to hold it in place without the use of prongs.

Bib - a necklace that is in the shape of a child's bib. It is usually showier and more dramatic than just a regular necklace and these necklaces are more valuable than regular necklaces since less of them were made originally and there original prices were higher.

Brilliant cut - a rhinestone or paste stone that has been cut with twice the number of cuts (usually 16) than a chaton cut stone has therefore giving it more brilliance. They were made to look like authentic gems such as diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.

Cabochon - a stone (either costume or fine) that is round on the top and flat on the bottom. It is smooth without facets.

Chatelaine - originally this was a ring or hook attached at the waist or a fancy brooch, to which chains were attached, to carry useful things like keys, etc. Now, it also refers to 2 part brooches linked by a chain (such as a dog on a leash held by a lady) or to a brooch that has dangling items hung from chains.

Duette - a pin and plate mechanism that hold 2 brooches. Each brooch can be worn separately or they can be put on to the mechanism and worn as one larger brooch. Usually the brooches match each other.

Eagle Mark - from 1945 to 1979 (some literature dates it from 1948 to 1980) in Mexico, sterling was indicated by an eagle mark. The eagle can be somewhat worn off so that it looks like a bell, a ship, a face, a child, a cameo, and various other things. Depending on how much of the whole eagle is still seen may indicate that it is older or newer. See also Pre-Eagle below

En esclavage - in a multi-strand necklace, the lower strand or strands are longer than the higher one or ones.

Gauntlet - a bracelet that is oval and rigid and has an opening at the back

Japanned metal - metal that has been treated to look black or gray usually used to give the stones a more defined and richer look.

Niello - a metal alloy made with sulphur to produce a black or very dark accent color

Parure - a set of jewelry including a necklace, bracelet, earrings, brooch, and ring. That's considered 5 items (earrings are 1). However, most people consider a parure everything except the ring. Demi

Parure - is 2 pieces of jewelry or more pieces but less than 4 pieces (again, earrings are 1). So, a bracelet and earrings, or a necklace and bracelet, or a necklace and earrings, or a brooch and earrings, or bracelet and brooch, etc. would be a demi parure.

Pinchbeck - a metal (not found in today's jewelry) made from the combination of copper and zinc to look like gold. Wears very well. Often, mistaken for gold filled and gold plated items. When the jewelry has a particularly pinkish gold cast to it, the content of copper is higher. Very popular in the 1800s.

Pre Eagle - from 1945 to 1979 (some literature dates it from 1948 to 1980) in Mexico, sterling was indicated by an eagle mark. The eagle can be somewhat worn off so that it looks like a bell, a ship, a face, a child, a cameo, and various other things. Depending on how much of the whole eagle is still seen may indicate that it is older or newer. But a pre eagle mark means the jewelry was made before 1945.

Prystal - a phenolic plastic made to look like a crystal.

Repousse' - using a small hammer and pounding from the back of the metal, it is hand tooled to make the design.

Rhodium - plating Rhodium is one of 6 metals used to look like platinum and is from the platinum family.

Rolled gold plate - considerably thicker than regular gold plating or gold filled and it lasts longer.

Russian gold plating - a gold plating that was designed to not look too shiny under the cameras eye. Trifari and Joseff among other designers found it to look very rich but not gaudy. Sometimes, the designers would rename it with a variation of their own name.

Signed - indicates that a piece of jewelry has a tiny signature of 14K, Sterling, etc., or a designer's signature. It can be found with a magnifying glass on the clasp, on the back of a piece of jewelry, and sometimes even on the side of a pin or on top of the tiny clasp that goes over a cameo pin. Sometimes quite difficult to find the signature and not all designer pieces are signed... especially the wonderful early pieces.

800 silver - 800 out of 1000 parts pure silver

925 silver - sterling silver is the classic "sterling silver" which is 925 parts out of 1000 parts pure silver. This is what most sterling silver is.

980 silver - the highest quality sterling silver with 980 parts out of 1000 parts pure silver (not used very often) and it tarnishes less than regular sterling.

Torsade - many strands of pearls, glass, or beads pulled together at a single clasp to form a very thick necklace; sometimes the strands are twisted and sometimes not. It can also be a bracelet.

Verdegris - that nasty green stuff that represents rust! Never buy a Haskell with verdigris. When the gold gilt brass starts turning green, it means it is deteriorating!

Wingback earrings - concerning the earring backs, there is a double hoop of gold or silver which fits into the ear cradle and there is a thick curved post that holds them onto the ear by looping upward in back of the ear.

Pure silver - has a brilliant white metallic luster. It is ductile and malleable below gold and palladium (one of the platinum metals). Pure Silver naturally is a soft 999/1000 pure. In make it hard enough and suitable for jewelry, it's alloyed with other metals. This silver content tarnishes more slowly than sterling.

Sterling silver - is the standard for quality silver jewelry. The metal will not wear down. Sterling silver is .925 pure silver and 75 parts alloy metal of copper added. Sterling Silver has the most ideal percentage of metal for having durability and natural bright sheen and patina.

Marks - used for jewelry include "sterling", "ster.", .925, or 92.5 and 925.

Coin silver - is 90 percent, 900 parts, pure silver and 10 percent alloy metal. As its name implies, coin silver was used to produce U.S. currency during the 19th century, but no longer. Coin silver is labeled as "coin silver," "coin," "900," ".900," or "90".

Nickel or german silver - contains no silver at all. It is made up of various alloys of copper, nickel, zinc and other metals including lead and tin and has a silvery white appearance. They are is used to costume because of its hardness and resistance to corrosion. Many people have allergic reactions to the nickel against the skin.

B.M. - stands for britannia metal has no silver, and is an alloy consisting chiefly of tin, copper, and antinomy, a metal like pewter, but harder

E.P., EPNS and silver plate - stand for electroplate on Nickel Silver.

Sterling EP - is found on rings for silver-plated.

G.S. - for german silver on mesh and coin purses, and is an alloy made up of nickel, copper, and zinc.

N.S. - standing for nickel silver.

W.M. - is white metal with no silver.

Vermeil or ver-may, - jewelry pieces have a Sterling Silver base metal topped with gold plating. It is often considered semi-fine jewelry, because it is made entirely of precious metals. Vermeil is a French word describing Sterling Silver that has been electroplated with at least 100 millionths of an inch of karat gold up to 24 karats. Only items of jewelry meeting this definition can be labeled "Vermeil". Vermeil jewelry is very popular because it wears well. It is not available in many retail jewelry departments but can be found in high-end stores. Vermeil jewelry is made into tennis bracelets, pendants, bangles, pins/brooches, men's cuff links, necklaces, fashion rings, charms, and chains. It has the look and feel of pure, elegant fine gold jewelry with weight compared to that of karat gold pieces, but at a better price.

Alpaca silver - is a trade name for nickel silver and for electro plated nickel silver. Originally a trademark of Berndorf AG., it is now used as a generic name for nickel silver, especially in Germany and Scandinavian countries. Often mistakenly written Alpaca. Also called New Silver.

Filigree - is a technique where thinly twisted silver or gold wire produces fine intricate patterns, shapes, and designs in metal and are soldered into place to create open, airy, lacy decorative jewelry pieces, sometimes with semi-precious stones. Filigree is Italian, Middle Eastern, German and Mexican jewelry. Openwork Filigree is not soldered onto a sheet of meta and difficult to make. Imitation filigree is made of stamped metal.

Repousse or embossing - is a method of decorating sheet metal. Raised designs are produced by hammering or punching into the silver and gold using special punches to form the raised designs on the surface of the metal.

Inlay - is created when a piece is partially embedded in another material such that the two materials make a level surface ornamenting the surface of jewelry pieces.

Enameling - is decorative technique product of fusing colored powdered glass to metal creating a vitreous, glass-like decorative surface. It melts together of the glass and metal under very high temperatures using colored pigments to cover or partially fill part or all of a design. The process provides great contrast of colors and makes a shiny, glazed surface. Enameling is most frequently found on the jewelry from Norway and Denmark, but also France, Germany, and China.

Filigree - is silver or gold work soldering tiny, twisted wires to create fine, delicate, airy, lacey, elaborate designs. Silver and gold are good for filigree as both metals are soft and malleable to be easily curled and twisted into most any design.

Channel Set - is to set stones to rest in a metal channel by a slight rim without prongs. It usually contains round or baguette shaped stones.

Channel Work - is a decorating technique to create a mosaic design. The panel covers a part or the entire surface of a silver piece with a matrix that outlines the design and fills each compartment with semi-precious stones of contrasting colors to complete the design. Channel work is found most frequently on Native American jewelry, particularly WW2 Zuni jewelry.

Carving - is a decorating technique whereby a motif is carved on silver vessels and jewelry. Carving is seen on some Middle Eastern and Oriental jewelry pieces.

Niello - is an alloy of a black mixture of silver, copper, lead and sulfur. It is a technique where an engraved design in metal is filled with the powered niello alloy, melted and fuses with the underlying metal, then polished resulting in an enamel-like effect. In older pieces, the niello fills an engraved design in metal. In newer pieces, the niello forms the background and the niello alloy is simply painted onto the metal because this process is found to be simpler, cheaper, and less durable. Niello is found most frequently on Siamese silver jewelry and can also be found on some Russian and Middle Eastern jewelry like Persian.

Silver - is also the brightest reflector of any metal, other than liquid mercury, and can be polished to a higher sheen that platinum. The chemical symbol for silver, Ag, is from the Latin argentum meaning "white and shining."

finish - on silver can be high polished, matte, brushed with an abrasive, smooth satin matte, sandblasted rough matte, oxidized as chemically blackened, or chemically aged antiqued.

Silver - is said to have a patina, or a worn-looking finish that is achieved through frequent use and handling, and is particular to the wearer's skin chemistry.

Mexican silver - is between 90% to 99% pure.