Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical N’s
Nacre - The usually whitish crystalline substance which the mollusk secretes around a foreign "intruder" and which forms what we know as the pearl. Layers build up over time.
Navette - An oval stone which is pointed at both ends.
Near-Colorless - Diamonds with little or no color visible to the naked eye. Near-colorless diamonds are classified as G, H, I or J on the color scale.
Necklace - A form of jewelry worn around the neck.
Négligée - A flexible chain of beads, pearls, links of a precious metal, or rope-like strands, about 50 to 75 cm long, that is hung or looped around a woman's neck, having no clasp and usually terminating with tassels on each end.
Nephrite - Nephrite is a semi-precious stone, a variety of jade (sometimes called greenstone).
Nickel Silver - 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.
Niello - Niello is a black alloy of silver, copper, lead and sulphur. It is used to fill engraving, imparting an inlaid effect after the metal is fired and polished.
Filed Under: Jewelry Terms Glossary
About the Author: Wanda Fitzgerald is a Florida native and an vintage charm collector who loves to share her adventures in an e-commerce jewelry business with anyone who is interested.
Wow, thanks for sharing the info! I’ve just started listing a bunch of vintage jewelry on eBay and since I have no idea I can see you will be a great resource! Appreciate you sharing your knowledge!