AB - An abbreviation for the term ‘Aurora Borealis’ or ‘Northern Lights’.  In costume jewellery it’s a term for crystal stones that have a highly iridescent surface.  The effect is achieved by vapour-blasting the facets of the lower part of the crystals with an invisible, micro-thin metal sheet.  The AB crystal was created by Swarovski® in 1955 in collaboration with Christian Dior, but the term ‘AB’ now refers to any iridescent finish.

Black Onyx - Genuine, gleaming onyx adds real pizzazz to jewellery designs.  Such beauty costs a little more and, in this case, it’s worth it.  This material is genuine, highly-polished striped onyx, dyed black in colour.  As the dye is accepted differently throughout the stone, periodic banding may still be displayed.   From Brazil.

Blackstone - Blackstone is a trade name for a variety of abundant black stones.  Some varieties of blackstone have been permanently dyed to enhance their natural colour.  Blackstone, with its satiny, moderate gloss polish, is great for accenting or mixing with contrasting gemstones, and blends nicely with either gold or silver beads and findings.

Borosilicate Glass -  Borosilicate glass is created by adding boron to the traditional glassmaker’s mix of silicate sand, soda and ground lime.  Initially it had industrial uses (as Pyrex by Corning, for laboratory equipment, by Bodum for coffee-plunger glassware, among others).  Coloured borosilicate, for the art glass trade, was first widely brought onto the market in 1986 when Paul Trautman founded Northstar Glassworks.  There are now a number of small companies in the USA and elsewhere that manufacture and sell coloured borosilicate glass for use by art-glass craftspeople.  Beads made from Boro glass are usually sturdier than those made from other types of glass - great for bracelets.

Cathedral Beads - These Czech fire-polished glass beads have faceted sides and intricate metallic, enhanced detailing on the top and bottom.  Each of these is a treasure in itself, and they add exquisite charm wherever they are used.  Beautiful whether strung alone or in combination with other beads.

Cinnabar (imitation) - Cinnabar beads are produced in a process combining layers and layers of coloured lacquer, then hand-carved with the intricate patterns reminiscent of ancient Asia.  Red cinnabar beads are designed to resemble natural coral material.

Cloisonné -  Created by skilled artisans, each cloisonné bead can take up to four hours to produce.  Dozens of tiny cells are arranged on the bead’s surface, filled with enamel colour, and fired.  Then each bead is polished, revealing intricate and beautiful designs.  Since each bead is handmade, colours and styles may vary.

Cubic Zirconia - Synthetic gemstone developed in 1977 to simulate a diamond.  Now available in many colours to simulate other gemstones including citrine, sapphire, ruby, zircon, peridot.

Czech Glass Beads - Czech beads are renowned for their excellent craftsmanship dating back to the 11th Century.  Made of quality glass, the vivid colours will not fade and are consistent throughout the line.  My items use Preciosa (formerly Jablonex) prime-quality, traditional Czech glass beads.  Preciosa is the name behind the well-known Czech seed beads and Czech fire-polished beads, with exceptional colour and size consistency.  The beads are optically-polished for a scratch-free surface creating maximum brilliance.  For the full story, follow this link Czech Glass Beads to another page.

 
Delica Beads - Delica seed beads are perfectly cylindrical modern Japanese beads with thin walls and large holes.  They can be smooth or six-sided.  Their uniform size and shape make them perfect for precision work.

 Desert Sun Beads - These are clear glass beads that are first coated in gold or silver plating, then fired.  They are then coated with colour and refired.  This second firing shrinks the colour coating away from the plating, forming the “fissures”.

Dichroic - This amazing glass has fantastic multi-coloured and reflective properties.  For the full story, in an easy-to-follow format, follow this link Dichroic Glass to Fire Mountain Gems' website.

 
Dumortierite - Dumortierite, also called “blue denim stone”, is actually an aluminium borate silicate from Brazil.  This is a versatile gemstone – great with jeans or a suit.

Fire-Polished Beads - These beads, imported from the Czech Republic, are machine-faceted, then polished by glazing inside a red-hot oven.  This gives them beautiful, glistening colours with a “softer” look and a smoother feel at a considerably lower price than the machine-polished Austrian crystal.  Slight imperfections are to be expected and add to the allure of these much-sought-after beads.

Glass Pearls - Of all the types of imitation pearls, glass-base pearls are the highest quality.  Fantastic lustre!

Gold-Filled - A gold alloy plate where the plating constitutes at least 1/20^th of the weight of the metal in the entire article.  The term must be preceded by the carat (karat) fineness, eg “14K gold-filled”.

Hemalyke™ -  A manmade stone that is a "look alike" for natural hematite but without the latter's cost.  It is a shiny, almost gunmetal, black, with a sleek modern look.

Ice Flake Quartz - This results from when crystal quartz is first heated then quickly cooled.  The crystals that don’t explode into dust sometimes develop the beautiful internal fractures reminiscent of ice crystal.  The internal surface reflects light in every direction.

Jet -  Natural jet is solid opaque black.  Great for beading, it’s extremely lightweight for its size, can be intricately carved, and takes a great polish.  This unique material comes from the coal mines of barren northern China.  This gem is valued for its metaphysical properties, since it is one of the few black gems that is totally natural.  Entirely cut, carved and polished by hand, therefore sizes and weights may vary slightly.

Labradorite -  Labradorite is a gemstone of grey-green colour, laced with brilliant eye-catching blue-green flashes.  Discovered in 1770, it is mined mostly in Northeastern Canada in the Labrador peninsula – hence its name.

Lampworked -  A complex and challenging method of making glass beads.  A torch burning either propane or natural gas is used to melt and shape the glass, with either air or pure oxygen used as the oxidiser.  All lampworked glass beads are made individually by hand, so shapes, colours and details may vary slightly, giving each bead unique characteristics.
  

Mother-of-Pearl -  These iridescent beads and components come from the hard internal layer of the sea mollusc that produces pearls.  Mother-of-pearl enhances the skin tones of both tanned and porcelain complexions, and epitomises feminine loveliness.

Murano glass has been a famous product of the Venetian island of Murano for centuries and is still now.  It is used not only in the fabrication of Venetian glass objects (including beads) but also exported to artist glassmakers worldwide.

New 'Jade' -  New "jade" is the trade name for a semi-translucent serpentine stone with some inclusions ranging from light and creamy to black.  It is available in a variety of green shades including olive, sea green, green, and peridot.  Leaf beads are a beautiful accent to autumn and winter styles.

Red Jasper -  This deep, brick-red jasper is similar to pipestone – a soft red stone mined in Minnesota for centuries by the Plains Indians for the carving and making of pipes.  Red jasper is luscious with unakite, turquoise or bone.  From Australia and India.

Rhodium -  An expensive whitish-grey metallic element from the platinum family.

Rhyolite - Rhyolite blends green, brick red, tan and brown tones in amazing patterns.  It is a volcanic rock that is located in areas where volcanoes have erupted and is found all over the world.  It is closely related to granite, only rhyolite has finer crystals and a glassy, high-shine appearance.  Quartz, feldspar, mica and hornblende are the minerals that make up rhyolite.  Rhyolite is the perfect stone selection when looking to capture the colours of autumn.