LMW: Stands for "Limited Manufacturer's Warranty".
Lab-created: See Synthetic.
Labradorite: A grayish almost opaque form of feldspar with flashes of blue, green, and/or yellow visible at certain angles.
Laminated: An object coated with a thin layer of plastic is said to be laminated.
Lanyard: A cord worn around the neck for carrying something, such as a knife or whistle
Lapidary: The art of cutting, shaping, polishing and creating jewelry from stones.
Lapis: Shortened form of Lapis Lazuli.
Lapis Lazuli: A royal blue opaque semiprecious stone with white veins or patches of calcite and a few gold-looking metallic flecks of pyrite. Lapis can be dyed to enhance the color.
Lariat: A cord worn as a necklace with the ends of the cord dangling like a necktie. It can be tied into a knot or secured by a sliding brooch. See Bolo.
Laser drilling: A way of enhancing a gem by drilling a tiny hole with a laser to remove an impurity.
Lavalier: (Negligee Pendant): A necklace with two pendants of unequal length suspended from it.
Layered: One sheet of material on top of another with indistinct boundaries between them.
Lead: A soft, dense, metallic element. Lead is bluish in color, but tarnishes readily to a dull gray. It is both malleable and ductile and easily fuses with other metals to form alloys. Lead is used in containers, sheets, tubes, pipes, solder, type metal, bullets, radiation shielding, paints, and antiknock compounds.
Lead crystal: See Crystal.
Length: The linear measurement of a bracelet or necklace.
Lever back: A means of attaching an earring to a pierced ear with a hook that goes through the ear and is then secured by a hinged lever attached to the back of the piece.
Light Transparent: Plastic that appears to only be translucent, but is actually transparent when held up to the light.
Lime: The gray or white mineral form of calcium oxide, used as a cementing compound.
Limestone: A common sedimentary rock consisting mostly of calcium carbonate that was deposited by the remains of marine animals. It is used as a building stone and in the manufacture of lime, carbon dioxide, and cement. Crystalline limestone is called marble.
Linde Star Sapphire: A synthetic star sapphire developed in 1967. Many star sapphires found today are these synthetics.
Link: A loop, or other object, which is linked together in a series to make a chain.
Liquid silver: The term given to strands of small silver beads which were made by carefully slicing tubes of sterling silver into 1/8" pieces and stringing them together. A form of Heishi.
Living Jewelry: Term for jewelry made from materials that were once part of a living creature, such as Ivory, Pearls, Mother of Pearl, Seashell, and Coral.
Lobster claw clasp: A means of connecting the ends of a necklace together. One end has a wide flat hook, resembling the claw of a lobster, with a hinged "thumb" on a spring. The other end has a ring which the claw hooks onto. It is then secured by closing the thumb of the claw.
Locket: A hinged case, usually in the shape of an oval or heart, which can be opened or closed and usually contains a photograph or memento.
Lost Wax Casting: An object is made of wax and coated in clay. When the clay is fired, the wax melts and is drained away or evaporates leaving an exact impression of the object in the hardened clay, which is then filled with molten metal.
Lucite: A clear, strong plastic that can be molded and carved, popular in the 1940's for ladies purses and jewelry.
Luster: A reference to the brightness of an object that shines with reflected light rather than producing its own.
Lustrous: A reference to the brightness of an object that shines with reflected light rather than producing its own.
