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| African Turquoise |
Actually a form of jasper, african "turquoise" is completely unrelated to the stone it is often misrepresented as. A recent Google search turned up 9,630 sites selling african turquoise jasper jewelry, and of those, easily 90% or more misrepresented the stone as real turquoise. Conversely, a search for "african turquoise jasper" turned up a mere 2 pages, and of those, at least 2 sites were given for the proximity of the words "african turquoise" to the word jasper, not because the stone was fairly identified. This beautiful jasper is an acceptable substitute for actual turquoise if all you are concerned with is appearance, but the difference should certainly be reflected in the price; african "turquoise" is a much more plentiful stone and far less expensive than the real thing. A member of the quartz group, jasper ranges from 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale, making it a somewhat sturdier rock than turquoise. Jasper can contain up to 20% foreign materials, and it is those that give it its mottled appearance and colors. |
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| Alloy |
A combination of two or more metallic elements or metallic and nonmetallic elements. The alloy is usually achieved by bringing the metals to a molten state under high temperatures and fusing or dissolving them into one solid solution. In jewelry, combining different metals is commonly done to augment the color, hardness and/or luster of the resulting alloy. Some common alloys used in jewelry manufacture:
Gold: Common gold alloys are made by mixing gold, silver, copper, and/or other metals to produce 14K, 18K and 22K gold, white gold (gold and nickel or palladium), rose gold (gold and copper), green gold (gold with silver or silver and cadmium), and blue gold (a recent gold color perfected by only a few jewelers).
Sterling silver is a combination of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper, while coin silver is 80% silver and 20% copper.
Brass is an alloy typically of 60% copper and 40% zinc.
Bronze is an alloy of at least 60% copper and tin or other metals.
Pewter is an alloy of low melting point metals including tin, lead, antimony, bismuth and sometimes a bit of silver or copper. U.S. manufacturer's are required by law to make lead free pewter.
Nickel silver (also called German silver) is a white metal alloy of 70% copper, 20% zinc and 10% nickel. It contains no silver. Many people are allergic to nickel and because of this, the use of nickel silver in jewelry has been outlawed in some countries.
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| annealng |
A metalworking process in which metal is heated and cooled to certain temperatures that make it more malleable, but also less brittle and more resistant to cracking. Annealing is essential to jewelry-making as a means of relieving stresses on metal that have built up while the metal was being cold-worked, that shaped by hammering, bending, or rolling without heating. |
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| Argillite |
A form of slate containing graphite, kaolin, pyrophylite and serpentine. Argillite is one of the older materials used by native North Americans in personal adornment; the use of argillite predates the arrival of Europeans to the continent. |
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| Arrowheads, arrows |
The use of arrows and arrowheads is popular among many native groups. The depiction of arrows and arrowhead on jewelry is a tribute to the importance of arrows as a material culture form. Many modern artists acknowledge their use of arrows as symbolic design. These may or may not have have symbolic associations for their makers. Non-native indian traders of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries deliberately urged the use of the arrow motif in antive-made jewelry. This said, historic and contemporary tourist jewelry often contains arrows or arrowheads that are devoid of any spiritual context. |
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| Avanyu |
See Water Serpent |
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| awl |
A pointed tool or iron or stell used to punch holes or incise surfaces, as in engraving. The awl is one of the oldest tools for decorative marking; awls were used extensively by early native silversmiths until they turned to die stamps and punches in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Many contemporary jewelers continue to use awls. |
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