Glossary

barrel
(bead): shaped like one, say like a truncated rugby ball .
bashra
(pearls): tiny natural pearls fished off Oman sea.
blue Dogon
the Dogon from Mali were so fond of this kind of bead that they are named after them in the market.
chagda
barbed arrowhead
chakra
wheel
chiselled
made using a chisel over the surface of the metal.
choker
a short necklace.
collared
adorned with a circle around the ends.
consort
shakti
dye-stamped
a silver- goldsmithing technique: a thin sheet of metal is beaten against a preformed anvil in order to shape it.
embossed
silver, goldsmithing technique: relief is created in a metal sheet beating it from behind.
fancy floral
Venetian beads with this particular decoration. Also called arabesque.
faux gajre
As gajre's tiny balls are labor demanding, a metal sheet with embossed bumps is used for expediency in later times.
figa
amulet (also a gesture) existing since antiquity: a fist is shown with the tip of the thumb protruding between the index and middle fingers.
gajre
clusters of tiny balls, said to ensure fertility. See "faux gajre".
gau
Tibet, Mongolia: portable shrine
granulated
silver, goldmithing technique: afixing small metal spheres to an ornament, to decorate its surface.
guru bead
guru = master. Guru bead is the closing bead at the end of a mala, generally larger and of different material,
heishi
disc beads made by a thousands year old technique.
kasumi
japanese: freshwater pearls cultivated in Kasumiga lake, north of Tokyo.
kundan
hindi: Indian method of setting stones onto an ornament.
lac
a resinous matter extracted from an insect, used in jewelry as glue or bitumen.
lantana
a particular kind of jasper bead greatly valued by old nobility in Ghana, as a second to coral.
lingam
sanscrit: the erect phallus of Lord Shiva, object of worship by the hindu devotees.
mala
hindi: necklace, rosary
mandir
hindi: temple
melon
(beads): shaped like one, similar to a peeled tangerine.
murrine
also cane: the glass bar used in beadmaking.
murti
hindi: three dimensional image
Nath
An order of monks (sadhus) created by Gorakhsnath, believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva by his devotees.
openwork
silver or goldsmithing technique: the portion of metal that is not essential to the design is removed and left empty.
palindromic
from the grec palindromos, meaning "reading backwards": the sum of the numbers adds to the same figure in the three directions.
patree
hindi: a medal with an icon engraved or embossed into it, a flat pendant.
pipal
(sacred) fig tree
powder glass
beads made by recycling glass by crushing it with mortar and pestle, then firing the preformed beads.
rudraksha
the seeds of a tree, the term means "eye of Rudra", an old manifestation of Lord Shiva,
saddhu
hindu monk
shakta
personalizad might of god, also considered to be her consort
shakti
personalized might of a God, also considered to be his consort.
ta'wiz
mostly a muslim term: amulet
tantric
secret
thali
South India: auspicious marriage pendant amulet.
thangka
religious painting on fabric, Tibet, Mongolia.
torque
rigid necklace made with a rod of metal.
trailed
(decoration): it is applied while still melted onto the already hard surface of the bead.
vaishnavite
hindi: related to the cult of Lord Vishnu.
vaseline (beads)
glass beads of a color and translucency recalling the vaseline hair-dress fashionable circa 1920
vatsu
sanscrit: house, home
vermeil
french: gilded silver.
vintage
This much criticized word is commonly used to describe objects not yet antique, not new anymore -- perhaps to avoid the word "old", that would fit them but is somehow pejorative.
vishnupada
sanscrit: Lord Vishnu's footprints
wabi-sabi
a style, a mood, a way of doing that is easy-going, relaxed, spontaneous.
white-heart
European beads, red with a white core.
wistle
(nadi) or Singh-Naad, a whistle worn by Nath Saddhus hanging from a thread around their neck.
wound
beads created individually by wrapping the hot melted glass around a rod.
yoni
vulva
yu
chinese: jade in a broad sense, hard stone.