“Double clad” gold-filled sheet is produced with 1/2 the thickness of gold on each side. 1/20 14Kt double clad gold-filled has a layer on each side of 1/40th 14Kt making the total content of gold 1/20. The thinner layer on each side does not wear as well as single clad gold-filled.

The Federal Trade Commission allows the use of “Rolled Gold Plate” or “R.G.P”. on items with lower thicknesses of gold than are required for “gold-filled.” A 12 kt gold layer that is 1/60 the weight of the total item is designated as 1/60 12kt RGP. This lower quality does not wear as well as gold-filled items.

Gold-filled items, even with daily wear, can last five to 30 years but will eventually wear through. The gold layer on gold-plated jewelry varies greatly depending on manufacturer, so there is no single, simple comparison. Gold-filled items are 50 to 100,000 times thicker than regular gold plating, and 17 to 25,000 times thicker than heavy gold electroplate (sometimes stamped HGE or HGP—usually found on flashy cubic zirconia “cocktail rings”).

Sterling Silver:
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.

Fine silver (99.9% pure) is generally too soft for producing functional objects; therefore, the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give it strength while preserving the ductility and beauty of the precious metal. Other metals can replace the copper, usually with the intent to improve various properties of the basic sterling alloy such as reducing casting porosity, eliminating firescale, and increasing resistance to tarnish. These replacement metals include germanium, zinc and platinum, as well as a variety of other additives, including silicon and boron. A number of alloys, such as Argentium sterling silver, have appeared in recent years, formulated to lessen firescale or to inhibit tarnish, and this has sparked heavy competition among the various manufacturers, who are rushing to make claims of having the best formulation. However, no one alloy has emerged to replace copper as the industry standard, and alloy development is a very active area.

Rhodium:
Rhodium is a chemical element that is a rare, silvery-white, hard, and chemically inert transition metal and a member of the platinum group. It has the chemical symbol Rh and atomic number 45. It is composed of only one isotope, 103Rh. Naturally occurring rhodium is found as the free metal, alloyed with similar metals, and never as a chemical compound. It is one of the rarest precious metals and the most costly.

Rhodium is a so-called noble metal, resistant to corrosion, found in platinum or nickel ores together with the other members of the platinum group metals. It was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston in one such ore, and named for the rose color of one of its chlorine compounds, produced after it reacted with the powerful acid mixture aqua regia.

The element’s major use (about 80% of world rhodium production) is as one of the catalysts in the three-way catalytic converters of automobiles. Because rhodium metal is inert against corrosion and most aggressive chemicals, and because of its rarity, rhodium is usually alloyed with platinum or palladium and applied in high-temperature and corrosion-resistive coatings. White gold is often plated with a thin rhodium layer to improve its optical impression while sterling silver is often rhodium plated for tarnish resistance.

Niobium
Niobium or columbium , is a chemical element with the symbol Nb and atomic number 41. It’s a soft, grey, ductile transition metal, which is often found in the pyrochlore mineral, the main commercial source for niobium, and columbite. The name comes from Greek mythology: Niobe, daughter of Tantalus. 

Niobium has physical and chemical properties similar to those of the element tantalum, and the two are therefore difficult to distinguish. The English chemist Charles Hatchett reported a new element similar to tantalum in 1801, and named it columbium. In 1809, the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston wrongly concluded that tantalum and columbium were identical. The German chemist Heinrich Rose determined in 1846 that tantalum ores contain a second element, which he named niobium. In 1864 and 1865, a series of scientific findings clarified that niobium and columbium were the same element (as distinguished from tantalum), and for a century both names were used interchangeably. The name of the element was officially adopted as niobium in 1949.

