Glossary of Jewelry Terms
• F •
Facet: A plane, polished surface on a stone.
Fancy Cut: Any style of diamond cutting other than the round brilliant or
single cut. Fancy cuts include the marquise, emerald cut, heart shape, pear
shape, keystone, half moon, kite, triangle, and many others. Also called the “fancy-shaped” diamond
or “modern cut.”
Faux (pronounced "foe"): French word meaning false, fake, imitation
or artificial. In a manufacturing context, faux is used to indicate something
made to resemble something else.
Filigree: Thin strands of wire are intricately interlaced or bent into rosettes,
spirals, scrolls or vines. The wire is typically gold or silver, and may be
plain, twisted, or plaited. There are two major styles of filigree. The first
is to solder the wire to a metal base. This style was used in Byzantine, Carolingian,
Ottonian, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and 13th century German and Italian jewelry.
The second style is to leave the wire as an openwork design without a metal
backing, which is characteristic of European jewelry until the 15th century.
Filigree was used on Jewish marriage rings as well as Spanish and Portuguese
peasant jewelry. In England it is found on some mourning rings.
Findings: All types of construction components used in jewelry making such
as clasps, pins, hooks, tabs, etc.
Finish: Finish is used to describe the polish or texture applied to a metal.
Common finishes include high polish, matte or brushed.
Fire: Flashes of different spectrum colors seen in diamonds and other gemstones
as the result of dispersion.
Fleur-de-lys: From Old French "flor de lis": flor (flower) + de
(of) + lis (lily). A stylized, three-petaled iris flower, used as the armorial
emblem of the Kings of France, re-popularized by Napoleon. It is commonly found
in jewelry.
Florentine Finish: A Florentine finish is a cross-hatched pattern, tooled
into the surface of a metal. The lines are often coarse and more deep than
that of a "brushed finish".
Fob: A short chain or ribbon attached to a pocket watch, often with an ornament
or decorative seal attached to the end.
Foil: The reflective coating on the back of a gemstone or rhinestones to increase
brilliance and depth of color. It was often used on gemstones in the 18th & 19th
centuries. Today, foiling is mostly used on rhinestones.
French Ivory: A plastic produced to simulate ivory. It was first produced
by the Xylonite Company in 1866. Other names include Celluloid, Ivoride, Ivorine,
Ivorite and Pyralin
French Jet: Black glass that is neither "French" nor "jet".
Originally meant to simulate real jet which is black ignite (fossilized coal).
Victorian jet was made into jewelry for use during mourning, and was made popular
by Queen Victoria . As a result, sources of natural jet were quickly depleted.
French wire: A curved wire resembling a fish hook which passes through the
pierced earlobe and has a catch closure. It is mostly used with dangling earrings
due to their extra weight.
Freshwater Pearls: An irregular pearl of various colors produced by fresh
water mollusks such as mussels and clams; popular in Roman jewelry for its
irregular shape and relative availability.
Full-cut Brilliant: A brilliant-cut diamond or colored stone with the usual
total of 58 facets, consisting of 32 facets and a table above the girdle, and
24 facets and culet below.
Full Lead Crystal: Full lead crystal is the finest man-made crystal, because
its high lead oxide content serves to enhance its natural color spectrum. The
production of full lead crystal begins by combining proportionate amounts of
quartz and soda, potash and lead oxide, which are then subjected to extremely
high heat until molten. Crystal is not considered full lead until the lead
oxide content goes above 30%. Swarovski full lead crystal has a lead content
of 30% plus.
|
