[Rewrite - Final Draft] Jewelcrafting

Viskyia Crow · March 15, 2009, 12:34 PM


	Jewelcrafting The art and science of intertwining metals and gemstones.


	Abstract Jewelcrafting has long been considered a hybrid of art and science; the delicate search for aesthetic balance in the portrayal of the glittering beauty of a polished metal coupled with the difficult pursuit of precision that is a cut gemstone. This incredible meld of metal and stone has made this trade skill one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, to undertake as as a way of life. Jewelcrafting is both trade skill and vocation, for jewelers possess a great deal of lore and cultivate their craft through practical experience. Jewelcrafting concerns itself with the creation of fine pieces of jewelry that have both ceremonial and utilitarian functions. The Jeweler shapes gems through cutting and treating them, while creating fixtures through metal working. Dedicating years to mastering this trait has ensured the presence of skilled and dedicated practitioners.


	Background Almost every race of people have had some form of jewelcrafting or another. From the dwarves of Centripax to the desert people of Arakmat, the art form is flourishing in Aelyria. When and where society actually learned the art form is debatable. Scholars know, however, that some of societies first crafts involved metal and stone. Ancient pieces reportedly crafted by Ancient Aelyrians also exist. Much like the growing and storage of food, blacksmithing, and healing, jewelcrafting arose as society grew. When society turned from a survival nomadic culture and settled in cities, jewelcrafting began to flourish as people settled into trade skills and started working on luxury items as economies flourished and expendable incomes prevailed. When jewelry became more diverse and accessible to people, no longer was its sole function that of ceremony and ritual. Competition for excellence in jeweled pieces forced master jewelers to experiment with different gem shaping techniques, resulting in the magnificent discovery of extraordinary power inherent in the natural essence of the rarest gems. This power, or signe, was unlike any magic or faith known, and instead was dismissed as a quirk of nature and fortune. It was later hypothesised that the Gods themselves had tinkered with these treasures and blessed them with charms and wards for purposes of their own machinations. . So complex was the skill required to unlock the blessings of the signe that only master jewelers, having dedicated years of study and commitment, could unravel the power locked within. In addition to signe, each gemstone has a lore associated with it. This lore is often a fable or tale as to how the gemstone was discovered, and indeed what intrinsic properties the gemstone might have in terms of healing, comfort, curse or luck. A dedicated loremaster could discover that behind each gem there was a curious tale, a fable lending itself to both pride and promise behind the power of the stone. Today, Jewelcrafting is one of the most prestigious and lucrative of the trade skills. Practitioners can be found in just about any city of the Aelyrian Empire, peddling their wares and taking commissions for pieces. To provide distinctiveness amidst this sea of stone-carvers, the level of creativity in jewel craft has risen to new heights. Pushed by competition and the demand of patrons for variation in appearance and variety in usefulness, experts and masters have been known to perform decorative alterations that integrate jewelry with clothing, armor and other items. Beyond simple rings and necklaces, patrons have demanded unique jewelry suitably adapted to their individual lifestyles, and as such, veils, masks, and even figurines have become commonplace.

Tools of the Trade

Serious jewelers almost immediately get their hands upon a Jewelry Kit. This small leather pouch contains dozens of implements, chisels, hammers, polishing stones and other intricate instruments used for gem shaping. A small gauge of firewick is used in combination with a hand-held soldering lever to perform metal working, as the Jewelry Kit also contains pincers and clenches for creating intricate designs and proper settings. Finally, a fine feather brush, sometimes from a phoenix or warbird often obtained illegally, is handily available with the kit along with several vials of polishes, lacquers and powders often essential for gem finishing and advanced alterations. Jewelry Kits range in value, beginning usually at around 100 Crowns from established Jeweler Shoppes, but complete comprehensive kits with a wide range of tools known to lighten the burden of repetitive motions and thereby shorten production times have been known to cost tenfold, and are thus often considered a luxury for a new practitioner.

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	Skill Tree The life of a jeweler is best described as one of considerable commitment to the craft. Earnest interest is demonstrated at an early age when would-be practitioners observe jewelers in shops and in busy marketplaces. Curiosity of wares soon turns into serious competition, for finding one of the highly-prized apprenticeships under master jewelers can be nearly impossible, and once a willing teacher has been found, complete loyalty to the art is often required. Though a jeweler will spend perhaps several months as an apprentice between the beginner and intermediate phases, it is based upon the most basic skills learned in haste that a jeweler develops his or her expressive style. Level 1 - Novice One learns the basics of Jewel Craft by first understanding the value of gems, metals, and completed jewelry through the technique of appraisal. It is the belief of most reputable jewel craft guilds that one cannot learn the craft until one appreciates and knows the value of the stones with which one works. Teachers often emphasize what is known as the "four C's" – cut, clarity, colour and carat. The difficulty in working with such stones is often determined by a synthesis of these four gem attributes, and termed commonly as "hardness". While a beginner learns about stone lore, she also will be undertaking the mechanics of the skill by perfoming tasks aimed at finishing pieces in the shop. Gem care, polishing, and handling become a priority. There is a great deal of nomenclature involved in jewelcrafting, so a novice spends a great deal of time learning the language. It's an entirely different world, one of pure mathmatics and design, that most basic students have no basic grasp of going into the profession. For that reason, most of the beginning level of jewelcrafting involves learning very basic techniques, terms, and a great deal of identification and care of the gems they will be working with in their future. However, basic students can be trusted to tumble stones, polish them, and make the most basic cut of any jewelcrafter, the cabochon. Skills Learned: Gemstone Appraisal, Stone Lore, gem maintenance (care and cleaning), Jewelcraft Tools, Metal Identification, Basic Forge Operation Techniques: Stone Tumbling, & Polishing Cuts: Cabochon Level 2 - Apprentice Now trusted by the master to undertake original, though simple, works under the apprenticeship, an apprentice jeweler has access to common gems and minerals. Metals are introduced and worked with in partnership with gemcutting. The student, during this stage of their training, must focus on combining the art of metalworking with gemcutting to create simple well-crafted pieces to cement their skills for the more advanced works to come. Engraving is now introduced, as is silvering. The intermediate jeweler will get her first taste of shaping gems by cutting them, creating a basic appearance from which more complex designs are derived. With these two techniques can a young jeweler create simple pins, broaches, rings, hoop-earings, and simple torques. The master confines the eager student to these pieces largely because proficiency with these designs will allow an easier transition to more complex pieces with multiple components. The student can also recreate intricate carved pieces or odd shapes using sand casting. Apprentice Jewelcrafters can run their own shops if they have access to a master or have an ongoing education that allows them to continue rising in this tradeskill. Skills Learned: Setting Stones, Metal Soldering, Lacquering, basic metal working, engraving, chain making, basic faceting (including the nomenclature), and silvering. Techniques: Sand Casting Cuts: Brilliant, Step Level 3 - Journeyman Journeyman jewelers normally by this time have some experience running shops either of their own, or indeed under the direction of a Master. It is at this point in time the jewelcrafter is really inventing new techniques, finding their style, and exploring ways to improve the tradeskill as a whole. Journeyman jewelcrafters normally go through periods of wild experimentation where they decorate weapons, armor, and learn how to turn simple metalwork into a glittering and elaborate forms of art. They often combine techniques, such as encrusting or inlay to form complex pieces. They learn metal carving, and how to transform wax carvings into metal ones using lost wax (or investment) casting. At this point, jewelcrafters often start cutting gemstone spheres of perfect proportions, and get into some of the more fancy cuts in their faceting work. At this stage, there's also not a lot of decorative alternations a jeweler cannot do, and once they learn advanced faceting techniques, they can adapt their style to include almost any sort of gem cutting possible. Skills Learned: Wax and metal carving, bead making, decorative alterations (armor, clothing, etc), Encrusting, and Inlay. Techniques: Lost Wax Casting Cuts: Spheres, Advanced Faceting (concave, convex, starburst) Level 4 - Master Having successfully concluded the trials of a journeyman, the jeweler is now extremely proficient in her craft, and can open her own shoppe to create her own original pieces and take students. By extending the principles practiced diligently as a student, the expert jeweler can work with gold and rare gems. The most noticed improvement for an expert is the fact that she now searches for her own unique style and flavor of jewel craft, and as such, can perform decorative alterations on just about any article of clothing, piece of armor, or item. Her style must gain a certain level of acclaim from other masters of her craft before she can be accepted as a true leader of the Jewel Craft profession. Skills Learned: Heirloom sets, crown jewels, gemstone carving, mixing and creating alloys, signe identification and attunement, stone binding (setting color or structure for fragile or mismatched stones) Techniques: Signe Harvesting Cuts: At this point, there is no cut a Master cannot make. However, the key here is learning to create identical cuts over and over again for heirloom and masterwork projects. Level 5 - Grandmaster The Master Jeweler is the chief champion of the Jewel Craft profession. Having developed her unique style and technique as an expert practitioner, the master is entrusted to work with ultra rare gems, and all precious metals, including platinum. Because master jewelers have extensive experience in performing decorative alterations and applying gems to unconventional objects, they can also at this more advanced stage create chameleon items, such as figurines, animals, statues, and totems. In practicing at the pinnacle of the profession, the master jeweler is the sole jeweler capable of crossing the threshold of the the signe of gems. Only the master can "nature" or "denature" the signe of gems through a complex process of holding the gems to light and cutting them with super precision. Using this same technique, as well, can a master attune – or bring into natural harmony of the essence – two separate gems of purposes of the heart or more practical signe applications. This advanced technique is treated separately. Skills Learned: Nature/Denature the Signe of Stones, Gem Attunement, Identification of New Stones Average Length for Grandmastery : Five Years.

