Antique jewelry glossary

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Riveting

The process of joining two pieces of metal with a rivet (a headed pin) by passing the shank through a hole in each piece and then beating down the plain end so as to make a second head as fastener. The process has been used in jewelry, instead of soldering, when it was not practically to apply heat or when one part was to be left flexible for swivelling; it was also used to secure the studs to articles of cut steel jewelry.

It was the exclusive method used in making Celtic jewelry. The rivets are of the same metal as the piece, and gold and silver rivets are today produced by refiners.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson