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Jewellery Terms Every Buyer Should Know

· Divara Jewellery

Jewellery listings use a lot of specific terminology, and the terms aren't interchangeable even when they sound similar. Here's what the ones that matter most actually mean.

Metal and construction

  • Karat (K) — the proportion of pure gold in an alloy. 24K is pure gold; everything below that is alloyed with other metals for strength.
  • Millesimal fineness — purity expressed per thousand instead of karat — 999.9, 750, 585, and so on.
  • Hallmark — an official stamp certifying metal purity or origin, often a legal requirement for precious metals.
  • Alloy — a mix of a precious metal with other metals for added strength or color, since pure gold is too soft for most jewelry on its own.
  • Plating, vermeil, and filled — three different methods of applying a precious-metal layer over a base metal, each with a distinct meaning and durability profile (plating is thinnest, filled is thickest, vermeil is specifically a gold layer over sterling silver).
  • Rhodium plating — a thin rhodium layer applied to white gold for extra shine and scratch resistance. It wears over time and can be reapplied.
  • Findings — the functional components of a piece: clasps, jump rings, ear wires, pin backs.
  • Setting — how a stone is held in place: prong, bezel, pavé, channel, or tension are the most common.
  • Solid vs. hollow — whether a piece is solid metal throughout, or hollow-formed (common in larger chains or bangles to reduce weight and cost).

Documentation

  • Certificate of Authenticity — a document accompanying a piece that certifies its specs and/or origin.
  • Provenance — the documented origin and ownership history of a piece.

Knowing these terms makes it much easier to compare listings on equal footing — "gold vermeil" and "gold-plated" describe genuinely different products, not two ways of saying the same thing. Every term we use on a Divara listing describes that specific piece accurately, not as a loose approximation. Explore our custom jewellery to see these terms applied to real pieces.