Additional Information for Jewelers

Technical Information

Pearls and Other Inlay Materials

Natural pearls are found in oysters and other mollusks. Cultured pearls also are grown in mollusks, but with human intervention; that is, an irritant introduced into the shells causes a pearl to grow. Imitation pearls are man-made with glass or organic materials. Because natural pearls are very rare, most pearls used in jewelry are cultured. Fine quality cultured pearls, because they are harvested from oysters or mollusks, are more expensive than natural pearls due to effort it takes to create them. Whole industries around Olympia have sprung up to provide reliable stocks. A pearls value is largely based on its size, usually stated in millimeters, and the quality of its nacre coating, which gives it luster. The pearls color, blemish, type, and shape are also considered.

Pearls and their related materials (Mother o'Pearl, Abalone, Niello, Ivory, Antler and Petrified Wood) are often used for inlays and carvings. Mother o'Pearl is indeed thin layers of shell. Abalone is another common shell which ranges in color from blue to pink to green or swirls of the combination therein. Niello is a black metallic alloy of sulfur with copper, silver or lead introduced. Ivory comes from the horns of animals, while petrified wood is a mineral that looks exactly like woodgrain. Some scholars suggest petrified wood used to be wood that has turned to stone over the course of time.

Metals

The word gold, used by itself, means all gold or 24 karat (24K) gold. Because 24K gold is soft, it's usually mixed with other metals to increase its hardness and durability. If a piece of jewelry is not 24 karat gold, the karat quality should accompany any claim that the item is gold. The karat quality marking tells you what proportion of gold is mixed with the other metals. Fourteen-karat (14K) jewelry contains 14 parts of gold, mixed in throughout with 10 parts of an alloy metal. The higher the karat rating, the higher the proportion of gold in the piece of jewelry. Platinum is a precious metal that costs more than gold.

The words silver or sterling silver describe a product that contains a high percentage of silver. Some jewelry may be described as silverplate: a layer of silver is bonded to a base metal. The mark coin silver is used for compounds that contain 90% silver. The most common types of metals used in Jewelcrafting are Gold, White Gold, Platinum, Silver, Copper, Bronze, and Brass.

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Type of Metal
Image
Aluminum
Brass
Bronze
Copper
Gold
Iron[/COLOR

Lead
Nickel
Platinum
Silver
Tin
Zinc

Diamonds

While not everyone will share the same opinion as to what constitutes beauty, most people want a diamond that expresses their individual taste and personality. Here's what you should consider first, however, before buying a diamond. The most important aspect is called The 4 C's: Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight.

Cut - Of all the 4 Cs, cut has the greatest effect on a diamond's beauty. In grading, cut evaluates the cutters skill in the fashioning of the diamond. Diamonds have a unique ability to manipulate light efficiently. This unique ability can be released and maximized only by cutting and polishing the diamond to an extremely high level of accuracy.

Color - A truly colorless diamond is extremely rare. Most diamonds possess varying degrees of yellow or brown and small, subtle differences in color can make a substantial difference in value. If a diamond is well cut, the diamond's refraction and dispersion often will disguise certain degrees of coloration. Unless a diamond is a fancy color (or any color other than colorless to light yellow or brown), most jewelers on Aelyria will place diamonds somewhere on a 0 to 10 scale, 0 being colorless.

Clarity - Clarity is the evaluation of a diamond's internal and external characteristics. The fewer inclusions or blemishes, the more desirable the diamond. Inclusions are internal, that is, inside the diamond. Crystals are merely minerals trapped inside the diamond; feathers are breaks in the diamond. Blemishes are usually very small and are only on the surface of diamonds. To locate these tiny characteristics, an jeweler will use a Jeweler's Loupe, a magnifying glass that magnifies the diamond several times depending upon the loupe. Then, evaluating the size, location, nature, number, and color of all the inclusions and blemishes, a clarity grade from 0-10 is assigned – 0 being flawless or internally flawless.

Carat - The standard used to measure diamond weight is the carat. A carat equals 1/5 of a gram (or 1/142 of an ounce). Each carat is further divided into points, each point representing 1/100th of a carat. While weight may be the least important of the four Cs in determining value, it may be the easiest of the four Cs to gauge accurately and is the most objective. As diamonds increase in size, their cost tends to increase geometrically. Thus, a one-carat diamond may cost more than twice as much as a one-half carat stone of equal quality. Also, as previously stated, weight does not always enhance the value of a diamond. In fact, when a diamond is improperly cut, added weight may serve only to reduce its brilliance.

Glossary of Terms

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Jewelcrafting Terms
Aigrette: A jeweled ornament in the shape of a feather or supporting a feather, worn in the hair or on a cap

A Jour : Open setting that leaves the pavilion facets open to the light

Alloy: Combination of two or more pure molten metals. Generally, an alloy is given the name of the dominant metal

Annealing: The process of heating metal and then cooling it to render the metal more pliable

Antiqued: Process used to give jewelry an aged appearance.

