So you've decided to make jewellery. Before you start, you'll need to familiarize yourself with the terminology used in jthe industry - after all you'll need to be able to communicate with your customers and being confident and knowing what you're talking about can make the difference between forging a relationship with a customer - or losing that customer!

The list below by no means contains all the terminology associated with jewellery making, but it does represent the main categories and techniques.

Alloy: A mixture of two or more metallic metals combined for to give the alloy strength and structure.. For example: Gold in its pure state (24K) is way too soft for any practical jewellery uses, but when combinined with small amounts of harder metals such as copper, nickel or silver a more durable and useable materialis produced.

Anneal: The process of heating work-hardened metal to restore malleability. To do this the metal is heated to a specific temperature for a set period of time. The temperature and timescale is dependant on the substance and the intended application. The metal is then cooled slowly to toughen it and reduce brittleness. Small pieces can be heated with a torch. Larger items are generally annealed in either a kiln or an annealing oven.

Anodize: To produce controlled oxidation of a metal's surface by means of a chemical (acid) bath. The positive end or "anode" of an electrical current is passed through the bath, creating a thin protective film on the surface, caused by the change in the molecular structure of the top layer only. Anodization gives the metal a lustrous sheen, or even changes the surface colour. This process is widely used for “coloring” titanium and niobium metal. Different voltage settings creates different colors on the metals.

Aqua Regia: A mixture of three parts hydrochloric acid and one part nitric acid which is used to test the purity of gold and platinum. The mixture is one of the few chemicals that can dissolve those metals.

Assay: A test of purity for an alloy, designed to determine the percentage of precious metal content.

Aurora Borealis (AB): Named after the Northern Lights, aurora borealis is a term for crystal stones that have a highly iridescent surface. The effect is achieved by vapor blasting the facets of the lower part of the crystals with an invisible, micro thin metal sheet. This stone was created by Swarovski® in 1955 in collaboration with Christian Dior. Also known as AB, the term now refers to any highly iridescent surface.

Bale: The metal loop that attaches a chain or cord to a pendant.

Bakelite: The trade-marked name for synthetic resins and plastics developed by a US chemist. Jewellery pieces made of Bakelite, especially with animal and fruit motifs, were extremely popular in the US in the 1930s and are now considered collectors items. Bakelite has had something of a renaissance in this country in recent years.

Baroque Pearl: An irregularly-shaped pearl.

Base Metal: Any metal other than a precious metal. Lead, bismuth, tin, antimony, copper andso on are base metals.. Alloys of non-precious metals are also referred to as base metals. Findings made of base metal (silver or gold colored) are the cheapest to buy and are perfect for those beginning to do wire work and beading. Once you have honed your skills you may decide to use better quality findings and beads.

Base metal findings: are usually made of a nickel alloy material that can cause allergic reactions in some people, especially when used in body piercings. People who are sensitive to nickel alloys should wear a minimum of 14 K gold found in quality gold-filled findings, Surgical grade stainless steel findings - usually referred to as Hypoallergenic. Most nickel-sensitive people can also tolerate sterling silver with no problems.

Bezel: A strip of wire that surrounds and secures a stone or other object. Bezel can be made or bought in various standard calibrated sizes for cabochons. Wire workers create their own bezel using the half hard square wire.

Biwa: A cultured pearl originally non-nucleated, grown in a freshwater mussel from Lake Biwa in Japan. Only those actually produced there should be called Biwas; others are simply called freshwater, cultured pearls.

Briolette: A briolette is an elongated, pear-shaped stone covered with bands of triangular or rectangular facets, usually with a pointed end and without a girdle.

Bronze: An alloy containing at least 60% copper plus tin and sometimes other metals.

Brushed Finish: Created by using a stiff metal brush along the surface of metallic jewellery. This adds texture and produces a less reflective surface with the matte finish that has become very popular.

Cameo: A carved gem, such as agate or shell, in which the design (often a head or flower) stands out against a background of a different color.

Casting: A process for making metal items that has been used for thousands of years. Molten metal is poured into a mould. There are different methods of casting including centrifugal (or investment), sand casting and the little-used wax process.

Chain Mail or Chainmaille: This technique has seen a resurgence in popularity in the last couple of years. The process involves joining metal rings of predetermined sizes together, creating a flexible metal "fabric" in a variety of different items. Chain mail was used in medieval times to provide flexible armour and jewellery. Patterns available for modern chain mail and jewellery are amazing in their complexity and beauty.

Chalcedony: Various types of colored quartz, including carnelian, agate, cat's eye and jasper, often with a milky appearance,

Chasing: A process involving the use of a hammer and steel tools to recess and/or reshape metal from the front. This technique is used to add texture to the surface of metal with hammers leaving a pattern engraved in the head. For use on such items as washers, metal strips, etc.

