Abbey Jewellery - Beautiful Materials Make Beautiful Jewellery
Rolled Gold or Gold Filled Wire
This comprises a thick tube of 14 carat gold, filled with an alloy known as jeweller's brass.
The gold content is one twentieth of the total weight of the metal.
There is 1,000 times as much gold in this material as in gold plated jewellery and the gold does not rub off or wear away in the way that plated metal jewellery does.
Only people who are allergic to gold are allergic to rolled gold/gold filled wire.
The gold content is one twentieth of the total weight of the metal.
There is 1,000 times as much gold in this material as in gold plated jewellery and the gold does not rub off or wear away in the way that plated metal jewellery does.
Only people who are allergic to gold are allergic to rolled gold/gold filled wire.
Agate
Agate is a form of chalcedony quartz that forms in concentric layers in a remarkable variety of colours and textures.
Rolled Silver or Silver Filled
This wire is made in the same way as rolled gold/gold filled. the main difference is that Sterling Silver tube is thicker and comprises one tenth of the total weight of the material. Rolled silver/silver filled therefore contains 2,000 times as much silver as silver plated metal does.
This product has only been in manufacture since 2010 and was developed due to the rising cost of silver. It is as hard wearing as rolled gold/gold filled.
Only people who are allergic to silver will be allergic to rolled silver/silver filled metal.
This product has only been in manufacture since 2010 and was developed due to the rising cost of silver. It is as hard wearing as rolled gold/gold filled.
Only people who are allergic to silver will be allergic to rolled silver/silver filled metal.
Agate Geode
Agate is a form of chalcedony quartz that forms in concentric layers in a remarkable variety of colours and textures. Geodes are rock cavities or vugs with internal crystal formations.
Alexandrite
Alexandrite is one of the rarest of all coloured gemstones and is famed for its colour change from green in daylight to red under incandescent light.
Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver is 92.5% silver alloyed with other metals, mainly copper. It is the oxidation of the copper that makes Sterling Silver turn black (tarnish)
Almandine Garnet
Almandine Garnet, the most common garnet, is dark brownish or purplish red. Garnet is very popular for its excellent hardness and brilliance.
Argentium Silver Wire
Argentium silver is purer than Sterling, being 93.5% silver. This is alloyed with germanium. It has recently been discovered that the addition of this element delays tarnishing of the silver. It is often described as "Non-Tarnish" silver.
Amazonite
Amazonite is a gemstone variety of green microcline, a feldspar mineral. It is named after the Amazon river in Brazil., though no deposits have been found there.
Amber
Amber, the fossilised, hardened resin of the pine tree, is one of the few gemstones of organic origin. Most amber is found in the Baltic, where it formed about 50 million years ago.
Amethyst
Amethyst is the most precious gemstone within the quartz group. Amethyst ranges in colour from pale lilac to deep reddish purple.
Ametrine
Ametrine is a form of quartz which occurs in bands of yellow and purple, a combination of the colours of amethyst and citrine.
Ammolite
Ammolite is a rare gemstone of organic origin that is fairly new to the market, with commercial mining beginning only in 1981.
Andalusite
Andalusite is a strongly pleiochroic gem, which means that is has different colours when viewed from different directions.
Andesine Labradorite
Supplies of andesine-labradorite are quite recent, with the mineral found in a range of colours, including red, yellow, champagne and green.
Apatite
Apatite, a stone seldom found in jewelry stores, is beloved by collectors for its many different colours and forms.
Aquamarine
Aquamarine is best known for its breathtaking range of blue colours and belongs to the same family as emerald (beryl). Aquamarine is coloured by trace amounts of iron.
Aventurine
Aventurine is a type of green quartz often used for carvings and cabochons.
Axinite
Axinite is a group of brown to violet-brown or reddish brown minerals that sometimes occur in gem quality. Axinite is distinctive for its strong vitreous luster.
Azotic Topaz
A new high tech enhancement process using thin film deposition has created a new variety we call Azotic Topaz.
Beryl
Beryl is one of the most important gem minerals. The most famous beryl is emerald, but other beryl varieties include aquamarine, heliodor and morganite.
Bloodstone
Bloodstone, also known as heliotrope, is a green gemstone dotted with bright red spots of iron oxide.
Boulder Opal
Boulder Opal is the second most prised form of opal, after black opal. The name derives from the fact that boulder opal is found embedded in ironstone boulders.
Calcite
Pure calcium carbonate is colourless, but calcite is often coloured by various impurities, including iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc or cobalt.
Carnelian
Carnelian is a brownish red to orange variety of chalcedony quartz, coloured by trace amounts of iron. Darker colours (red-brown to brown) are often referred to by the name Sard.
Cassiterite
Cassiterite is one of the densest gem materials known. It also has a very high refractive index, higher than zircon, sphene and demantoid garnet.
Cat's Eye Apatite
Chatoyancy, the cat's eye effect, is a reflection of light by parallel fibers, needles, or channels, which resemble the slit eye of a cat.
Cat's Eye Aquamarine
Aquamarine is best known for its breathtaking range of blue colours and belongs to the same family as emerald. Cat's eye aquamarine is quite rare.
Cat's Eye Diaspore
Diaspore, sometimes marketed under the name Zultanite, is a colour change gem from Turkey. Cat's eye diaspore is fairly rare.
Cat's Eye Scapolite
Scapolite is a sodium calcium aluminum silicate with a hardness of 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs scale. It is named from the Greek for "stick," since its crystals grow in columns.
Cat's Eye Tourmaline
Tourmaline with tiny parallel inclusions sometimes display a strong cat's eye effect when polished.
Chalcedony
Chalcedony is the fine-grained variety of the silica mineral quartz. It has a waxy luster and appears in a great variety of colours.
Charoite
Charoite is a new gem on the market, first appearing in 1978. It is found only in one location in Siberia, Russia. The swirling shapes of lavender and violet are quite unique.
Chrome Diopside
Chrome Diopside is coloured by chromium and displays a rich forest green that has similarities to tsavorite garnet and chrome tourmaline.
Chrome Tourmaline
Chrome Diopside is coloured by chromium and displays a rich forest green that has similarities to tsavorite garnet and chrome tourmaline.
Chrysoberyl
Faceted chrysoberyl is a beautiful gem which is not as well known as it deserves. Apart from the very good hardness (8.5 on the Mohs scale), it has excellent luster.
Chrysoberyl Cat's Eye
The most famous and valuable cat's eye gemstone is chrysoberyl cat's eye. It is valued for its excellent hardness (8.5) and sharp cat's eye.
Chrysocolla
Chrysocolla is a hydrous copper silicate. Often confused with turquoise, chrysocolla is found in unusual multicolour combinations as well as in blue or green.
Chrysoprase
Chrysoprase is a gemstone variety of chalcedony or cryptocrystalline quartz, coloured by trace amounts of nickel. Its colour varies from apple-green to deep green.
Citrine
Named from the French word for lemon, citrine is yellow to gold to orange-brown shades of transparent quartz.
Clinohumite
Clinohumite is a rare mineral and an especially rare gemstone. Only three sources of gem-quality material clinohumite are known, in Tajikistan, Siberia and Tanzania.
Color-Change Diaspore
Diaspore, sometimes marketed under the name Zultanite, is a colour change gem from Turkey recently introduced to the international market.
Color-Change Garnet
Color-change Garnet is a mix of spessartite and pyrope garnet. This garnet presents a colour change from brownish in daylight to a rose pink in incandescent light.
Color-Change Sapphire
Some rare sapphires exhibit a colour change under varying lighting conditions. Color change sapphires are typically blue in natural light and purple under incandescent light.
Coral
Precious coral is a species of coral that grows in rocky seabottoms. Coral exhibits a range of warm reddish pink colours ranging from salmon pink to deep red.
Danburite
Danburite derives its name from Danbury, CT, where it was first discovered in 1839. It is quite hard, with a rating of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale.
Demantoid Garnet
Demantoid Garnet is the rarest and most valuable of the garnets. Found in green to emerald green, demantoid garnet is difficult to find and is typically found only in smaller sises.
Dendritic Agate
Dendritic agate is a whitish-gray or colourless chalcedony with fern-like inclusions known as dendrites. The inclusions look like plant material, but they are actually iron or manganese.
Diamond
Diamond, the hardest known natural material, is a transparent crystal of carbon. Diamond is famed not only for its superb hardness, but also for its high refractive index and dispersion.
Dumortierite Quartz
Dumortierite Quartz is an ususual quartz that is integrown with the mineral dumortierite. The inclusions of dumortierite give it a deep blue colour that is unique in the world of quartz.
Emerald
Emerald is the most precious stone in the beryl group. The wonderful green colour of emerald is unparalleled in the gem world.
Fire Agate
Fire agate is an opaque, limonite-bearing chalcedony with an iridescence which is created by diffraction of light by the layered structure.