Arabesque: A form of decoration characterized by flowing lines, scrollwork, leaves, branches, floral forms, symmetrical in form

Avolto: A jewelry style that uses a wire to form a necklace into a round shape.

Bail: A loop of sheet metal or wire attached to a pendant to hang it from.

Baguette: Gemstone cut in the shape of a narrow rectangle

Bandeau: Head ornament in the form of a narrow band worn low, encircling the forehead

Bandelettes: Decorated ribbons worn in the hair

Bangle: Non-flexible bracelet

Baroque: Irregular shaped stone or pearl

Birthstones: stones which have their roots in ancient astrology assigned to months of the year which have special meaning to those born in those months.

Bolt ring: A finding that is a hollow or partially hollow connecting ring which is drawn back on an internal spring

Bookchain: A style of chain in which the links are rectangular, folded pieces of metal. Each link resembles a book. These book chains often had large lockets attached, and the whole piece was often elaborately engraved. They were made in gold, gold-filled and sterling silver.

Brass: An alloy of copper and zinc

Brilliant cut: A cutting style most often used for diamonds, consisting of 58 facets, also known as 'modern cut' or 'full cut'

Briolette: A teardrop shaped stone faceted with triangular or rectangular facets, sometimes pierced at the top, also known as 'drop-cut'

Bronze: An alloy of approximately 8 parts copper to 1 part tin

Base metal: A non-precious metal.

Bezel: Gemstone setting where there is a rim of metal that surrounds and secures a stone.

Brooch: Alternative name for pin.

Buff top cabochon: Style of stone cutting where the top of the gemstone is a dome (en cabochon) and the pavilion is faceted

Burnisher: tool for giving a sheen to metals

Burnish : to polish the pivots using a burnisher (polishing tool).

Cabochon: Stone with a smooth carved surface, domed and unfaceted with a flat base

Calibre-cut: Small stones cut in usually rectangular shapes and faceted in a step cut to fit exactly into a setting or against another stone

Calipers: Instrument for fine measuring of both the outside and inside surfaces of a stone

Cameo: A shell or gem material with two distinct colored layers. The top layer is carved and the bottom layer provides contrasting background. This relief is usually cut into hard stone or shell.

Cannetille: A type of gold or silver filigree of fine twisted wires forming a coiled spiral.

Carat: Abbreviated ct. and spelled with a c for gemstones (k is used for karat in gold). One carat is equal to 1/5 of a gram (200 milligrams). Stones are measured to the nearest hundredth of a carat. A hundredth of a carat is also called a point. Thus a .10 carat stone can be called either 10 points, or 1/10 of a carat. Small stones like .05, and .10ct, are most often referred to by point designations. A one-carat round diamond of average proportions is approximately 6.5 mm in diameter, but this relationship of weight and size is different for each family of stones. (Ruby and sapphire are both heavier than diamond.)

Casting: Process of forming an object by pouring a molten or liquid substance into a mold until it solidifies and takes on the impression of the mold

Channel setting: A row of stones of the same dimension, fitted into a metal channel

Chasing: Working a design into a metal from the front using a hammer and/or punches

Chatelaine: A girdle or belt from which various implements are suspended

Cloisonne: Decorative enamel set in thin strips of wire.

Cluster: A setting of stones grouped together.

Cocktail ring: Oversized ring with precious or semi-precious stones.

Choker: A necklace approximately 15 inches long

Collet: Round band of metal encircling a gemstone to hold it in place

Collier: A wide necklace encircling the neck from throat to chin

Cross facet: Small triangular facets above and below the girdle of a brilliant cut stone

Crown: Part of a cut gemstone above the girdle

Cut steel: Faceted studs riveted into arranged holes to created a pavé effect

Decoration:
Etched: Very faintly carved surface decoration

Lightly Carved: Faint carving

Medium Carved: Average depth carving

Deeply Carved: Deeper than average carving

Heavily Carved: Extremely deeply carved

Faceted: Carved with a regular pattern of facets

Grooved: Routed out in a line

Pierced: The material has been cut completely through

Inlaid: A space is routed out of the material, and a contrasting material is fitted into that space. Bakelite polka dot bracelets are an excellent example of inlay technique.

Demi-parure: A small matching set of jewelry consisting usually of a brooch and earrings, or a necklace and bracelet, etc.

Diadems: A semi circular band worn around the head and usually jeweled and three dimensional

Dog collar: A wide collar of fabric, gemstones and or pearls worn high and tight on the neck

Double clip: Type of brooch consisting of two halves joined together on a frame which can be detached and worn singly

Earring jackets: An accessory designed to decorate a stud earring.

Emerald cut: Rectangular shaped stone with mitered corners which is elongated and octagonal

Enamel: In its simplest terms, all enamel is produced by fusing colored powdered glass to metal to produce a vitreous or glass-like decorative surface.

Engraving: A technique in which metal is cut away with a tool known as a "graver" to form a design, done by either hand or machine

Etching: Removal of part of a metal surface by acid for a decorative effect

Facet: A flat surface, which is polished onto a gemstone.

Faceter: This machine is the core of a jewelcrafters art which consists of a flat plate driven by either by a foot pedal or arcana in which abrasive laps (stones used for cutting facets) which moves in a turntable fashion. Attached to the rotating lap is an arm in which a dopel or dop can be attached. The dop has a protractor attached which allows jewelers to get precise angles. Stones are attached to the dop, pressed against the lap as it spins, using the protractor as a guide, which allows facets to be cut.

Fede ring: A ring with two hands clasped together first

Ferronnière: Narrow band with a center jewel worn encircling the forehead

Festoon: Design motif of a garland or string of flowers, leaves and ribbons

Filigree: Delicate, thread-like decoration made of twisted gold or silver wire, soldered to a sheet of metal or left in open patterns.

Flux: Material used in soldering

Fob: A small charm, amulet or trinket that hangs on a watch chain or chatelaine

Foiling: A technique used to enhance the color of a gemstone, a thin sheet of metal is applied to the base of a stone which is in a closed setting

Freshwater pearl: Pearls found in river mussels

Gallery: A strip on metal with a pattern usually refers to the sides of a ring

Gilding: A process of covering substances such as silver, base metal, wood with a thin layer of gold or an alloy

Gimmel ring: A ring formed of two or more linked hoops, which fit together in a manner that make them appear as one ring

Gypsy setting: A setting in which the stone is sunk into the surrounding metal leaving the top of the stone almost level with the top of the metal surface

Girandole: A shape that consists of three pear-shaped stones or pearls hanging from a large stone or decorative motif such as a bow

Girdle: The widest part of a gemstone which divides the crown from the pavilion

Grain: Unit of weight; for diamonds and pearls a grain is 0.25 of a carat, 480 grains to the Troy ounce. A Troy grain is equal to an Avoirdupois grain.

