Jewelry Term Definitions – Alphabetical N’s

| June 15, 2010 | 1 Comment

NecklaceNacre - 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.

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Category: Jewelry Terms Glossary

About the Author (Author Profile)

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.

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  1. 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!

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