Jewelry Glossary

Cloisonné

Cloisonné were first developed in the Near East. The technique spread to the Byzantine Empire and from there along the Silk Road to China. Chinese cloisonné is probably the most well known.

This ancient technique is a multi-step enamel process used to produce jewelry, vases, and other decorative items.
Objects produced by this process are also called cloisonné.

Cloisonné jewelry designs

Karen Silver

Karen Silver is short for Thai Karen Hill Tribe silver. The special thing about Karen Silver is that it consists of at least 97% silver! Mostly 97-99%, so it is more pure than any other silver jewelry!

100% pure silver is too soft, which is why there are different mixtures available on the market. Sterling Silver is one of them, and perhaps the most well known mixture of silver.

Karen Hill Tribe silver beads and handcraftred by local Karen Hill Tribe artisans from Chiang Mai, in Thailand.

The SageJewel online shop offers various jewelry designs created with Karen Hill Tribe silver.

Precious Stones

Historically gemstones are classified into precious stones and semi-precious stones. However, such definitions can change over time and vary from culture to culture, hence it has always been difficult to determine what constitutes a precious stone.

Aside from the diamond, the ruby, sapphire, emerald, pearl (which is considered an organic gemstone) and opal have also been considered to be precious. Up to the discoveries of bulk amethyst in Brazil in the 19th century, amethyst was also considered a precious stone, going back to ancient Greece.
Another source says: "Precious stones" is a term that was once reserved only for the diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire. Today, the quality of a given gem can place it in the precious category.

Due to the amount of pain and suffering that results from trade with diamonds, SageJewel made it a policy not to use diamonds in jewelry at all.

Ruby jewelry designs
Sapphire jewelry designs
Emerald jewelry designs
Pearl jewelry designs

Semi-Precious Stones

Any gemstone valued for its beauty but not falling into the category of the four "precious stones", (Emerald, Diamond, Ruby or Sapphire). Some examples of semi-precious stones are Aquamarine, Amethyst, Aventurine, Carnelian, Garnet, Jade, Opal, Peridot, Rose Quartz, Turquoise, etc.

See the following articles for more information about gemstones:
Precious Healing Stones
Birthstones Quick Guide
Gemstones & Chakras

Sterling Silver

Like gold, silver can be alloyed with other metals to improve its durability. 100% pure silver is too soft for more jewelry needs. Sterling Silver, or 925 Silver is the standard used in the jewelry industry. Since pure silver is too soft, copper is added to the silver alloy to generate the required mechanical strength.

Sterling Silver alloy contains 92,5% silver and 7,5% copper. In the past Sterling Silver was also mixed with tin or lead, but nowadays the 7,5% are almost always copper.

Sterling Silver jewelry designs

Swarovsi Crystals

Swarovski crystals take their name from Daniel Swarovski, who invented a machine capable of cutting crystal to perfection in 1892. Swarovski is one of the finest crystals produced in the world today and is noted for its purity, brilliance and reflective qualities.

Swarovski crystals are synthetic crystals, and have an incredible sparkle and clarity, and are often multi-faceted to resemble gemstones.

Swarovski crystal jewelry designs

Tibetan Silver

Tibetan Silver is a kind of silver alloy containing about 30% silver according to the historical definition. It is produced in Nepal, and it also includs copper and nickel. Tibetan Silver is usually, though not always, a little darker than Sterling Silver.

Tibetan Silver jewelry designs

Vermeil Gold

A product that is made from a base of Sterling Silver that is coated or plated on its surfaces with gold of at least 10K finess and at least 2.5 microns thick. Vermeil Gold jewelry is more precious than gold-plated jewelry. Some SageJEwel jewelry uses Karen Vermeil, which means, it is Karen Silver (97-99% pure silver) instead of Sterling Silver underneath the Gold layer.

Vermeil Gold jewelry designs