Grain: A small spherical bead of metal

Granulation: The process of decorating a metal surface with tiny grains of metal

Graver Tool: A tool similar to a chisel used for engraving metal

Green gold: Gold which contains a high proportion of silver

Gerlots: Small long pendant beads

Grey gold: Gold which contains a high proportion of iron

Grisaille: A form of enamel painted in monochromatic colors

Handkerchief ring: Small ring worn on the little finger and connected by a chain to a larger ring in which a handkerchief was held

Hematite:An opaque mineral of iron oxide, ranging in color from deep grey to black metallic

Horn: A substance often used as a substitute for tortoiseshell which is from cow horns or from rarer rhinos

Ingot: A precious metal formed into a bar or brick by pouring molten metal into a mold

Inlay: The placing of material into the surface of another.

Invisible Setting: A channel setting using calibrated stones without any metal showing from the top

Intaglio: The carving or engraving of a design into a gemstone which is the opposite of a cameo which is in high relief

Ivory: material used in jewelcrafting that originates from the tusk of elephants

Karat: The fineness of gold (also see carat, used for gemstones). 24K is pure gold. 18K is 18 parts gold, 6 parts other metals. 14K is 14 parts gold, 10 parts other metals. 12K is 12 parts gold, 12 parts other metals. 10K is 10 parts gold, 14 parts other metals.

Lap: a flat disk of stone normally infused with abrasive or polishing powders used on a lap machine to cut gemstones

Lapidary: A craftsperson who cuts, facets, engraves and polishes gemstones

Lavaliere: A chain from which an ornament or gemstone hangs in the center

Lariat: Long-strand, open-ended necklace usually looped in a knot or used with a slide so the two ends hang free.

Lead crystal: Colorless, transparent glass resembling rock crystal. Must be 10% lead to be considered crystal.

Locket: A jewel which opens on a hinge

Lost Wax Method: The method of casting metal that uses a rubber mold, which is filled with wax to form a pattern from which a plaster mold is made. The plaster is heated and the wax melts away or is "lost"

Mabe Pearl: A cultured blister pearl

Marcasite: An iron ore material, pyrite, that is facetted into rose cuts and set into silver or pewter jewelry

Marquise Cut: A stone cut in an oval with pointed ends or a boat-shaped stone

Mélange: Term for mixed diamond sizes weighing more than carat

Mélée: Classification used in the sorting of diamonds weighing less than carat

Memento Mori: Jewel that is a reminder of death

Memorial jewel: Jewel that is made in memory of a loved one, often containing hair from that person and frequently decorated with enamel

Micro Mosaic: Mosaic of very small colored glass pieces (tessarae) inlaid in glass or hardstone

Milanese Chain: Chain consisting of interwoven rows of small links forming a mesh

Mother of Pear: The smooth iridescent interior lining of the shells of certain mollusks

Navette Cut: A gemstone shaped like a boat or oval with pointed ends

Negligee: A long necklace that usually terminates in irregular length with tassels or drops

Niello: An inlay technique in which the grooves made in silver or gold are made black in color by the use of a composition of metal sulfides

Orient: The characteristic sheen of fine natural and cultured pearls

Overlay: Decorative layer.

Oxidizing: Darkening the surface of metal by chemical or heat application.

Paillons: Small pieces of metallic foil which are placed underneath enamel work to provide a glow, popular with a number of Arts and Crafts movement jewelers

Palladium: A white precious metal belonging to the platinum group, it weighs a little more than half as much as platinum and sells for half the price

Pampilles: A cascade of pendant stones; popular in Georgian jewelry and meant to look like rain drops

Parure: A suite of matching jewelry usually four or more pieces, a necklace, bracelets, earrings and belt or brooch

Paste: A high content leaded glass which is faceted to imitate diamonds or backed with colored foils to imitate other gemstones.

Patina: Discoloration that forms on metals such as silver and bronze but often planned for in the artist's design, can also be introduced artificially by use of chemicals

Pavé Setting: A stone setting technique whereby the entire surface of a jewel is covered or paved with closely set stones

Pavilion: The lower part of a cut gemstone below the girdle

Pendaloque: A type of pear shaped or tear drop gemstone faceted as a brilliant cut and suspended from a smaller stone which is usually separated by a bow or other motif

Pietra Dura: Mosaic of semi-precious stones set into a floral pattern of black marble or onyx, also known as a hardstone mosaic

Piqué: Tortoiseshell or horn which is inlaid with mother o'pearl, silver or gold.

Planishing: A hammering process done to give a smoother finish to a piece of metal

Platinum: A non-corrosive silver white metal, which is heavy and has a high tensile strength

Plique à jour: An enameling technique in which the design is outlined in metal and filled with a transparent enamel, after firing the metal backing is removed creating a stained glass window effect.

Polishing Powder: powders added to laps (usually consisting of diamond dust, or various sand and oxide combinations) that allow stones to be faceted and polished.

Pomander: A pendant scent case

Posy Ring: A ring engraved with a verse

Regard Ring: A ring set with colored stones, the first letters of which spell the word "regard", ruby, emerald, garnet, amethyst, ruby, diamond.

Repoussé: A raised high relief design on the front of a metal object made by hammering, embossing or punching the reverse side of the metal to form the design from the back side out

Rhinestone: Rock crystal which is faceted into beads. These resemble diamonds but are inexpensive.

Rivière: Choker type necklace that is a continuous line of gemstones usually of graduated or equal size stones

Rondelle: A pierced piece of metal or gemstone strung between the beads in a necklace

Sautoir: An extremely long neck chain, which falls below the waistline and terminates with a tassel or pendant.

Seal: Engraved (intaglio) of stone or metal used to create an impression on a substance such as wax or clay

[Sévigné: A bodice ornament set with gemstones in a bowknot shape

Scalloped: An ornamental edge made up of a series of curves.

Shank: Hoop part of a ring

Signe: The natural power found within a stone.

Signet: A ring with an insignia, monogram, coat of arms or family crest.

Slide: An ornament that can be slid onto another piece of jewelry, typically a necklace.

Soldering: A method of joining metal parts or pieces together by melting another metal alloy with a lower melting temperature at the joining point

Stomacher: A very large bodice ornament, usually triangular, filling the area between the neckline and the waistline, also known as a corsage ornament

Strap Necklace: A mesh chain with pendants suspended by short, fine chain resembling a fringe; an Archaeological Revival style during the Victorian period

Strapwork: Decorative pattern in the form of interlaced and crossed straight bands resembling straps

Swag: A motif used on a piece of jewelry of festoons of foliage, fruit and flowers

Terminal: The decorated ends of a necklace or bangle usually with stylized heads of a ram, lion, dragon, etc.

Tiara: A head ornament worn in the crown position

Torsade: Twisted strands of pearls ending in a clasp

Trapeze Cut: A gemstone cut into an equilateral triangle with a flat top

Tremblant: Jewelry with a trembling effect when the wearer moved produced by elements set upon stiff wires that move (en tremblant)

Tutti Frutti : Jewelry set with multi colored gems carved in shapes of leaves, flowers and berries and often in a basket design

Vermeil : Gold-plated or gilded silver

Bracelets Terms

Bangle: A circular rigid band that slips over the hand.

Charm: A linked bracelet with suspended charms.

Cuff: Round or oval bracelet with clasp and hinge.

Society: Linked bracelet of set stones, where the stones are usually the same size.

Chains Terms
Box: A chain with wide, square links that form boxes.

Byzantine: A chain with close-fitting links, creating an intricate design that forms a tube.

Cable: A chain with round links of the same size.