Fire Opal
Fire Opal is an unusual variety of opal from Mexico, with colours ranging from yellow to orange and orange-red. Some fire opals are clear enough for facets.
Fluorite
Fluorite is a mineral with a veritable bouquet of brilliant colours that range from purple to blue, green, yellow, colourless, brown, pink and orange.
Fossil Coral
Fossil coral is a decorative material that is formed when ancient coral is gradually replaced with agate. The proper name for this material is agatised coral.
Gaspeite
A recent discovery (1966), Gaspeite is a very rare nickel carbonate mineral named for the place in eastern Canada where it was first described.
Goshenite
The colourless precious beryl is known as goshenite. It is named after the small town of Goshen in western Massachusetts where it was first described.
Grossularite Garnet
Grossularite (or grossular) garnet is a calcium-aluminium garnet. The name grossular is derived from the botanical name for the gooseberry, grossularia.
Hackmanite
Hackmanite exhibits an unusual phenomenon known as reversible photochromism, where a mineral changes colour when exposed to sunlight.
Hambergite
Hambergite is one of the lesser-known gemstones. It is usually nearly colourless, with the vitreous luster of glass when cut. It is quite a hard material, with a hardness of 7.5.
Hematite
Hematite, an iron oxide, is typically a blackish grey. When highly polished it can sometimes look like silver. Hematite is a remarkably dense material.
Hemimorphite
Hemimorphite is usually found in aggregate form with blue and white bands, or mixed with a dark matrix.
Hessonite Garnet
Hessonite is an orange-brown variety of garnet coloured by traces of manganese and iron. It is sometimes know as cinammon stone.
Hiddenite
Hiddenite is a form of spodumene containing chromium. The green colour varies from a yellowish to a bluish green.
Howlite
Howlite is an interesting grayish white mineral that is sometimes referred to as white turquoise because of its distinctive veining.
Idocrase
Idocrase is also known as Vesuvianite, since it was originally found on the Mt. Vesuvias volcano. The colour is normally green, but also can be brown, yellow, blue or purple.
Imperial Topaz
The most sought after of all natural topaz is called Imperial Topaz. Its rich golden colour with reddish and orange overtones is generally not enhanced by any kind of treatment.
Iolite
Pleochroism is very pronounced in iolite and is seen as three different colour shades in the same stone: violet blue, yellow gray and a light blue.
Jadeite
Jadeite is found in most colours from pure white through pink, brown, red, orange, violet, blue, and black, to an range of greens.
Jasper
Jasper is usually considered a chalcedony, but scientists put it in a group by itself because of its grainy structure.
Kunzite
Kunzite is the pale pink-violet to light violet species of the mineral spodumene. Kunzite is named in honor of the mineralogist George F. Kunz.
Kyanite
Kyanite is a layered crystal with a luster that is vitreous to almost pearly, and is usually found in a sapphire-like blue.
Labradorite
Labradorite is a member of the plagioclase feldspar group and displays a distinctive schiller in lustrous metallic tints.
Lapis Lazuli
Lapis lazuli has been used for thousands of years for jewelry and ornamental objects. The unique deep blue colour has never lost its attraction.
Larimar
The blue variety of pectolite has become known as Larimar. A very rare mineral, it has only been found in the Dominican Republic, where it is first discovered in 1974.
Lepidolite
Lepidolite is a lilac-gray or rose-coloured lithium-bearing mineral of the mica group. It is one of the major sources of the rare alkali metals rubidium and caesium.
Malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate with distinctive green veining. Though not a particularly hard stone, it takes an excellent polish.
Mali Garnet
Mali Garnet, is one of the hybrid garnets, a mixture of grossular and andradite garnets. The name derives from the West African country of Mali where it was first discovered in 1994.
Maw-Sit-Sit
Maw-sit-sit is one of the more unusual gemstones in the world. It was first discovered in 1963 and named after a village in northwestern Burma.
Melanite
Melanite is the black variety of the rare andradite garnet. It is sometimes known as titanian andradite.
Moldavite
Moldavite is a bottle-green to brown-green gemstone belonging to the tektite group. It is formed from condensed rock vapors after a meteorite impact.
Moonstone
Moonstone is a unique stone that reflects light in a distinctive shimmering phenomenon known as adularescence.
Morganite
The pink form of beryl was named Morganite, after the American banker and collector J.P. Morgan. A soft pink to violet, morganite belongs to the same family as emerald .
Moss Opal
Moss opal is a milky white opal with unique inclusions of green hornblende in moss-like patterns.