It was not until the early 20th century that niobium was first used commercially. Brazil is the leading producer of niobium and ferroniobium, an alloy of niobium and iron. Niobium is used mostly in alloys, the largest part in special steel such as that used in gas pipelines. Although alloys contain only a maximum of 0.1%, that small percentage of niobium improves the strength of the steel. The temperature stability of niobium-containing superalloys is important for its use in jet and rocket engines. Niobium is used in various superconducting materials. These superconducting alloys, also containing titanium and tin, are widely used in the superconducting magnets of MRI scanners. Other applications of niobium include its use in welding, nuclear industries, electronics, optics, numismatics and jewelry. In the last two applications, niobium’s low toxicity and ability to be colored by anodization are particular advantages.

Surgical Steel:
Surgical stainless steel is a specific type of stainless steel, used in medical applications, made out of several components: chromium, nickel and molybdenum.

The chromium gives the metal its scratch resistance and corrosion resistance. The nickel provides a smooth and polished finish. The molybdenum gives greater hardness and helps maintain a cutting edge.

Although there are myriad variations in the recipes, there are two main varieties of stainless steel: martensitic and austenitic; see the stainless steel article.

The word ‘surgical’ refers to the fact that these types of steel are well-suited for making surgical instruments: they are easy to clean and sterilize, strong, and corrosion-resistant. The nickel/chrome/molybdenum alloys are also used for orthopaedic implants as aids in bone repair, and as a structural part of artificial heart valves and other implants. However, immune system reaction to nickel is a potential complication.  In some cases today titanium is used instead in procedures that require a metal implant which will be permanent. Titanium is a reactive metal, the surface of which quickly oxidizes on exposure to air, creating a microstructured stable oxide surface. This provides a surface into which bone can grow and adhere in orthopaedic implants but which is incorrodible after implant. Thus steel may be used for temporary implants and the more expensive titanium for permanent ones.

Most surgical equipment is made out of martensitic steel—it is much harder than austenitic steel, and easier to keep sharp. Depending on the type of equipment, the alloy recipe is varied slightly to get more sharpness or more strength.

Implants and equipment that are put under pressure (bone fixation screws, prostheses, body piercing jewelry) are made out of austenitic steel, often 316L and 316LVM compliant to ASTM F138, because it is less brittle.

316 surgical steel is used in the manufacture and handling of food and pharmaceutical products where it is often required in order to minimize metallic contamination. ASTM F138[3]-compliant steel is also used in the manufacture of body piercing jewellery and body modification implants.

Base Metal:
In chemistry, the term base metal is used informally to refer to a metal that oxidizes or corrodes relatively easily, and reacts variably with diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl) to form hydrogen. Examples include iron, nickel, lead and zinc. Copper is considered a base metal as it oxidizes relatively easily, although it does not react with HCl.

Base is used in the sense of low-born, in opposition to noble or precious metal. In alchemy, a base metal was a common and inexpensive metal, as opposed to precious metals, mainly gold and silver. A long-time goal of the alchemists was the transmutation of base metal into precious metal.

In numismatics, coins used to derive their value primarily from the precious metal content. Most modern currencies are fiat currency, allowing the coins to be made of base metal.

General:

In mining and economics, base metals refers to industrial non-ferrous metals excluding precious metals. These include copper, lead, nickel and zinc. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is more inclusive in its definition. It includes, in addition to the four above, iron and steel, aluminium, tin, tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, cobalt, bismuth, cadmium, titanium, zirconium, antimony, manganese, beryllium, chromium, germanium, vanadium, gallium, hafnium, indium, niobium, rhenium and thallium.

Source: Wikipedia compilation

Two coins that both possess a high silver content and are of consistently good quality, proved to be of major importance in the nomadic societies of the Middle East, and indeed in the economical landscape of the entire world. They are the Spanish columnario or pillar dollar, and the Austrian Maria Theresia Thaler.

The pillar dollars found their way to the Middle East, where they were prized for their solid silver content; their use was widespread in the Ottoman Empire. The coin was variously referred to as kara gurus, kebir gurus, tamam gurus, real kurus and riyal. This last term is a derivate of its Spanish name, real and became the word of choice in Arabic to indicate official coins. In Egypt, where the pillars were misinterpreted as cannons, the dollar was nicknamed Abu Madfa (father of guns).

