The little lexicon of DIY

Abalone
Natural mother-of-pearl with many iridescent green, blue, purple and sometimes pink reflections, coming from the shell of a marine mollusk. It is also called "Nacre de Paua", "Sea Opal" or "Sea Ear".

Aries
Pendant attachment, more or less worked ring which allows to suspend a medallion, a pendant ...

Baroque
Non-spherical beads with irregular shapes.

Beading
Art of attaching beads to each other by threading them with a sewing or beading needle and thread. It is a term widely used in embroidery or sewing. More broadly, this term refers to all DIY activities with beads.

Brick stitch
Weaving technique performed with a needle, without a loom. It allows to weave beads staggered horizontally.

Cabochon
Cut of a polished gemstone. It usually has a flat face and a Brillantd face. It can be oval, round, pear or teardrop shaped, teardrop or triangle shaped. It is possible to crimp or glue it to a support.

Charm
Smaller than a pendant and larger than a sequin, the charm is a jewelry component to hang from a necklace, chain, bracelet, earrings, anklet or ring.

Crimp bead cover (or knot cover )
It is used to hide the crimp pearls and unsightly knots of your costume jewelry assemblies. It will allow you to make professional looking jewelry in no time. It is very easy to use, just close it on the crimp bead using a crimp bead pliers.

Cameo
Bas-relief engraving technique applied to a shell or a fine stone. The characters stand out against the lighter or darker background. It has been a great classic of jewelry since Antiquity.

Cane
Assembly of several pieces of polymer clay. They were welded together by pressure to create a strand of dough, in the center of which was placed a pattern. To use it, it must be cut into slices.

Carat
Unit of weight of precious stones and Gold. 24 karat gold is pure gold.

Candlestick
Piece of metal, designed to be hung from a necklace, studs or ear hooks. Adorn it with pearls, charms, small pendants ...

Claw
Metal rod with a setting. They make it possible to hold and enclose the stone.

Clip
The earring for those who do not have a pierced earlobe. The lobe is "pinched" between a support and a closure provided with a rubber pad.

Connector
Other name of the insert.

Crimped
Support for fixing a stone Crimping A jewelry technique that sets a stone on a kitten. There are different crimping techniques.

Cubic Zirconia (or zirconium)
Very beautiful synthetic stone, flawless, durable and significantly less expensive than real diamond. It is widely known as a diamond substitute, thanks to its hardness and beautiful rainbow-colored reflections.

Cup
Pieces of metal used to separate beads or adorn a bead. It is perhaps also called "cap".

Dichroic glass
Dichroic glass is made by multiple fusions of different metals (titanium, chromium, aluminum, zirconium, magnesium or silicon) on the surface of the glass, thus creating various reflections, of reflective colors, depending on the angle of seen.

Donut
It is a pendant, very often in gemstones. It has a large hole in its center to be able to pass a chain or a cord with a lark's knot.

DIY
These are the initials of "do it yourself". It means "do it yourself".

Ear hooks
It is a rod without clasp that cannot be used alone. The ear hook always has a ring to hang all kinds of things like beads, feathers, tassels, chains, pendants ...

Ear studs
It is the most popular model of earrings. Ultra light and discreet, they have a rod that is held in place using a butterfly clasp. Due to their small size, they are also called "ear fleas".

Engraving
Decoration technique, by removing the material, widely used in jewelry.

Fine stones
These are natural stones (we also say gemstones). In the past, they were grouped together under the name "semi-precious stones".

Freshwater pearl
Fine pearl which forms naturally in freshwater mollusks, without human intervention unlike the traditional seawater pearl which requires to integrate a small particle inside the pearl shell. The freshwater pearl is made from 100% mother of pearl.

Galvanization
The act of covering a metal with a layer of another metal.

Gems
Name which groups together natural stones whether they are precious, fine or ornamental. To be a gemstone, the stone must be derived from a mineral, rock or organic material. It must also meet specific criteria such as size, color, transparency and hardness.

Gold-Filled
Jewelry technique born in the United States. It consists in applying a 14K Gold finish, by mechanical pressure or hot application, on a common metal (generally brass). The weight of Gold corresponds to 1/20 of the total weight of the product.

Gold Plated
Covering of a metal with a thin layer of gold. In France, a thickness of 3 microns is mandatory for the term Gold Plated to be granted.

Heishi
They are flat beads like discs. They can be shell, synthetic, wood, gemstones, metal, polymer ... These are pearls that can be worn by men as well as by women.

Herringbone
Weaving technique that allows you to weave beads by giving them an angle. It is also called "the slipper point".

Hoops
These are the oldest models of earrings. They are formed of a round or semi-circular ring. They come in all sizes and shapes: heart, rectangle, triangle, oval ...

Inclusion
It is an impurity contained in a gemstone, such as trapped air bubbles, a crystal, another gemstone, plants and even insects. This term is also used when adding dried flowers, resin elements, micro-beads or flakes to resin.

Interlayer
As its name suggests, it is a jewel primer that fits between two components of a jewel, between two pieces of a chain, between two cords or between two macrame threads.

Junction rings
Indispensable to the manufacture of jewelry, the rings are used to connect elements between them such as chains, clasps, pendants, spacers ... They can be round, oval, triangle-shaped, open or closed.