Chromium: A hard, shiny, grey-white metal that resists corrosion quite well. Sometimes used in costume jewelry as a coating over other metals.

Cloisonné: Enamel with surface decorations set in hollows formed by strips of wire welded to a metal plate. Artisans of China are well known for their cloisonné creations.

Cubic Zirconia (CZ): A synthetic gemstone developed in 1977 to simulate a diamond. These days “cz’s” come in a wide range of colors and styles and can add enormous "bling" to your creations.

Drawplate: In metalsmithing, particularly wire jewelry applications, a drawplate is a die plate through which wire is pulled to reduce its diameter. A drawplate is used in Viking Knit and even crocheted wire jewelry to reduce and tighten the weave of the finished piece. Making your own drawplate is quite simple, using an inch-thick block of hardwood, and drilling a series of holes at least ¼" apart, from 1.5mm to 10mm in diameter in .5 increments. By passing the length of finished woven wire through each drilled hole you reduce the size of the woven wire to the size you want.

Ductible: A substance is "ductile" if it is easily pulled into a thin wire. The most ductile metal is gold and it is the easiest wire to pull through a drawplate to reduce the diameter.

DWT: The abbreviation for Penny Weight in the Troy System of Weights.

Electroplate: (See Plating) Rings, ear hooks or wires, and crimp beads.

Embossing: The process of raising a domed design on the front of a piece of metal by beating it from behind with punches and a hammer.

Finding: Manufactured components used to create jewellery. Findings include jump rings, clasps, bails, headpins, ear wires, and charms, to name a few. Generally, findings provide the structure with the gems, beads or other providing the decoration.

Fineness: Usually expressed in parts per thousand, fineness is the proportion of silver or gold in a metal alloy. For example, Sterling Silver is 925. In other words, 925 parts per 1000 are silver. . Gold fineness is measured in Karats.

Foil: A thin leaf of metal placed behind a gem or paste stone to heighten its color or brilliance. Foil was first added to the back of genuine gems in the 1800’s to enhance the colors of faceted stones.

Gauge: The measurement of the thickness of an object, particularly wire and sheet metals. Wire gauges for jewelry applications range from a very thick 4g to a very fine 34g. NB, The smaller the gauge, the larger the diameter of the wire.

German Silver: Also known as NICKEL SILVER. This alloy is approximately 60% copper, 20% nickel, and 20% zinc. If around 5% of tin is also present in this alloy, it is called Alpaca. There is no silver in German Silver, which is why German silver wire is very inexpensive and frequently used in costume jewelry. It should be noted that about 1 person in every 10 has a metal allergy to nickel.

Gold: Gold is one of the most visually attractive of all metals and because of its unique composition and rarity, it is considered the "most precious" metal. It is also one of the heaviest metals, is resistance to tarnish or corrosion, and is very durable. One of the first metals used by early man, gold’s durability has been confirmed by the discovery of elaborately crafted artifacts of gold which have remained in near-perfect condition from the ancient Egyptian, Etruscan and Assyrian cultures.

Gold occurs in nature in almost pure form, and is the most malleable and ductile of the metals. It is a good conductor of heat and electrical current, and in its pure state is very soft. One troy ounce of gold (the size of a sugar cube and equal to about 31 grams) can be hammered into a sheet (called gold leaf) covering 108 square feet or pulled into a thread fifty miles long. Gold jewellery, isn't pure gold. The purity or fineness of gold in the jewelry is designated by its karat number. 24-karat (24K or 24 Kt) gold is as pure as gold for jewelry gets. 24K gold is also called fine gold and it is greater than 99.7% pure gold. Proof gold is even finer, having a rating of over 99.95% purity, but it is only used for standardization purposes and is not available for jewelry.

Gold-filled (GF): A gold alloy plate made by soldering, brazing, welding or other means. The plate must be a minimum of 10Kt fineness and the plating must be at least 1/20th of the weight of total metal in the article. The term must be preceded by the karat fineness of the plating eg. 14Kt Gold-Filled. When using the term gold overlay, manufacturers are permitted to use a layer of gold that is less than 1/20th the weight of the entire piece, but they must stamp the proportion of the gold layer on the jewelry.

Harden: The process of manipulating malleable wire so that it will retain its shape and design and will also be strong enough to bear the weight of other components in an item. The three most frequent methods of hardening jewellery wire are drawing, manipulating and striking. Simply working soft wire back and forth with the hands will create some hardness, as will working with nylon jaw pliers. The term "Drawing" refers to pulling wire through a smaller hole in a wood plate to reduce its diameter. To harden and flatten a shaped item, it is put between two pieces of leather which are then placed between two jeweller's blocks. The blocks are then struck by a hammer. A leather mallet can also be used to strike the item, which should be laid on a protected surface that will not mar the metal.