Curb link: A chain with oval links that are twisted to lie flat.

Figaro: A chain with long and round links that are not uniform in size.

FOB: A short chain with a decorative seal or other device attached to the end.

Herringbone: A chain with small, slanting links that appear flat.

Mesh: Fabric-like chain woven from very fine wire.

Omega: Flat chain with a solid surface formed by the links.

Choker: A wide necklace worn tight around the neck above the collarbone.

Clasps Terms
Barrel: Used on most rope chains to make the chain more secure. The barrel clasp looks like part of the chain and makes it easier to get a pendant on and off.

Lobster claw: An interlocking catch with a spring mechanism and a safety lock.

Spring ring: Used on lightweight chains.

Toggle: Consists of a ring on one end of a necklace or bracelet and a short bar on the other end. The bar slides through the ring to keep it closed.

Necklace Lengths
Matinee length: Used to describe a chain or single strand of pearls or beads that is 20 inches to 24 inches long.

Opera length: Used to describe a chain or single strand of pearls or beads that is 28 inches to 30 inches long.

Princess length: Used to describe a chain or single strand of pearls or beads that is about 18 inches long.

Rope length: Used to describe a chain or single strand of pearls or beads that is 45 inches to 120 inches long.

Jewelry Settings

Secrets :

Jewelry Setting

Description of Setting

Image of Setting
The Bezel Setting A Bezel setting is a crafted diskette of metal that holds the gemstone by its girdle to the ring, securely encircling the entire circumference of the gem. An age old technique that can appear very contoured and modern, it is labor intensive and must be crafted to precisely circumnavigate the outline of the gem. Variations of the Bezel setting are the "Flush" or "Gypsy" settings. The surface of the ring has a window cut into it that exactly fits the size of the gem. Secured from underneath, the crown of the gem rises from the ring beautifully catching rays of light. When the setting half surrounds the gemstone it is called a "Half-Bezel" or "Semi-Bezel". A Bezel setting needs to be balanced and straight, from angle-to-angle. Gemstones cut with sides and angles are considered difficult, while Oval and Round are easier. Bezels can have straight, scalloped edges and can be molded into a gemstone of any shape.
The Channel Setting A setting technique whereby gemstones are held side-by-side with their girdles held between two long tracks of precious metal. When used with Square, Princess and Rectangular shaped jewels, the effect is breathtaking as no metal appears between the jewels - they appear to float in a tightly bejeweled chain within the jewelry. The gemstones in Channel setting are set closely together so that no gold between the gems is necessary. This produces the maximum amount of light and brightness from the gemstones and allows the jewelry to keep looking bright for a long time. In Channel setting it is very important gemstones with precisely cut pavilions are used, if not the gemstones will crack or be lost!
The Prong or Claw Setting This setting has small metal claws with a vice-like grip that are bent over the girdle of the gem to ensure its secure and enduring position. Typical prong settings have 4 claws. Prong settings with 6 claws are also called the "Tiffany" setting because it was originally developed by the founder of Tiffany & Co. in 1886. Marquise and Trilliant cut gems can respectively have just two or three claws at the corners where the points of the jewels are nestled in specialized v-shaped claws. The prongs must always be equal. The visible prong ends are often rounds, ovals, points, V-shapes (usually called "chevron"), flat and sometimes formed into ornamental shapes (usually called "enhanced prongs").
The Bar Setting These are short bars that run like a railway track across a ring. Gemstones are individually set between these bars leaving the sides of the gemstones exposed to light. An increasingly popular setting style, this technique maximizes the amount of light entering the gemstones creating superior brilliance and sparkle. The Bar setting is a version of the Channel setting and can often combine a contemporary and classic look in one design. Bar setting is best for Diamond rings and for Round, Oval, Princess, Emerald, Square and Baguette cuts.
The Pave Setting Pronounced "pa vay", Pave setting is a Claw-like setting. They are so small they are barely visible. The claws are triangular in shape and are usually handmade. The settings are created by use of tiny prongs that hold the jewels on both sides, or are crafted by scooping beads of precious metal out to hold the gems in place.

The Embedded Setting This setting consists of a stone being sank completely into the metal of the jewelry, making it absolutely secure. These stones, however, are very hard to replace or exchange without drastic amounts of work on the part of the jeweler.
The Mixed Setting
This setting can incorporate a wide variety of different settings to produce a really lovely piece of jewelcraft.


	Signe Signe and Signe Harvesting The epitome of Jewel Craft, as pursued by Masters, has always been considered to be the identification and use of Signe. As masters, a jewelcrafter needs to start traveling to the source of stones (mines, natural formations) and learning to identify signe in order to further their understanding in preparation for naturing and denaturing of signe at the Grandmaster level. When visiting 'sources', jewelcrafters learn basic techniques to harvest stones with signe intact, minimizing scarring and denaturing. Sources can be mines, veins, solitary outcroppings of mineral that house gemstones, or even chunks of stone with signe gems still lodged within such as boulder opal. Signe is the natural essence, occurring randomly, in the formation of gems and stones. These essences can manifest in a whole host of properties that often mimic arcana or gnosis. In order for a stone to retain its signe potential, it must be extracted along the lattice by extremely proficient miners or jewelcrafters that are aware of its signe potential rather than hastily chipped away. The resulting circumstance is that only a fraction of the gems that arrive in Jewelry Shops from suppliers retain their signe properties, whereas the others lose them entirely. Driven by the wonders of the natural power that the gems, once natured, signe stones bestow upon their wearer interesting and unusual powers. Jewelers also learn to 'attune' to the signe of a gemstone, which requires the basic ability to meditate and link themselves with the inner nature of the stone in order to best determine how to extract it from the vein, surrounding mineral, or what potential it might have. Naturing and Denaturing Signe Because all stones possess their signe in a denatured state, the master must carefully and precisely shape the gem using his tools to its most natural shape in a complex process known as naturing. When a grandmaster jeweler begins the practice of naturing, he or she must struggle to attune themselves to the stone, whisper to it, and make cuts along its natural growth pattern to unlock or Nature its signe. Gems that are scarred (miscut) in the naturing process lose their signe potential indefinitely, and it is these gems that are often used for the creation of jewels. However, as a grandmaster practices this skill more frequently, learning from each inevitable failure, she begins to master the intricacies of the natural gem shape, which remains different for each gem. No grandmaster is ever fully proficient in this craft, but those that dedicate a lifetime can find themselves succeeding twice as much as they fail. Once natured, a stone can easily be denatured – losing its signe potential permanently – by simply being cut against the lattice of its natural form, or by being damaged. As such, great care is taken to ensure that natured gems are preserved and protected, for they remain virtually priceless. Signe identification and attunement deals with a jewelcrafter learning to recognize signe stones and through meditation and communion learn their inner secrets - what they are used for, what potential they have for an advanced jewelcrafter to harness.