Mystic Quartz
Mystic Quartz is the product of a new high tech enhancement process applied to colourless quartz.
Mystic Topaz
Colorful Mystic Topaz is the product of a high tech enhancement process that is stable and permanent.
Nuumite
Nuumite is an opaque metamorphic rock with an iridescent play of colour. Its chief constituent minerals are gedrite and anthophyllite,
Obsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass. It is formed when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools without crystal growth.
Opal
More than any other gem, each opal is unique. No other stone has as rich and varied a folklore. Opals are also the most delicate gems commonly worn.
Opal Doublet
An opal doublet consists of a slice of natural opal glued to a black backing, which causes the colour to become more vibrant.
Orthoclase
Orthoclase is a transparent yellow feldspar resembling citrine quartz or yellow beryl, found primarily in Madagascar.
Paraiba Tourmaline
Paraiba tourmaline is a rare copper-bearing gem with a vivid neon blue colour. First found in Brazil in 1989, similar material has since been found in Africa.
Peanut Wood
Peanut wood is a variety of petrified wood, where the shape and structure of the wood is pre- served when the original organic material is replaced by quartz.
Pearl
Pearls are products of bivalve mollusks (mainly oysters and mussels). They are built up of nacre, which is mainly calcium carbonate in the form of aragonite crystals.
Peridot
Peridot belongs to the forsterite-fayalite mineral series. It is an idiochromatic gem, meaning its colour comes from the basic chemical composition of the mineral itself.
Pietersite
Pietersite is a breccia aggregate of hawks eye and tigers eye, with swirling colours of blue, rusty red, gold and brown.
Prehnite
Prehnite, a form of calcium aluminum silicate, has a vitreous mother-of-pearl luster. Affordably priced for its sise, prehnite makes distinctive and interesting jewelry.
Pyrope Garnet
Pyrope Garnet is the most famous of the red garnets. Its dark, blood red colour often resembles the colour of ruby.
Quartz
Quartz is one of the most common minerals on earth and is well known in the gems world in its many forms including amethyst, citrine, and ametrine.
Quartz Cat's Eye
Quartz cat's eye is quartz in which inclusions of rutile create chatoyancy or the cat's eye effect. Usually found in colours of white, green, yellow or brown.
Rainbow Moonstone
A combination of orthoclase and albite arranged in layers cause the lovely sheen. Rainbow moonstone is another variety of moonstone that adds a bluish hue.
Rainbow Pyrite
Rainbow Pyrite is a recent find from Russia. The material comes in the form of druzy-- a layer of miniature pyrite crystals coating a matrix.
Rhodochrosite
Rhodochrosite is usually found in an aggregate form with alternating light and dark stripes in zigzag bands.
Rhodolite Garnet
Rhodolite Garnet is the name applied to a mixture of pyrope and almandite. Rhodolite tends to be lighter in colour than most other kinds of red garnet.
Rhodonite
Rhodonite is a manganese iron magnesium calcium silicate, and a member of the pyroxenoid group of minerals.
Rose Quartz
The unique soft pink colour of rose quartz is thought to derive from tiny traces of titanium impurities. Rose quartz crystals tend to be cloudy which deepens the colour.
Rubellite Tourmaline
Vivid pink to red tourmaline, often with a violet tinge, is known as rubellite. It is one of the most valuable tourmaline colours.
Ruby
Ruby is the red variety of corundum, the 2nd hardest substance on the Mohs scale, with a rating of 9. It is the combination of hardness and rich colour that make fine rubies so valuable.
Ruby-Zoisite
Ruby-Zoisite is the natural combination of ruby and zoisite crystals in a single specimen. Often used for carvings.
Rutile Quartz
Rutile Quartz is clear or smoky quartz with inclusions of rutile crystals.
Rutile Topaz
Rutile Topaz is colourless topaz with inclusions that look like rutile crystals. But the inclusions are actually limonite staining in thin channels in the topaz.
Sapphire
Sapphire, with its excellent hardness, second only to diamond, is one of the 4 traditional precious gemstones.
Scapolite
As a gemstone scapolite is not well known, but it can be a very attractive stone. Its colour, which is usually a virbrant yellow to orange, pink or violet, is its best feature.
Seraphinite
Seraphinite is a trade name for a particular form of clinochlore. The dark green colour of seraphinite is enhanced by a silvery and feathery shimmer caused by mica inclusions.
Serpentine
Serpentine is a green magnesium silicate aggregate that is used as a decorative stone or for carvings.