Two MTT’s that have been worn on a Palestinian headdress for so long that is is reflected in their patina and wear pattern

The MTT was the most popular coin in circulation in North Africa and the Middle East and went by many names: Abu Tayr (Father of Birds) referring to the imperial eagle; Abu Nuqta (Father of Dots) a reference to the number of pearls on the brooch of the empress; and Abu Rish (Father of Feathers) a name suggested by the eagle’s many tail feathers. All these distinctive features were used to check the authenticity of the coin. In purely monetary terms, the coin was referred to as Riyal Faransawi (French Riyal) or Riyal Nimsawi (Austrian Riyal).

Special thanks to Desert Silver.

Jewelry in Cairo. It is exposed to air and collects dust and dirt every day

Composite items
Composite items consist of silver items as part of a larger ensemble with other materials. Necklaces with silver and coral beads strung on cotton thread for example require a different approach in cleaning and storing than a necklace made out of silver beads and chainwork. In composite items, the most vulnerable element is leading in storing and cleaning. This can be the thread or cloth a silver item is mounted on, or one of the other elements such as clove and coral.

Composite jewelry element where a silver pendant is strung with shell, coral and amber. The coral beads are old and fragile, as is the shell

Another composite piece where a coral bead is strung with a cotton thread on a silver pendant, decorated with niello and enamel

Polishing cloth and a clean toothbrush will go a long way in cleaning single silver items

Single silver jewelry
Store items away from direct contact with air, for example in plastic zipper pouches. To avoid denting and scratching, wrap the jewelry in bubble wrap before you put it in the pouch. Write the contents on the pouch for future ease when you want to locate a certain item.

Cleaning silver
Cleaning silver should also be done with care. Do not use silver polish: the polish can get clotted in an intricate design like filigree and is hard to remove. In addition, it is not always clear what the silver content of a traditional piece is. The polish may react with the base metal and lead to disappointing results. Polish silver items with a polishing cloth without additions. If you store the jewelry away from air, the need for polishing will diminish significantly.

Fragile materials
Some materials have qualities that require special attention. A lukewarm bath with a mild biological detergent can have excellent results on single silver items to clean dirt and grease, but will have devastating results on materials such as coral and pearls: remember that these are organic! The wood inside an amulet container will expand when soaked and shrink when drying, which may damage the silver cover and the wood itself. When the silver items are part of a composite piece, always familiarize yourself with the properties of each and every material before attempting any conservation at all.

From Desert Silver

A woman’s jewelry symbolizes her status as a married women and later as a mother, as it is customary to gift one’s wife with jewelry for the birth of each child.

Traditionally, jewelry has also been thought to have magical powers. Turquoise in particular is believed to ward off the “evil eye.” At one time, popular legend had it that a turquoise stone would glow when its wearer was happy, but when the wearer was sad, the stone would become dull. Another popular myth was that the tiny tinkling bells prominent on so many pieces of Arabian jewelry would protect the wearer by frightening off malevolent spirits with their noise.

In Arabian custom, the color of certain stones is also deemed to affect their powers. Green, blue and red are regarded as possessing protective abilities. For that reason turquoise, agate, coral and colored glass are among the most popular materials used in antique jewelry.

Islamic motifs permeate jewelry design. Amulet cases containing tiny pieces of paper with verses from the Holy Qur’an to protect the wearer are common. The sign of the hand on Saudi necklaces has been a talisman for hundreds of years. The number five is the mathematical equivalent of the hand, as well as representing the five tenets of Islam. Thus, bracelets or rings may be worn in multiples of five, and the preferred number of beads on an ornament or chains hanging from a pendant would also be five.