Hardness: A measurement of the malleability or temper of a substance. When purchasing raw materials for wire-work, you will find that wire comes in several different levels of hardness, only a few of which are commonly used by jewellers.

In jewelry wire, hardness or malleability is graded "soft" or "dead soft", "quarter hard", "half-hard", "full hard" and "spring hard". You may also encounter wire or sheet metal hardness that is designated numerically, rather than by name. The numbering system goes from zero to 10 or more, and is based on the number of times wire has been drawn though progressively smaller holes in a drawplate. Each jump in the number designates a doubling of the preceding number. Soft or dead soft has the number zero, since it isn't drawn through a plate. Quarter hard is drawn through once, half-hard has been drawn twice and hard has been drawn through four times. Spring wire has been drawn through successively smaller holes eight times The best hardness to use for an application will depend on the intended use of the wire, as detailed below:

Dead Soft Wire is extremely malleable and can be bent easily into a myriad of shapes by using the hands. It does not hold its shape in stress situations, such as clasps, until it is hardened. You would use dead soft if the application has several loops and swirls, which are more perfectly done with bare hands.

Half-Hard Wire is malleable, but most people will need to use tools or jigs to bend it into shape. Half hard will; however, maintain a fairly intricate shape under moderate stress, after it has been work hardened. It is very useful for light weight-bearing parts of wire-wrapped jewelry.

Hard or Full Hard Wire holds its shape for wire-wrapping jewelry and for making clasps and other findings that will likely be stressed. Tools are recommended when bending or manipulating hard wire.

The gauge, or thickness, of wire will affect its hardness. For example, a piece of 12 gauge wire is relatively thick. Even at dead soft hardness it will not bend as easily as 18 gauge wire of the same hardness.

To test for sheet metal hardness, the Vickers Hardness test (designated HV) is very precise and calculates hardness from the size of the indentation a diamond-shaped pyramid produces under measured pressure. The Knoop Hardness test (HK) is based on the same principle as the Vickers test, but it is used on brittle materials such as glass and ceramics and uses lower pressures. The Mohs Scale of Hardness is a rating system for minerals based on their resistance to scratching by other minerals. On a scale of one to ten, Mohs uses ten minerals to determine the degree of hardness, ranking the softest (Talc) as #1 and the hardest (diamond) #10.

Intaglio: A decoration made by carving or engraving a design into a gem or other hard material. Intaglio is the opposite of cameo.

Iron: This metal is very seldom used in jewellery because of its lack of lustre and because it is so brittle.

Karat: The fineness of gold, equal to one part of 24 in gold alloys. (See Gold)

Karatclad: A trademark for a very thick gold electroplating process which is approximately 14 times thicker than standard electroplating.

Malleable: This term indicates that a metal or alloy is easily worked by hand or other tools.

Millefiori: Created by fusion of several glass rods arranged so that the cross-section creates a flower or pattern with a mosaic-like appearance.

Memory Wire: A hardened steel wire that will retain its original shape even after repeated use. Available in a standard and "Cadmium" (silver-colored and rust proof) finish and in diameters suitable for rings, bracelets and chokers.

Milling: The process of cutting metal with symmetrical shapes and patterns while it is spinning, usually on a lathe,

Mokume-Gane: A Japanese metalsmithing technique that results in a wood-like finish by alternating layers of thin, colored metals and laminated together. Designs or patterns are then punched, filed away or hammered into the laminate, producing unique and delicate patterns.

Nickel Silver: This alloy was first used in the mid- 1800s by the Germans as a silver substitute. However, apart from its colour, it is not silver at all. Indeed, it is mostly copper (about 60%), with equal parts of nickel and zinc added. If a small percentage of tin is added the alloy is then called Alpaca.

Niobium: A lightweight, tough, hypo-allergenic refractory metal, usually anodized to produce vivid colors for costume jewelry. Marks easily and cannot be soldered. After manufacturing into the desired shape, such as ear wires, headpins, eyepins or jumprings, the naturally grey base metal Niobium is anodized to create six signature colors. Most people who are metal-sensitive can comfortably wear Niobium.

Palladium: Palladium (puh-ley-dee-um) is a dense and lustrous, precious white/silver metal. Discovered in 1803 by William Wollaston, it is named palladium after the renowned asteroid Pallas, which is named after Athena, the ancient Greek Goddess of Wisdom. A cousin of the platinum metal group, this rare metal is popular for fine metal jewelry, findings and beads.

Rhodium: One white metal of the platinum family of precious metals. Rhodium is quite expensive, and is often used to plate both precious and base metals giving them a hard, platinum-like sheen.

Rose Gold: Rose Gold is a gold and copper alloy which is used for special affects in making jewelry due to its reddish color. Rose gold is also known as Pink Gold and Red Gold.