Sillimanite Cat's Eye
Sillimanite is an aluminum silicate, related to both andalusite and kyanite. In fact these three minerals share the same chemical composition but different crystal structures.
Smithsonite
Smithsonite is one of two zinc-containing minerals discovered by the British mineralogist James Smithson. The zinc silicate was named smithsonite in his honor.
Smoky Quartz
Smoky quartz is fast becoming a designer favorite for its earthy tone and tribal look.
Snowflake Obsidian
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass. In some stones, the inclusion of white crystals of cristobalite produce a blotchy pattern, known in as snowflake obsidian.
Sodalite
The mineral sodalite is named for its sodium content. As a gemstone, sodalite is usually blue, often with a violet tint, and frequently contains white veins of calcite.
Spessartite Garnet
The most valuable spessartite garnets display a bright, orange red. The best specimens come from Namibia.
Sphalerite
Sphalerite is a rare collector's gem whose claim to fame is exceptional dispersion or fire. In fact its dispersion rating is three times as high as that for diamond.
Sphene
Sphene is a brilliant yellowish-green, green or brown gemstone of high luster, unique colour shades and, with brilliant cut, an intensive fire.
Spinel
Due to its excellent hardness and clarity spinel is an excellent gemstone for all types of jewelery. Spinel is never treated in any way.
Spodumene
Spodumene is a relatively new mineral to science, with gem varieties discovered only in the last 120 years. Spodumene occurs in white, gray, pink, lilac and green.
Star Diopside
Diopside is best known for the vivid green chrome diopside, but the black diopside exhbiiting asterism or the star effect is also important.
Star Garnet
Star garnet is a rare and unsuual garnet, found only in Idado in the USA and in India. It displays a four-ray star due to aligned inclusions of rutile.
Star Moonstone
Moonstone is a combination of orthoclase and albite arranged in layers which cause the lovely sheen. Star moonstone exhibits a stunning cat's eye or four-rayed star effect.
Star Rose Quartz
Rose quartz displaying asterism or the star effect is rare. The unique soft pink colour of rose quartz is thought to derive from tiny traces of titanium impurities.
Star Ruby
Star Ruby is a ruby which displays asterism, a six-rayed star that shimmers over the surface of the stone when it is moved.
Star Sapphire
Star Sapphire is a sapphire which contains unusual tiny needle-like inclusions which produce a phenomenon called asterism.
Star Sunstone
Sunstone is a plagioclase feldspar with a unique glitter from platelets of hematite. Typically it has a red, more rarely a blue or green, glitter. Star sunstones are known but rare.
Strawberry Quartz
Quartz with red inclusions of lepidocrosite, hematite or goethite is often sold under the name strawberry quartz.
Sugilite
Sugilite is an obscure and quite rare mineral named after the Japanese geologist, Ken-ichi Sugi, who discovered it in 1944.
Sunstone
Sunstone is a type of plagioclase feldspar that exhibits a spangled appearance, due to reflections of red hematite.
Tanzanite
Tanzanite is a variety of zoisite. Colors range from blue to purple to green. The highly coveted colour is the deep blue which shows a purple hue shimmering around it.
Tashmarine Diopside
Tashmarine Diopside is a brilliant yellow-green diopside from a recent discovery in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Western China.
Tiger's Eye
Tiger's Eye is a type of opaque macrocrystalline quartz with a fibrous structure. It typically displays chatoyant stripes, because structural fibers are crooked or bent.
Tiger's Eye Matrix
Tiger's Eye Matrix is the name given to a mineral aggregate in which tiger's-eye-like structures alternate with iron oxide layers.
Topaz
Topaz is an important gem due to its hardness and high refractive index. Topaz comes in many colours but the blue topaz is especially popular.
Tourmaline
One of the most versatile of gems, tourmaline is found in every colour. It can show every tone from pastel to dark, and can appear in various colours in the same stone.
Tsavorite Garnet
The green species of garnet was discovered in 1967 by British geologist Cambell R. Bridges in the bush along the frontier between Kenya and Tanzania.
Turquoise
Turquoise, the blue cousin to lapis lazuli, has been known and valued for thousands of years. The early mines in Sinai, Egypt, were already worked out in 2000 B.C.
Variscite
Variscite is a relatively rare phosphate mineral and high quality specimens are used as gemstones and for carvings. Variscite is coloured by traces of chromium .
Verdite
Verdite is a light to dark green serpentine rock which is often spotted or variegated. Most specimens come from South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Zircon
Zircon has great brilliance and intensive fire, due to its high refractive index and strong dispersion.