Arabian Bedouin jewelry is significant not only for its aesthetic qualities, but also for the historical influences it exhibits. During the course of its own evolution over many centuries, the jewelry of the Bedouin has incorporated techniques and styles of the jewelry of other long-dead civilizations. This has excited archaeologists, as these very personal objects provide a window to the past and the people who owned them. Observers have noted that similarities in the design and craftsmanship of Bedouin jewelry can be attributed to the cross-influence that migration and trade had on the region.

Courtesy of Desert Jewels.

The most remote layers of influence in the Middle East are the early civilizations, the cultures of the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians.

Detail of a relief in Persepolis, Iran

Armlets such as depicted in Persepolis were found in the Oxus Treasure. With the rise of the Greek empire under Alexander the Great, and the subsequent Roman empire, the Middle East saw large-scale and permanent occupation by other cultures for the first time. Some elements of Graeco-Roman adornments are still very much present in traditional jewelry.

Roman silver anklet from the 2nd century AD, featuring ram’s heads. Museum of Archaeology, Amman, Jordan

Stylized animal heads are often found on bracelet and anklets. This decoration dates from antiquity and is continued until today. In traditional silver jewelry, mostly serpent’s heads are used in bracelets and anklets to ward off evil. Even though Islam forbids the depiction of living things, this tradition is still very much alive and can be seen from Morocco to Iran.

Pair of silver fibulas from Tiznit, Morocco

The use of fibulas or clothing fasteners stems from before Roman times. The tradition has survived in the Maghreb, where clothing is fastened in much the same in way in which it was done around 2000 years ago. The style of fibulas has evolved and changed over time: nowadays each region or even village has its own distinct style of fibulas. See the Portraits-section for examples on how they were worn.

Necklace with eye-beads from Etruria, ca 3rd century BC. Royal Museum of Art and History, Brussels, Belgium

Beads in the shape of an eye, or with decoration in the shape of an eye, have been in use since Ancient Egypt. They are still available on every market from Istanbul to Marrakech. Their decoration of blue eyes with darker pupils has remained virtually unchanged over the centuries. For more information on the protective aspects of eye beads, see Eyes and Hands.

Silver ring from Afghanistan, set with an engraved carnelian

Rings with decorated gemstones, also known as intaglios, are still in use in Central Asia. The decoration on traditional silver rings sometimes consists of watered-down classical themes, such as a depiction of the Pegasus in the ring from Afghanistan shown here. Also depictions of the warrior god Mars and the goddess Athena can still be found in Central Asian rings, along with later decorations.

Writings and Photos from author Sigrid van Roode

The official name of Bakelite is polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride.

Baekeland officially announced his achievement at the February 1909 meeting of the New York section of the American Chemical Society.
In 1922, after patent litigation favorable to Baekeland, the General Bakelite Co., which he had founded in 1910, along with the Condensite Co. founded by Aylesworth, and the Redmanol Chemical Products Co. founded by L.V. Redman, were merged into the Bakelite Corporation.
Wikipedia.
The invention of Bakelite marks the beginning of the Age of Plastics. Bakelite was made from phenol (then known as carbolic acid) and formaldehyde. These can be mixed, heated, and then either molded or extruded. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry winning German Adolf von Baeyer had experimented with this material in 1872, but did not complete its development. Bakelite took the industry by storm after 1907.

Bakelite was the first plastic invented that held its shape after being heated. Radios, telephones and electrical insulators were made of Bakelite because of its properties of insulation and heat-resistance. Soon it penetrated nearly all branches of industry.[2]

Baekeland was awarded the Franklin Medal in 1940.

[edit] Decline and death
The gravesite of Leo Hendrik BaekelandAs Baekeland got older he became more eccentric, getting into fierce battles with his son and presumptive heir over salary and other issues. He sold the General Bakelite Company to Union Carbide in 1939 and, at his son’s prompting, he retired. He became a recluse, eating all of his meals from cans and becoming obsessed with developing an immense tropical garden on his winter estate in Coconut Grove, Florida.[7] He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in a sanatorium in Beacon, New York. Baekeland is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.[8]

Leo Baekeland was the grandfather of Brooks Baekeland, whose wife Barbara Daly Baekeland was murdered by their son, Antony in 1972.