Rouge: An abrasive compound used with a buffing wheel to polish metals. Rouge is graded from very coarse to very fine by the size of the abrasive, from very course to very fine and each of the grades has different uses. Brown Rouge, also called Red Rouge, is used for cutting down a rough surface, or removing heavy oxidation. It is also considered a semi-aggressive primary compound because it contains large grains of abrasiveBrown Rouge is used for the first step in the polishing process for unfinished metal. Some metalsmiths only use Brown/Red rouge. Green Rouge is much finer and is sometimes used for a second polishing. White Rouge contains the very finest abrasive and is used for the final polishing to produce a very high shine.

Rolled Gold: A very thin sheet of gold is laminated to a lesser metal, such as brass, then heated under pressure to fuse them together. The fused metal is then rolled into a much thinner sheet and used to make jewelry or other objects, and is marked RGP for Rolled Gold Plate. The term ‘rolled gold’ is most often used in European countries and Australia. Rolled gold jewelry wears extremely well.

Rolling: In metallurgy, this is the most-used method of taking metal from a cast ingot to a sheet or bar - sheet metal being the most common product. Rolling can be done by using either a cold or hot method, however, the metal produced by the cold-rolled process will be stronger and have a much smoother surface. .

Russian Gold Finish: A finishing technique that produces matte, antique-look jewellery.

Ruthenium: Another precious metal from the platinum group. Usually abbreviated Ru or Ruth it is often added, in small amounts, to platinum alloys to strengthen and harden them.

Satin Finish: This method of finishing metal produces a semi-gloss finish that is between a matte finish and a shiney one. The effect is achieved by making minute, extremely shallow parallel lines on the surface of the metal, which reduces its reflectivity.

Setting: The base or section of a piece of jewellery that holds the stone or gem. If a setting has metal behind the stone, it is referred to as a closed setting. Where there is no metal behind the stone, the setting is considered "open." There are many different styles and types of settings available to the jeweller.

Silver: A fine, naturally-occurring precious metal with an almost-white sheen. Pure silver is too soft to work with so it is usually alloyed with other metals, such as copper in the ratio fo 925 silver to every 1000 parts - hence 925 Sterling Silver, which is the highest quality to work with. Silver tarnishes after exposure to air, which forms a thin layer of silver-oxide on the surface. Silver often occurs near copper lodes.

Silver 800: Silver alloy which contains 800 parts per 1000 (80%) silver and 200 parts per thousand (20%) copper, and is used primarily for casting.

Sterling Silver: Silver with a fineness of 925 parts per 1000 (92.5%) silver and 75 parts per thousand (7.5%) copper, which increases the silver's hardness. Sterling Silver is quite malleable and ductile.

Solder: A metal alloy used to join other metals. Heat is applied to melt the solder but not the metals being soldered. Available in gold and silver as well as base metal, solder also comes in different grades. Not all solder melts at the same temperature, so it is crucial that solder be of a grade that melts at lower temperature than the metals to be joined.

Steel: An alloy of iron and carbon where the content of the carbon ranges up to 2%. When the alloy contains more than 2% carbon, it is defined as cast iron. Steel is very seldom used for le.

Surgical or Surgical Stainless Steel: Any one of a family of low carbon alloy steels usually containing 10-30% chromium. The chromium provides exceptional resistance to corrosion and heat. Other elements may be added to increase corrosion resistance to specific environments, enhance oxidation resistance and impart special characteristics. Because it is hypo-allergenic, it is often used in findings for body piercings, such as ear wires or posts and navel jewellery.

Temper: The temper of wire is often referred to in terms of hardness or softness. The temper or hardness of the wire indicates the malleability of the wire to hold its shape and to bend fluidly. It can range from dead soft , which bends with no resistance, to extra spring hard.

Torsade: A necklace made from several strands twisted together.

Troy Weight: The system of units of mass customarily used for weighing precious metals and gemstones. Its name comes from the city of Troyes, France, which was an extremely important trading city in the Middle Ages. The system is based on the Troy pound of 5760 grains. The pound was divided into 12 ounces (480 grains) each containing 20 pennyweight (24 grains).

Vermeil: Gold-plated silver; or occasionally, gold-plated bronze. Vermeil has a very rich gold color, usually darker than high-karat gold.

Weld: A process using very high heat that joins two pieces of metal together. Rolled gold is formed in this way.

White Gold: Gold that has been alloyed with a mixture of copper, manganese, nickel, tin, zinc, and sometimes palladium. This give it the look of platinum. White gold was originally developed during WWII to imitate platinum, which was, at the time, considered a strategic material for military applications.

Yellow Gold: An alloy of gold with a mixture containing 50/50 copper and silver