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Glossary: Useful Terms Relating To Watches & Jewellery
Paved
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Term used to describe a particular kind of decoration; for example, on dials in which precious stones, such as brilliants and pearls, are set next to each other without any apparent space between them.
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Pear cut
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A teardrop shaped gemstone used for pendants, drop earrings and other pieces of jewellery.
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Pearl
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Organic gems grown within oysters and abalones, formed when a foreign object (like a tiny stone) has made its way into the mollusc’s shell. The mollusc secretes nacre, a lustrous substance, and as thousands of layers of nacre coat the intruder, a pearl is formed. This process takes up to seven or eight years. The most valuable pearls are perfectly symmetrical, large, naturally produced, and have a shimmering iridescence. Pearls may be natural or cultured (i.e. when the irritant is purposely placed in the oyster’s body).
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Perpetual calendar
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A complication that shows the day, date and month, correcting for months of different lengths and leap-years.
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Pendant
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Hanging ornament, often used with necklaces, pins and earrings.
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Pinion
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Part mounted on the shaft of a wheel, the leaves of which engage the teeth of a neighbouring wheel.
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Pique
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A tortoise shell inlaid with precious metal (usually gold or silver).
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Platinum
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A valuable, rare metallic element that is very heavy, silvery-white, non- corroding and malleable. As its price exceeds that of gold, it is used in jewellery only for fine articles, but in the form of platinum alloy.
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Princess cut
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A square-cut stone. It is a relatively new cut and is also known as a quadrillion or squarillion cut.
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