"Sand Dune" by Don'Kay Designs

“100 km N of Accra lies a village Akyem Abompe. At the first sight it looks like other modern Ghanaian villages, where the network of streets reveals a great degree of planning and most inhabitants are dressed European way.

Though the village is rather exceptional. It is a unique center of bead production where practically each family is maintaining themselves through manufacture of beads.

The organization is rather flat. There are no leaders or chiefs mobilizing labor and distributing the goods. There are just producers and sales women. And yet the beautiful bead necklaces can reach as far as to the shops of New York . ”

The range of bauxite bearing hills (Begoro Plateau), where the raw material is being mined. The hills are also the abode of the guardian spirit of the village, protecting the area but also helping to regulate mining activities. There is a general understanding of the danger of over-exploitation.

Bauxite is a naturally found aluminum hydroxide, rich in iron, which gives it reddish color. In other parts of the world it is a main resource for aluminum production.

The skillful artisans of the village transform these clay-like lumps into shiny beads.

Different stages of production are divided between community members. On certain days, early in the morning a group of miners sets for the mountains to get the raw material. It takes up to 3 hours to overcome some 6 km of steep mountain paths.

The miners sell the lumps of raw material to people in the village. Each family member is acquainted with the full process of bead production, but usually it is divided between the family members to increase the efficiency of production.

"Bauxite Beauty" by Don'Kay Designs

Even the youngest children have the knowledge and coordination skills needed for production of beads.

First the lumps are crushed into smaller pieces, which then are formed with a knife. Just like flaking of flint, bauxite is being formed by indirect and direct percussion method.

All the tools used in production are produced by villagers, which specialize in that. Knifes are made of worn-out machetes.

Next step in the process – to drill a whole through the formed pieces. It is said that younger people specialize in producing small and tiny beads, while elderly people make bigger ones.

Perforation is made with the help of a bow and a spindle drill – a wooden stick pointed with metal. While drilling, the top of the wooden stick is held in a cartridge-case where it freely rotates and does not damage the hands.

 Perforated pre-forms are thread together on metal strings. Metal strings are obtained from worn-out lorry-tire rims.

A bunch of metal strings with pre-forms are then polished on a grinding stone. Water and fine sand are added to enhance the effect. As a result the beads become rounded and obtain the same breadth.

Still dull colored bauxite beads are thread together on extremely strong strings obtained from raffia-palm. Treatment with oils enhances the color of the beads and gives them shiny appearance.

The most beautiful are said to be the ones, which have been worn for a while and have absorbed natural human oil and sweat.

"Bauxite Beauty" by Don'Kay Designs

Bauxite beads are used for making necklaces, bracelets, waste rings and ankle ornaments. Symbolic meaning is added to pendants. The most favored motifs today are the key, the cross, the moon, the cacao and the ritual stool.

Special occasions may also demand the use of specific bead colors. Fx., during child-naming ceremonies nursing mothers and their babies are adorned with white or gray bauxite beads. These colors signify newness and vitality.

A newly born child is also adorned with bauxite beads to signify its formal acceptance into the society.

All creative energy culminates at the sales moment. And the villagers are the best at it… With their persuasive abilities they could make one buy a dead cat. But the real business starts at the markets of Accra and other major cities of Southern Ghana . On a regular basis the production is being collected by itinerant traders predominantly women, which then sell the beads from their booths.

The villagers have been complaining that the turnover during the last years has declined for few of the selling women have died.”

Our latest addition to Don’Kay Desings. So as not to forget the men in our lives, we have a special line for them!  You wil find the same quality of design, the best materials and they start at 18″ lengths.  View our latest. go to Gent’s Jewels.

• An abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle that show relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, complementary colors, etc.

