Antique jewelry glossary

Welcome to our extensive antique jewelry glossary with around 1,500 jewelry related entries.If you feel you are missing an explanation, feel free to let us know and we will add it.

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Fingerprint

A type of inclusion in certain gemstones, e.g. sapphires from Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), in a net-like form, sometimes called 'butterfly wings'. It results from interior cracks that have 'healed' and show under magnification.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson