I tried out a special feature I’m calling “In-Flight, or Mid-Sequence Jewelry Tips & Terminology” in the last two episodes.
It’s a fun way to educate listeners on jewelry lingo and terminology used by bench jewelers and industry insiders.
It’s important to be familiar with a few terms so you can communicate design and repair needs with a jeweler or designer.
In Mary van der Aa’s episode, near the beginning of our conversation, Mary mentioned the term, melee.
The Amazing Jewelry Talents of Gemologist and Jeweler, Mary van der Aa,
while describing her jewelry, she causally mentioned the term, melee.
Before you go on to read the answer, take a look at the possible answers in the below graphic.
Somewhere near the beginning of our conversation, Mary mentioned the jewelry term, melee.
So, what is melee?!
As you can see from Mary van der Aa’s Aria pendants above, melee, Prounuonced, meh’-lee (rhymes with Nellie), are small gemstones, ususally diamonds that weight no more than 0.20ct.
They’re used as accent stones set in jewelry, or set into cluster patterns.
Now that you know what MELEE is, you’ll notice many jewelry styles take advantage of how the sparkle of smaller gemstones set off larger ones or complment the color of others.
A good examle of melee diamonds are the small diamonds set in the popular halo styles of engagement rings.
Are you confused about jewelry terms?
Would you like to re-design jewlery to update it?
I’m happy to help in any way to get you started!
Reach out to me by email at [email protected] with your jewelry questions.
You’re not the only one with the same question, so don’t be afraid to ask!
Thank you to Mary van der Aa, for letting me use her Aria pendants as models to explain what melee is!
To see all her beutiful jewelry set with rare and unique gems, visit her site at maryvanderaa.com
To see her jewelry and the gemstones she works with, visit her and Tucson Todd’s Gems on their summer jewelry and gem show tour. Click HERE for the tour dates and locations.