Glossary of Jewelry Terms
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Edwardian Era: Refers to the years that King Edward of England held the British
throne, from 1901-1911. Edward was Queen Victoria's son and inherited the British
Crown when she died in 1901.
Electro-plating: the process of applying a metal (most often gold) to adhere
to the surface of another metal using electrical current.
Emerald Cut: A form of “step cutting.” It usually is rectangular,
but sometimes is square, in which case it is known as a square emerald cut.
It has rows (steps) of elongated facets on the crown and pavilion, parallel
to the girdle, with sets on each of four sides and at the corners. The number
of rows, or steps, may vary, although the usual number is three on the crown
and three on the pavilion. The emerald cut is seldom used for diamonds in the
intermediate color grades, since it tends to emphasize color. It is excellent,
however, for colorless stones and when it is desirable to emphasize the color
of fancy colors.
Empire earrings: The distinctive hoop shape of Roman earrings of around 1st
century BC with freshwater pearls or amethysts in sterling or gold.
Enamel: A glass powder or paste that is applied to metal, then fired in an
annealing oven to "bake" the glass onto the metal.
Engraving: The process of decorating metal by etching a design into its surface
En Tremblant: A moveable, trembling effect generally achieved through the
use of coiled springs of metal mounted underneath the portion of the brooch
that is intended to move; often found in antique brooches or hair ornaments.
European Cut: Now mostly obsolete; a style of diamond cutting popular from
approximately 1890 to the 1930s typified by a round girdle, a smaller table
in relation to the diameter of the stone, and a large culet. The large culet
appears to create a hole at the bottom of the diamond when viewed from the
top, since the large culet lets light escape instead of reflecting back to
the viewer.
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