As an illustrative model, artists typically use red, yellow, and blue primaries (RYB color model) arranged at three equally spaced points around their color wheel. Printers and others who use modern subtractive color methods and terminology use magenta, yellow, and cyan as subtractive primaries. Intermediate and interior points of color wheels and circles represent color mixtures. In a paint or subtractive color wheel, the “center of gravity” is usually (but not always) black, representing all colors of light being absorbed; in a color circle, on the other hand, the center is white or gray, indicating a mixture of different wavelengths of light (all wavelengths, or two complementary colors, for example).

The arrangement of colors around the color circle is often considered to be in correspondence with the wavelengths of light, as opposed to hues, in accord with the original color circle of Isaac Newton. Modern color circles include the purples, however, between red and violet. Color scientists and psychologists often use the additive primaries, red, green and blue; and often refer to their arrangement around a circle as a color circle as opposed to a color wheel.

History

An in-depth history of the color circles, wheels, spirals, triangles, charts, and other order systems has been published, as a chapter of an e-book, by Sarah Lowengard, focusing on the eighteenth century.

Colors of the color wheel

A typical artists’ paint or pigment color wheel includes the blue, red, and yellow primary colors. The corresponding secondary colors are green, orange, and violet. The tertiary colors are red–orange, red–violet, yellow–orange, yellow–green, blue–violet and blue–green.
A color wheel based on RGB (red, green, blue) or RGV (red, green, violet) additive primaries has cyan, magenta, and yellow secondaries (cyan was previously known as cyan blue). Alternatively, the same arrangement of colors around a circle can be described as based on cyan, magenta, and yellow subtractive primaries, with red, green, and blue (or violet) being secondaries.
Most color wheels are based on three primary colors, three secondary colors, and the six intermediates formed by mixing a primary with a secondary, known as tertiary colors, for a total of 12 main divisions; some add more intermediates, for 24 named colors. Other color wheels, however, are based on the four opponent colors, and may have four or eight main colors.

Goethe’s Theory of Colours provided the first systematic study of the physiological effects of color (1810). His observations on the effect of opposed colors led him to a symmetric arrangement of his color wheel, “for the colours diametrically opposed to each other… are those that reciprocally evoke each other in the eye.” (Goethe, Theory of Colours, 1810). In this, he anticipated Ewald Hering’s opponent color theory (1872) .

The color circle and color vision:

A color circle based on spectral wavelengths appears with red at one end of the spectrum and violet at the other. A wedge-shaped gap represents colors that have no unique spectral frequency. These extra-spectral colors, the purples, form from additive mixture of colors from the ends of the spectrum.

In normal human vision, wavelengths of between about 400 nm and 700 nm are represented by this incomplete circle, with the longer wavelengths equating to the red end of the spectrum. Complements are located directly opposite each other on this wheel. These complements are not identical to those in pigment mixing (such as are used in paint), but when lights are additively mixed in the correct proportions appear as a neutral grey or white.

The color circle is used for, among other purposes, illustrating additive color mixture. Combining two colored lights from different parts of the spectrum may produce a third color that appears like a light from another part of the spectrum, even though dissimilar wavelengths are involved. This type of color matching is known as metameric matching. Thus a combination of green and red light might produce a color close to yellow in apparent hue. The newly formed color lies between the two original colors on the color circle, but they are usually represented as being joined by a straight line on the circle, the location of the new color closer to the (white) centre of the circle indicating that the resulting hue is less saturated (i.e., paler) than either of the two source colors. The combination of any two colors in this way are always less saturated than the two pure spectral colors individually.

Objects may be viewed under a variety of different lighting conditions. The human visual system is able to adapt to these differences by chromatic adaptation. This aspect of the visual system is relatively easy to mislead, and optical illusions relating to color are therefore a common phenomenon. The color circle is a useful tool for examining these illusions.

