At The Cameo Collection, you may find cameos made of the following materials:

The carnelian shell is the shell most frequently used for cameo carving. In color, carnelian shells are a low-intensity peach or orange color, offering contrast between foreground and background colors.

 

The sardonyx shell has a thick outer wall and a dark brown interior, and when carved it can resemble marble. Cameos carved in sardonyx shells are distinctive in color with a dark brown background and white foreground, and frequently cost more because the shells are rare.

 

Some cameos are carved in mother-of-pearl, producing a cameo of an opalescent, bluish-gray color. These cameos are best set in silver.

 

Our Agate cameos are carved ultrasonically. Blue or green in color, these cameos come from Germany and have a more modern look, despite the fact that agate has been used for cameos for centuries.

But for a few set in silver, all cameos sold at The Cameo Collection are set in 14K gold. The shell cameos, imported from Italy, are all signed by master carver Gennaro Borriello.

Follow the links on the left to learn more about cameos. You can:

Read a brief history of cameos
Learn how to care for your cameo
Discover the art of cameo production

Thanks to Anna M. Miller's book Cameos Old & New for shell information.