	Gemstone Lore Unlike signe which is a manifestation of true power within a gemstone in often times very impressive ways, lore more defines the unique vis that make up a gemstone and what sort of properties that vis has. Signe can be thought of as the active powerful property of a gemstone that can be deliberately triggered to create a potent effect while lore is generally the passive quality a stone holds due to its Vis' nature, which affects all the Ara around it. Lore can also relate or pretain to creation mythos, origin stories, and preferences of cultures for the stone. For example, Diopside has a signe that when properly natured can allow the possessor to actively summon a Will'o'whisp. However, an diopside stone will naturally attract will'o'whisps on occasion, perhaps to the point where a wearer of such a stone might see one a bit more frequently than someone without diospide. A turquoise cut in signe might give the wearer of the gem the ability to breath water, but turquoise worn might gravitate towards water so that someone wearing a turquoise ring who's perhaps lost in a desert might indeed have a bit more luck stumbling into an oasis. The stone wont' lead them to an oasis by tugging towards it, but indeed the person will more likely eventually find some if there's any to be had. A person wearing a denatured ruby might be more apt to not catch a cold in a group where the illness is prevalent, even though its signe nature of health regeneration and longevity isn't active.

Addendum 1: Step By Step Techniques

Stone Tumbling & Polishing

Secrets :

Stone Tumbling & Polishing

The simplest form of gem cutting is tumbling. A jewelcrafter will take a small barrel and fill it partially full of rough material then add stones. The barrel is then caused to revolve continuously (through water, animal aid, and arcana). The rough material will act as abrasives and gradually the stones will become rounded. If progressively finer abrasive materials are used, replacing the initial course ones throughout the process, then a fine polish will result. This technique mimics what happens to stones in rocks and streams over the course of time. Stone tumblers are readily available in major cities and cost anywhere from 100 gold crowns for a small one to thousands for larger ones.

Reminders: Always use abrasives that are harder than what you are tumbling, else you are wasting your time. Be patient. Tumbling takes a lot of patience.

Step By Step Tumbling:

Fill the barrel of your tumbler 2/3 to ¾ full of the stones you wish to tumble. It's important to make sure these stones are the same type or at the very least of the same hardness. Also, its important to make sure there are an even variety of sizes. That means, if your largest stones are two inches in diameter, there should be just as many one inch stones, and just as many half inch stones. If this balance is off, the stones will tumble unevenly.

Add water to the top of the stones.

Add in the proper amount of abrasive, which changes due to the abrasive's hardness, the amount of stones, and the type of stones etc.

Seal barrel and start the barrel rolling to 'tumble'.

Continue this for a cycle, checking daily to make sure they are getting to the point you want them too. Always open the barrel daily, as some stones release gases that can build up and rupture your expensive tumbling barrel.

When stones are nicely rounded, dump barrel out into a colander and rinse the stones off.

Wash barrel completely.

Refill barrel with stones and top off with water.

Add prepolish or polish abrasives depending upon the material and repeat running for a cycle. If you add polish, at the end of the cycle you'll have nicely tumbled stones. If you added prepolish, you'll have to rinse the stones after a cycle, wash the barrel, and repeat the process with polish after the prepolish is done.

Gem Identification

Secrets :

Please see The Gemstones of Aelyria Guide for specific gemstone identification steps and complete gemstone information.

Cutting Cabochons

Secrets :

Cutting Cabochons

Cutting a cabochon (more commonly called cabs) or 'cabbing' is the simplest and easiest form of gem cutting. Cabs are seen everywhere from belt buckles to buttons to horse bridle adornments. They consist of gems or even common stone that are cut with a flat bottom and a curved or domed top. Pendants are commonly made from Cabs, and cabochons are used as the basis for carvings such as cameos.

Basic Steps:

Draw or trace the oval or round you desire on a mineral or gemstone flat (a thin slice usually ¼" to 3/8" thick).

Saw or abrade the flat to develop a rough shape.

Attach the rough shape to a dipstick or dop (a wood or metal dowel) with adhesive.

Round of the dome to make a sort of egg shape (flat or convex tops can be used as variations). This is usually done using a series of up-down swipes at the turning abrasive wheel.

Detach from the dopstick.

Polish the stone

Sand Casting

Secrets :

Sand Casting

Sand casting is a jewelers artform that is critical in the ability for a jeweler to make both custom pieces of jewelry as well as mass produce complex pieces repeatedly and over tie. Borrowed from smiths, sand casting has existed in jewelcrafting for hundreds of years. Simple put, sand casting is the ability for a jeweler to take oiled or moist sand and cast a pattern into it that can then be used as a mold to fill with liquid metal. This technique is used for reproducing broaches, bracelets, armbands, torques, cloak clasps and any number of items that are sold in large quantities. Jewelers keep 'patterns' consisting of durable inexpensive metal that's been carved or worked via other means (lost wax casting comes to mind) more labor intensive as 'blanks'. These blanks are then kept on hand, never sold, to be used as patterns for pieces that are poured in finer metals such as gold then worked over with gemstones (such as adding garnet eyes to a bronze wolf cloak clasp) and sold as a true work of art.

Items Needed For Sand Casting:

Frames – matching sets of frames are kept on hand for sand casting as needed. These frames are actually boxes with neither tops or bottoms. The top frame (called a drag) is has tabs that slide down over the bottom frame (the cope) which contains pins or registers that secure the top firmly to the bottom.

Sand – Fine masons sand is mixed with bentonite clay. The normal formula is seven parts sand to one part clay. The mixture is slowly tempered by adding water until the mix starts to hold an egg shape when squeezed in the hand. It should feel damp but not wet. Once the egg shape holds firm and can be broken gently in half without the sand mixture crumbling, then the formula is perfect.

Parting Dust – This substance is usually fine sawdust or pure beach sand that's sprinkled between the cope and the drag so that the two frames may be easily separated without the sand in the frames sticking or clinging together.

Riddle – This is a simple shifter used to gently place sand in the frames when preparing the frames to create a mold.

Tamping hammers – These hammers are usually gum or resin hammers that come in multiple sizes used to tamp down the sand around the piece being cast as a mold.

Tunneling Pipe – hollow section of tube used to press into the sand and lift a tube-shaped section free to create a channel for metal to flow through.

Simple Steps to Sand Casting

Select Frames of appropriate size

Prepare sand so its consistency is perfect

Fill cope almost completely with sand and tamp it down firmly, leaving enough room to place piece you want to create a mold of in so its face rises above the top of the cope frame

Lay piece you are wanting to create a mold of in bottom frame or cope, placing it in the sand in a method that makes it easy to pull free (face down if it's a broach etc so the smallest part is buried deepest in the sand and the widest part is the top most part) when the frames are pulled apart without disturbing tamped in sand around them

Place drag frame over the top of cope frame and secure

Finish filling frames with sand tamping down firmly

Take a tunneling pipe and create enough 'tunnels' down through sand to hit the metal mold.

Disassemble the cope and drag carefully

Remove metal mold and carefully take a fine brush and clean the tunnel the tunneling pipe made so that it hits the main piece of the mold and will allow molten metal to fill the mold

Reassemble the cope and drag frames carefully

Melt enough metal to fill the mold

Pour into mold

Wait for metal to cool and firm up

Disassemble the cope and drag carefully

Pull newly 'cast' piece free of the mold

Clean off excess metal (the stuff that remains from the tunnel access etc)

Polish and finish piece as desired

Soldering

Secrets :

Soldering

Soldering is a simple process that's used in almost every jewelcrafting project. It involves having set of soldering irons of various sizes that a jeweler can heat up in a forge until the tips are white hot. Then with a pair of tweezers, they apply a bead of flux (a mixture of metal comprised of 60% tin and 40% lead) to a portion of the piece they are working on, and then touch the bead with a white hot soldering iron. The flux melts, allowing the jeweler to press another piece of metal against the first, thus attaching each of them together. Beads of flux vary in size and shape as do soldering irons. Each are tailored specifically to the job they are designed to do.

Basic Faceting

Secrets :

Basic Faceting

Jewelers have to be masters of math and geometry. Cut gems are simply a series of simple removals of part of a rough gemstone to create a flat well polished section called a facet. Beginning jewelcrafters tend to cut a lot of glass and quartz to begin with in enormous sizes in order to get the nuisances of faceting down correctly. Faceting, while relatively simple, takes a lot of time, patience, and preplanning. The most common style of cut is called a brilliance such as the ones most diamonds are cut in. Second to that, step cuts, are the popular choice for emeralds and topaz. There are hundreds of variations on the brilliance and step cuts, some of which have made jewelcrafters famous. These styles are often combined into new and unique shapes. The Ceylon cut has a step cut pavilion and a brilliant cut crown. Some gems combine faceting and cabbing. A gem with a faceted top and a flat bottom is called a rose cut, and this is very popular for embellishing and decorative ornamentation. Styles of facets are not to be confused with SHAPE of cuts. Cut shapes are completely different, as the shape of a gem (say a round or marquis) can be composed from a step or brilliance cut, or any combination thereof respectively.

Step By Step Faceting

Prepare the Gem rough by orientating it and deciding on the best cut for the particular piece you have.

Turn on your alcohol burner

Warm the dop, the dop wax, and the rough

Attach rough to the dop via dop wax and let it cool

Test for strength by twisting to make sure it won't come free

Put dop in quill on the Faceter

Set the cutting angle for the Quill using a protractor

Set the index for the quill (based on the faceting diagram or plan your using)

Adjust the height of the mast arm in the faceter. Do this by lowering the quill arm to the lap and adjust the mast arm heighth to the proper cutting depth for the specific facet your cutting

Start the lap spinning and begin cutting by pressing on the quill which adds pressure to the dop where the rough stone meets the lap, don't forget to move it back and forth on the lap to prevent uneven wear

Stop and adjust the angle, slowly turning the stone and repeating process until all the three tierspavilions meet

Rough the girdle for the gemstone, squaring the gem. The girdle is important because that's where the gemstone is measured for setting into jewelry. Make sure the girdle measurements are standard.

Polish pavilion once basic girdle is cut

Flip the stone on the dop, attaching the polished pavilion to the dop so that the crown can be cut

Repeat process to cut the crown, moving dop according to the facet instructions based on the cut and style you're producing

Polish the crown

Remove the dop and add the table adaptor to the quill

Replace the dop with mounted half-finished gemstone

Begin cutting the table

Polish the table

Remove the dop from the quill

Place dop and gemstone in an acid bath to remove excess wax

Clean gemstone carefully removing acid

Mount the gemstone then apply lacquer and you're done

Silvering

Secrets :

Silvering

The art or process of covering metals, wood, paper, or glass with a thin film of metallic coat of silver, or a substance resembling silver is called silvering. Jewelers actually can silver with gold, bronze, tin, copper and any assortment of materials. The secret is that they prep the surface carefully with fine even sanding, clean it thoroughly, and then coat the parts they do not want silvered with a heavy wax paste (such as seams, raised portions, etc) and then spray a coat of molten metal onto the surface. Some jewelers also silver by dipping the item, but this is often a waste of material. Spraying is preformed by a clever mechanical device called a 'silverer' that's driven by the jeweler's own breath forcing small quantities of molten metal onto the surface they are working on via a thin copper tube. Silvering takes a great deal of practice and patience in order to get nice even coatings. Once the silver is in place, it is then polished to a high sheen and then any additional adornments such as gemstones are added to the piece.

Lost Wax Casting

Secrets :

Lost Wax (Investment) Casting

Lost Wax or Investment Casting is a traditional jewelers craft that involves a jeweler creating a wax copy of the item they would like to create, then casting it into metal in a process that causes the wax to be burned off during the creation of a mold. Lost wax casting is a decided advantage when a piece of jewelry is complex enough to require a great deal of carving, inlay, or customization. Wax is far easier to carve and makes a great solution to preventing metal waste.

Steps By Step Lost Wax Casting

Create a sketch to the exact scale showing the top and side views of the piece that needs casting.

A wax model is then carved from a blank made of special hard wax which allows the precise carving of the design

Wax rods called sprues are added which provide additional channels for the metal to travel to all parts of the piece once the wax is burned away later in the process

Wax model is attached to the bottom of an investment flask base, which resembles an upside down funnel. This bottom, when inverted, becomes the top in which hot metal is poured into the mold that is created after the wax is burned away.

Flask cylinder is then inserted into the base of the flask creating an upside down 'cup' to hold investment plaster

A very fine powder plaster is prepared and poured into what is then called the plaster investment.

Investment flask is then slowly heated overnight to a high temperature (aprox 1400 deg F) and then gradually cooled to 1000 deg F before morning so that it is ready to be cast into gold jewelry. The process is known as lost wax casting because the wax is burned out and destroyed during the process creating a mold in the plaster where it used to occupy space.

Metal is then melted to 1800 deg F

Molten metal is then poured into the air cavity created by the lost wax making sure there is enough to fill the mold and an excess button at the top (which becomes the bottom) of the investment since the button acts as a reservoir of metal which the piece draws from as the gold cools and contracts

Once cooled the investment flask is then plunged into cold water which dissolves the plaster allowing the jewelcrafter to retrieve the unfinished gold casting

The casting is then mounted into a vice, polished and prepared. Sprues are removed and its polished.

Gems are mounted, inlays added

The finished piece is then lacquered and polished again.

Determining Wax to Metal Formulas for Lost Wax (Investment) Casting

As a critical part of using Investment Casting, jewelers need to know exactly how much gold is needed for a wax mold. To determine how much wax you need, you can use a simple graduated cylinder with water added. For example, if you use a 100 ml cylinder for a big piece (say a bracelet), fill it to the 70 ml mark with water. Then, put your wax mold in the water, making sure that there are no large bubbles clinging to the piece. A good tap or two on the side of the cylinder should release these bubbles. Push the wax model completely below the water level with a tin piece of wire, and read the new volume of water plus wax. This reading should be taken at the bottom part (meniscus) of the concave form the water makes when housed in a cylinder. Record that reading. Lets say for example that the second reading with wax is 95 ml. Then, remove the wax mold, and make sure there is still 70 ml of water in the cylinder. If its shy, top it back off with water until one reaches that mark. Then begin adding metal to the water (gold if the bracelet will be made of gold or other materials depending on what is going to fill the mold), and add until the water rises up to exactly 95 ml once more. You now have the exact amount of metal you will need for that wax. Remember to add any additional gold (sprues, trees, buttons) that will have to be added to make the total amount of gold to be melted.

In addition, this chart will prove helpful.

Metal Metal to Wax Ratio
Silver 10.5 – 1
Gold 10K 13-1
Gold 14 K 14-1
Gold 18K 16-1
Gold 24K 25-1
Platinum 22-1

Cutting Spheres

Secrets :

Cutting Spheres & Beads

There is a lot more work that goes into creating gemstone spheres and beads than one might anticipate. Spheres are initially cut into cubes and then ground to a shape between two rotating concave cutters on a jewelers lathe. The spheres are allowed to rotate freely in any direction which tends to form a perfect spherical shape. Much like other polishing or tumbling, gradually finer grades of abrasives are used to grind, sand and polish the stone. While beads may be faceted, they are most often found in the form of small spheres which then can be drilled and strung on chain. More expansive jewelcrafters will use bead mills that are specially designed to grind and sand large quantities at a time. Bead mills only handle small spheres. Large spheres must be cut by hand and take weeks to finish.

Step by Step Sphere Creation

Choose a large piece of raw material, noting that flaws will create much smaller spheres than the original dimensions of the starting material

Cut gemstone material into the shape of a square (flaws are often exposed and pieces have to be redone, made smaller, or discarded in favor of starting again)

Cut the cube a minimum of twenty more times to further produce an octagon

Place octagon in jewelers lap, and begin grinding away sharp edges with a diamond lap

Place rounded octagon on a jeweler's lathe using a sphere cups which allow the sphere to rotate freely and get a perfect shape

Rough sphere is then moved to a polishing lathe where it is placed between two wooden 'cups' and polishing powder mixed with water is ran over its surface in gradually finer consistencies until the sphere has reached a fine polish.

Sphere is buffed on buffing wheel until it gleams or conversely (if its small enough) placed in a tumbler with fine polishes (for stones over a 7 hardness) until completely finished.

Addendum 2: Additional Charts & Information

Lap Materials & Their Hardness

Secrets :

Lap Materials and Their Hardness

Lap Mateiral Hardness Comments
Aluminum 6.5 None
Cast Iron 5 Mid-grade Polisher
Ceramic 9 Aluminum Oxide
Copper 3 Great Pre-Polisher
Steel 5-8.5 None
Zink 2.5 Great Polisher
Diamond 10 Must for Diamonds

Measurement Chart & Conversions

Secrets :

Important Conversions

* Carats Grams Kilograms Ounces Pounds
Carats 0 .02 .0002 .0071
Grams 5 0 .001 .0353
Kilograms 5,000 1,000 0 353
Ounces 141.75 28.3 .0028300 0
Pounds 2,267.95 453.59 .4545455 16

Beads Per Inch

Secrets :

Beads Per Inch

Bead Size Beads Per Inch Beads per 16" Beads per 24"
2mm 12.5 200 300
3mm 8.3 133 200
4mm 6.25 100 150
5mm 5 80 120
6mm 4.2 66 99
7mm 3.6 57 86
8mm 3.13 50 75
10mm 2.5 40 60
12mm 2.1 33 50

Birthbrightening Stones

Secrets :

Birthbrightening Stones

Month

Stone
Kalendryas Diamond
Immanis Amethyst
Pontius Emerald or Peridot
Melora Opal
Cryxatum Sapphire or Aquamarine
Aperitus Ruby or Garnet
Optia Pearl
Ioannes Citrine or Topaz
Imperos Tourmaline
Junctior Onyx

Anniversary Traditions

Secrets :

Celebrating Anniversaries

Anniversary

Stone
1st Peridot
2nd Red Garnet
3rd Jade , Pearl
4th Blue Zircon, Topaz , Amethyst
5th Pink Tourmaline , Sapphire
6th Turquoise , Amethyst
7th Yellow Sapphire
8th Tanzanite , Tourmaline
9th Amethyst , Lapis , Tiger's Eye
10th Blue Sapphire
11th Citrine , Turquoise
12th Opal , Jade
13th Moonstone, Citrine
14th Agate, Opal
15th Rhodolite Garnet , Ruby
16th Red Spinel, Peridot , Aquamarine
17th Carnelian
18th Aquamarine, Opal
19th Garnet, Topaz , Aquamarine
20th Yellow Diamond , Emerald
25th Tsavorite Garnet
30th Black Pearl
35th Emerald , Coral
40th Ruby
45th Cat's Eye, Alexandrite, Sapphire
50th Imperial Topaz
55th Alexandrite, Emerald
60th Star Ruby
65th Blue Spinel
70th Smoky Quartz
75th Diamond

Viskyia Crow · March 15, 2009, 12:40 PM

When they get this big, formatting becomes a nightmare. But anyhow, I went through and took out some of the technical information on metals, melting points, specific gravity, and dumbed it down a whole lot. I would appreciate it if someone read for grammar and spelling, though I have checked it in word quite a few times.

I still think some of the spoilers could use some color, but I'm a little burned out on fixing it since I finally got it looking the way I want it too - so I will take a break later and go format/color inside the boxes.

Also, I have a 150 gemstone guide forthcoming. I finally got all my images made, cut and photo-shopped identically and to my liking. I'm not putting that up however, until my internet is more stable (we're having freezing rain and its locking up the dish)... but it will be roughly in the same format. These two guides are designed to go together.

Caerydd · March 16, 2009, 06:17 AM

I have a very small question to ask, as I otherwise love this write up.

In the real world (and not saying this should apply to aelyria), isn't there a much bigger separation between those who prepare stones, and those who 'make jewelry' ? I had always imagined gem cutting and jewellery making to be two different crafts, requiring very different skills. Or is that just a manifestation of the modern 'workline' way of thinking?

(Although obviously polishing using tumbling is possible for just about anyone with access to a wide range of sands, and the ability to turn the tumbler relentlessly for long enough.)

Viskyia Crow · March 16, 2009, 07:41 AM

Traditionally jewelcrafters selected their stones, worked them, and made them into finished products, sometimes even straight from the mines themselves. All the best jewelers today are also gemcutters as well. Places like ebay, where folks buy cabs that they can then back or wrap them in silver/gold/whatever... are the norm now, but a great many of those people don't know the first thing about faceting or doing other types of gem prep - yet still call themselves jewelers. Namely this is because its less time consuming to buy overseas cabs that are mass produced than sit there and actually cut the gems and polish them themselves.

I took an interest in jewelcrafting when a good friend introduced me to his grandfather after he gave me a set of sapphire earrings his grandfather made. He did everything from cut the stones to mount them in a very elaborate celtic setting. My good friend dug the sapphires just south of Dillon, Montana in a little park there. I myself have collected sapphires there myself. It was one of the reasons I picked montana for college

His mother then went to gemology school in canada and she does all her own cutting in her garage workshop. Following her cutting and polishing, she then does her own settings and metalwork as well. She's teaching me now.... and its a blast. They actually have forges, ovens, and all sorts of modern comforts, but all the jewelcrafting and gemcutting is actually very simple, and takes a lot of patience while you sand away the parts you don't want.

Caerydd · March 16, 2009, 07:48 AM

Hmm, very interesting to hear

I have no direct experience myself, and I think 'gem cutting' has a lot of attention paid to it by gemologists (my dad was interested) while they might disregard 'jewellery making', which is where my odd impression has come from. Jewellery classes near me generally don't include gem cutting in their syllabus, hence my question

Thankee

Tarot · March 18, 2009, 04:48 PM

This is now being evaluated.

Charybdis · July 28, 2009, 04:03 PM

This has been accepted into the Compendium!