Jewelry tags are commonly used to label eyeglasses, rings, earrings, bracelets, necklace, watches and other jewelry with, for example, price, description, product number and / or bar code information. Jewelry tags come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Tags are typically labeled using direct thermal or thermal transfer printers. Direct thermal printers use a print head composed of a row of closely spaced and individually controlled heating elements and rely on a print medium that changes color when heated above a threshold temperature. Thermal transfer printers use the same type of print head employed in direct thermal machines. But place a ribbon between the print head and the medium. Heat from the print head melts components of the ribbon, which transfer to the print medium.

Advantageously, a self-laminating jewelry tag provides a clear laminate that is configured to fold over the label or print area of a jewelry tag so as to protect the printed information from wear, cleaning or other processes that tend to renderthe printing illegible. The jewelry tag label can be adapted for ink jet, laser or thermal printing.

Conventional jewelry tags also detract from the appearance of jewelry on display. Retailers go to considerable effort to hide tag labels in display cases. The portion of the tag that attaches to the jewelry, however, is difficult to cover-up. Advantageously, one embodiment of a clear jewelry tag has a clear shank that reduces tag visibility. In another embodiment, the entire jewelry tag is clear, obviating the need to hide tags, but allowing labels to be read when placed over an opaque background.