Glossary

An item of jewellery worn from the ear. 

 A cut of gemstones with an octagonal table, eight crown facets and eight pavilion facets. Often used for smaller diamonds. 

A naturally occurring alloy or gold and silver. 

Cloison ; a design is outlined with thin metal strips on a metal base. The spaces contained by the wire (cells) is then filled with coloured enamel and fired. Once cooled the surface is polished to make a smooth and flush veneer. 

Champlevé ; channels are gouged in a thick piece of metal and then filled with powered enamel before being fired.  Channels remain separated by thin ridges of metal left in place. Once cooled enamel is polished to form a smooth surfaces with these ridges. 

Basse-Taille ; similar to champlevé although recesses are often chases in low relief and then flooded with translucent enamel allowing light from the metal to be reflected back at the viewer. This produces more depth of colour and aims to create more three dimensional modelling in figurative scenes. This type of enamelling is not smooth but rather the enamel lies in various thickness on the object.

Émail en Ronde Bosse ; enamel applied to a rounded or high relief objects.

Painted enamels ; a techniques originating from 15th century where a layers of enamel would be applied to a thin sheet of metal as a wet powder an fired. This would be the background and more layers are applied on top to create a scene. A small needle would be used to draw through the wet enamel before firing allowing to more detailed work to be completed. 

Filigree enamelling ; similar to cloison although cells are created by filigree instead of thin metal strips. The enamel used to fill these cells will not create a smooth surface when fired. 

A decorative texture on metal produced by using a special mechanical lathe.

Cutting decoration into a surface with the use of a sharp tool.

Tremble.  Settings are placed on tiny springs allowing the piece to move with the wearer. 

Named after Sir William Essex who painted miniature animal portraits for Queen Victoria. Essex crystals are pieces of rock crystal cabochon where an image is carved in reverse onto the flat base before being painted. This created the impression of a three dimensional image when viewed from above.