Arranging spectral colors in a circle to predict admixture of light stems from work by Sir Isaac Newton. The psychophysical theory behind the color circle dates to the early color triangle of Thomas Young, whose work was later extended by James Clerk Maxwell and Hermann von Helmholtz. Young postulated that the eye contains receptors that respond to three different primary sensations, or spectra of light. As Maxwell showed, all hues, but not all colors, can be created from three primary colors such as red, green, and blue, if they are mixed in the right proportions. The Young–Helmholtz theory is still seen as the most effective in modeling human color vision though the color vision system is far more complex than differences in the retina alone, with different cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus also responding in opponent fashion to complementary colors, and further color coding occurs in the visual cortex.

Color wheels and paint color mixing

There is no straight-line relationship between colors mixed in pigment, which vary from medium to medium. With a psychophysical color circle, however, the resulting hue of any mixture of two colored light sources can be determined simply by the relative brightness and wavelength of the two lights, a similar calculation cannot be performed with two paints. As such, a painter’s color wheel is indicative rather than predictive, being used to compare existing colors rather than calculate exact colors of mixtures. Because of differences relating to the medium, different color wheels may be created according to the type of paint or other medium used, and many artists make their own individual color wheels. These often contain only blocks of color rather than the gradation between tones that is characteristic of the color circle.

The twelve major RGB/HSV color-wheel colors.

The HSL and HSV color spaces are based on the RGB color space, in which the twelve primary, secondary, and tertiary colors are spaced at 30 degree hue angles, corresponding to where one or two RGB coordinates is at the maximum (255), one or two is at the minimum (0), and in the case of the tertiary colors, one may be at half-scale (127). The saturation of these colors is at the maximum (1) in both HSL and HSV, and in HSV space the value is at maximum (1).

The six primary and secondary colors of this color wheel are named in the web colors and X11 colors. The additive primaries, red, green (web color lime), and blue, are the primary colors of this color wheel. The subtractive primaries, yellow, cyan (aqua), and magenta (fuchsia), are its secondary colors.

The tertiary colors have no consistent set of web color names: orange (not the same as web color orange), the web color Chartreuse (Chartreuse green), spring green, azure (not the same as the web color), violet (not the same as the web color), and rose (no named X11 or web color) are the tertiary colors of the HSV color wheel.

The Beaders Color Palette: Margie Deeb

Turkoman Headdress

Wikipedia   “Historically, all of the Western or Oghuz Turks have been called Türkmen or Turkoman;however, today the terms are usually restricted to two Turkic groups: the Turkmen people of Turkmenistan and adjacent parts of Central Asia, and the Turkomans of Iraq and Syria.
Turkmen in Iran and Afghanistan remain very conservative in comparison to their brethren in Turkmenistan. Islam plays a much more prominent role in Iran and Afghanistan where Turkmen follow many traditional Islamic practices that many Turkmen in Turkmenistan have abandoned as a result of decades of Soviet rule. In addition, many Turkmen in Iran and Afghanistan have remained at least semi-nomadic and traditionally work in agriculture/animal husbandry and the production of carpets.”

Squidoo “The Turkmen people have traditionally been nomads and horsemen, and even today after the fall of the USSR attempts to urbanized the Turkmens have not been very successful. They never really formed a coherent nation or ethnic group until they were forged into one by Joseph Stalin in the 1930s. Rather they are divided into clans, and each clan has its own dialect and style of dress. Turkmens are famous for making gillams, mistakenly called Bukhara rugs in the West. These are elaborate and colorful rugs, and these too help indicate the distinction between the various Turkmen clans. “

Lapidary Journal  “Jewelry from central Asia is most often made of silver, with stones like carnelian, turquoise, and coral. At left, a Turkoman rhomboid pendant of fire-gilded silver and carnelian; at right, a five-element Uzbek nozi-gardon of turquoise, coral, and silver. The birds on the central pendant represent delight and protection, while the fish shapes hanging below represent male fertility.

Turkoman Tumar

 I have been collecting jewelry from around the world for 23 years, and Central Asian Jewelry has remained one of my favorites. The  tribal jewelry from Central Asia — Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan, all pit stops on the ancient Silk Route between China and the West. Uzbekistan, where we are headed, was also a hop, skip, and jump from the Lazurite Route, which connected Badakhshan, a region in northeast Afghanistan rich in mines of lapis, rubies, and other treasures, to the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and India. It was also close to the Nephrite Route, the jade connection between China and eastern Turkestan (Turkestan being an old term for Central Asia). So it’s no surprise that the jewelry from this region is fabulous — fire-gilded silver, carnelian, turquoise, coral — graceful, elegant, and daring.

The jewelry is that of tribal people — Uzbeks, Tajiks (Tadjiks), Kazakhs, Kyrghyz (Kirgiz), and Turkmen (Turkoman). Many of the objects came from Afghanistan and Pakistan, where commerce, until recently, was more open, and where many of these people live. Although these groups were introduced to Islam centuries ago, few women accept the veil. Their religion is a blend of Islam and previous traditions, evident in their daily lives, as well as in their adornments, many of which serve as good luck charms. They proudly keep the traditional ornamentation from disappearing into history.

Central Asian jewelry is so striking that the elaborate stone-inlaid items, stamped and engraved with graceful designs, might seem to be purely for the sake of adornment; in reality, almost all are amuletic in intent. In societies where superstition is prevalent, those most in need of protection (usually women, children, and sometimes livestock) are given specific amulets to wear.

Except for Tajiks, who speak a form of Persian and are descended from the earliest Indo-European settlers in the region, most Central Asian tribes were nomads of Turco-Mongolian heritage. Since their wandering ways have brought them to Iran, China, Tibet, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Iraq, and elsewhere, there are Kazakhs living in Turkmenistan and Turkmen in Tajikistan, and there is often a mingled influence of cultures in jewelry design and function.

Exquisite silver and gilt jewelry from the Turkoman tribes of Iran, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are presented in the Old Word exhibition: Splendid Treasures of the Turkoman Tribes of Central Asia The exhibit of more than 20 objects hand crafted by the semi-nomadic Turkoman people features headdress ornaments, bracelets, earrings, rings and clothing clasps with carnelian and lavish decorative elements of silver and gold gilding.”

 The collection in our store, and visible through our website, has been collected over the past 23 years. It  includes jewelry created largely in the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Decorated with gilding, chains and semi-precious stones, each piece is imbued with symmetrical yet organic designs drawn from the tribes’ mythological interpretations of the natural world.

Turkoman Tekke Bracelets

The bold and intricate jewelry represents the Turkoman tribes’ form of transportable wealth worn for special festivities or daily adornment. Often large in size, these elaborate pieces were sewn onto clothing or attached to the hair. Unique tall headdresses were decorated with elaborate jewelry, often with bells and pendants hanging down from the temples. Some ornaments were purported to have special properties to keep the wearer safe. Tribe continuity was always precarious, so great importance was attached to weddings, birthdays and the survival of children. Young women of marriageable age wore special jewelry, which was replaced by more elaborate forms for the wedding ceremony, when a woman’s jewelry was enhanced by the dowry given by the groom and his family. Married women wore their extensive collections of jewelry until the birth of their first son, layering multiple pieces from the head to hands. Changes in hairstyles, too, reflected the change in social position, so Turkoman women adorned themselves with special hair ornaments to indicate their marital status.

Turkoman Asyk

 Old World Collection: Central Asian Jewelry

See our vast array of collectible beads, ancient agate, Afghani Wedding  Headdresses, Kohistani Child’s Vest, Turkoman Tekke Bracelets, and Tekke Jewelry, Bukharan Jewelry, Bedouin and Berber Jewelry, Venetian Trade Beads (African trade Beads) and Venetian fancies, 23 karat gold medallions, vintage Chinese enamel and cloisonné beads, Himalayan beads and jewelry, Pyu Period beads, Thailand Spirit Locks, Ancient stone beads, Nepalese purses, Rajasthani and other India Jewelry and much more.