Jewel primer
These are all the small elements that make it possible to create a piece of jewelry, such as clasps, nails or rods, ear studs, rings ...

Kashmiri pearls
Beads entirely made by hand. On a metal support, the craftsman makes a base composed of a mixture of polymer clay and resin. The beads are then decorated with mini glass beads, metal elements, sequins ...

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Macrame
Traditional braiding technique, which consists of making successive knots with a rope or a thick cord. It is used for decoration or the creation of hammocks.

Micro-macrame
For this variant of macrame, we use the same kinds of knots, but with finer threads. That is why it is rather used for making jewelry.

Millefiori
"A thousand flowers" in Italian. Millefiori is a technique for making glass mosaic.

Mother of pearl
Interior coating of some seashells. Thanks to its unique iridescent reflections, mother-of-pearl is very popular in the world of jewelry and decoration.

Miyuki
Famous brand of Japanese seed beads, ideal for pearl weaving.

Nail
This jewel primer is also called "rod". It can have a flat head, a round head, a ball head or it can be a nail with a fancy head.

Non-precious metals
Brass, Aluminum, Steel, Bronze, Copper, Tin, Titanium, Zinc, Cobalt, Lead.

Opalescence
It is the milky transparency of certain fine stones such as Moonstone, Opal, Rose Quartz and Chalcedony.

Pearl reamer
Tool that allows you to unblock pearl holes, enlarge holes, untie knots or reposition pearls.

Pigtail
It is a strong and practical buckle formed on a jewelry nail or rod. We call it that because we will twist the thread (like a pigtail) between the bead and the loop. It is used to hang pearls, create charms, pendants, spacers or dangling earrings.

Peyote
Bead weaving technique without a loom. It allows you to weave beads in staggered rows but vertically.

Polishing
Technique which consists in polishing, that is to say to make a piece smooth and shiny.

Polymer clay
PVC-based plasticine which hardens after baking. There are several kinds such as Fimo, Cernit, Sculpey or Ceralun.

Precious metals
Gold, Silver and Platinum

Precious stones
Diamond, Sapphire, Emerald and Ruby

Print
Piece of metal cut and shaped between two dies to obtain a relief pattern. The print can be adorned with threads, pearls, rhinestones ...

Punch
Metal tool that allows you to engrave a pattern on metal, wood or leather. The hallmark also designates the tool for marking precious metals: the maker's mark, the responsibility mark and the guarantee mark.

Pyrography
Technique which allows, using a pyrography iron, to draw a pattern on a wooden, leather, ivory or bone object, by burning its surface.

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Reamer with rounding tip
Tool that rounds the ends of metal wires.

Ring sizer
Ring game that allows you to know your finger size.

Rockery
Small glass beads known since the dawn of time. They are used in the creation of DIY costume jewelry, the realization of decorative objects, the customization of accessories or clothing. Their shape is very popular for weaving pearls.

Scrapbooking
This name comes from the English word "scrap" which means pieces and from "book" which means book. It is about highlighting photos in an album, in a frame or on a box, in relation to a theme. To decorate the images, anything is allowed: collage, drawing, painting, commentary, stamp, stickers ... It is also called "Creacollage" or "Collimage".

Sequin
It is a component for hanging jewelry. It is smaller than a pendant and a charm. Very often, and unlike the charm, the sequin does not have a ring to pass a chain or a cord, but it does have a hole.

Shock
It is a necklace worn at the base of the neck. Very popular in the 90s, it is now trendy again.

Silk screen
Stencil that allows you to print patterns on polymer clay. The same technique is used as for screen printing on fabrics.

925 silver
925 Silver or Sterling Silver 925 in English is made of 92.5% Silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. Since pure silver is too soft to be worked, a little copper is added to increase its hardness and resistance.

Sleepers
These earrings have been designed so that you can wear them while sleeping and without hurting yourself. In the past, it was believed that the drill hole could close overnight.

Stacking
Accumulation of several jewels of the same type. Trend for necklaces, rings and bracelets.

Stainless steel
Steel with more than 10.5% chromium. It is also known as "stainless steel". It is not corrosive, it does not oxidize, it is non-allergenic and it requires little maintenance.

Tweezers
Specific pliers for catching small parts or pearls.

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Vernier caliper
Instrument for measuring height, inside and outside diameter, depth of a hole and thickness of small objects.

Wrap
Technique composed of two cords, between which one hangs pearls, stones, and many other elements. The wrap bracelet can be simple or wrap several times on your wrist.

Wire-wrapping
Technique that consists of wrapping metallic threads around a support such as gemstones or pearls, while creating simple or complex patterns.

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Zamak or Zamac
Acronym of the alloy Zinc (95%), Aluminum (4%), Magnesium (approximately 0.03%), Copper (approximately 1%). Its melting point is around 400 ? C. Easy to work, it is ideal for die casting, because it has a very good fluidity. It is stronger than most plastics, but less than ferrous alloys.

Zircon
It is a natural gem, renowned for its shine. It comes from a mineral called zirconium silicate. It is found in several colors: blue, pink, yellow, green, orange, red, fuchsia, pink? It can also be crystal color. It then looks a lot like a diamond because of its brilliance and transparency and can be used as a substitute in jewelry. This is why it is sometimes wrongly called "synthetic diamond". It should not be confused with zirconia (also called zirconium oxide or zirconia) which is an artificial stone.