Jewelry or Jewellery is a form of personal adornment, noticeable in various types such as Rings, Earrings, Necklaces, Pendants,
Bracelets and Brooches. Jewellery can be made from various materials, usually gemstones, precious metals, beads or shells.
Jewelry can be timeless and could be a perfect gift for all ages and styles.
Speaking the jeweler’s language:
BLEMISH: A flaw on the exterior of a diamond, such as a scratch, abrasion, nick or chip.
BLUE-WHITE: Refers to a diamond that glows (fluoresces) blue under ultraviolet light.
BRILLIANCE: White light reflected back from a diamond.
BRILLIANT: A round diamond with 58 facets.
CARAT: A unit of weight, equal to 200 milligrams. In ancient times one carat was equal to one carob bean or four grains of rice.
CARBON: The raw material of which diamonds are made. Occasionally a diamond will contain tiny pockets of carbon which can be seen as black spots within the stone.
CLOUD: A cluster of small inclusions, or internal flaws, within a diamond.
CROWN: The top of a diamond. Everything above the girdle.
CULET: The bottom facet of a diamond, usually very small.
DISPERSION: Colored light reflected from within a diamond; also called fire.
EYE-CLEAN: Refers to a diamond that has no inclusions or blemishes visible to the naked eye.
FACET: A polished surface on a diamond. A round, full-cut diamond usually has 58 facets.
FLUORESCENCE: A diamond’s reaction to ultraviolet (UV) light, causing the stone to glow in various colors.
FULL-CUT: A diamond with 58 or more facets.
GEMOLOGIST: A person who has been trained and accredited in diamonds and colored stones.
GIA: Gemological Institute of America, an independent, non-profit organization which sets and upholds standards for grading
diamonds and other precious stones.
GIRDLE: The narrow, unpolished band around the widest part of the diamond; the girdle separates the crown and the pavilion of the stone.
HEAD: The prongs which hold a diamond in its setting.
INCLUSION: A flaw within a diamond, such as carbon spots or fractures.
KARAT: The measure of the purity of gold; 24-karat being pure gold.
Jewelry is made from 18K and 14K gold, which contain other metals for strength.
LASER-DRILLED: A diamond that has been treated with a laser to remove carbon spots.
LOUPE: A small magnifying glass used to view gemstones.
OFF-MAKE: A poorly proportioned diamond.
PAVÉ: A method of setting diamonds very closely together, giving the illusion of one or more larger diamonds.
PAVILION: The bottom of a diamond; everything below the diamond’s girdle.
POINT: One-hundredth of a carat. A diamond weighing one-and-a-half carats weighs 150 points.
SEMI-MOUNT: A setting which is complete except for the main stone, which will be selected separately.
SINGLE-CUT: A diamond with only 16 or 17 facets.
SPARKLE: The liveliness of the light reflecting from a diamond; the sum of the brilliance and the fire (dispersion).
TIFFANY: A simple, elegant 2-3mm ring setting with a head that holds a single diamond.
The 5 C’s of Diamond
The five C's of diamond are:
1. Carat
2. Color
3. Clarity
4. Cut
5. Certificate
Carat
The weight of a diamond is measured in carats. There are 100 points to a carat. A carat is equal to one fifth of a gram and
there are 132 carats to an ounce. For instance, a 25 points diamond is 1/2 carat.
The carat has an interesting history. Centuries ago, the gem dealers of the Middle East used the seeds of the carob tree to balance
their scales. These seeds were called 'keration'. The seeds were surprisingly uniform in weight,
and even the best modern scales cannot detect more than one three thousandth of an ounce difference between seeds.
The carat was the weight of a carob seed until the 20th century, when the metric system was adopted universally.
Color
Diamonds come in all colors of the spectrum ranging from colorless - the rarest & most valuable - to yellowish, reddish or bluish.
Most diamonds appear white. The majority of diamonds are the warmer whites with tinge of yellow or brown.
There are also diamonds in pastel colors such as pink, green and champagne.
When you are buying a diamond, color is an important factor in determining the price. Completely colorless, icy white diamonds
are very rare and priced accordingly. 'Fancies' are diamonds whose colors are very apparent to the naked eye,
such as deep red royal blue or the very rare black. These are extremely rare and costlier too.
The most common measure of diamond color comes from the Gemological Institute of America.
The purest, colorless stone carries a D rating and this scare goes right through the alphabet to Z-designating a
diamond with a strong brown cast.
The best way to see the true color of a diamond is to look through its side against a white background.
Clarity
Bright and sparkling diamonds may appear all the same, but each one is different. In the process of crystallizing diamonds out of carbon,
there are miniscule birthmarks-specks, bubbles and 'feathers' left in most of them.
These natural characteristics are called 'inclusions'. Because of inclusions, each diamond has its own individuality.
Fewer the inclusions in a diamond, the more valuable it is, and costlier too. A flawless diamond is the one that has no visible
inclusions when viewed under 10x power magnification by a trained skilled eye.
It is inclusions- their number, size and position under 10x power magnification, which determine the clarity of a diamond.
Frequently, inclusions can be removed in the cutting process and it is the task of the diamond cutter to remove as many as he can
while maintaining as much of the original carat weight as possible, since both weight and clarity are critical to the diamonds' value.
The number of inclusions, their size and location all affect the diamond's clarity grade.
Clarity Scale:
FL-IF
No inclusions visible
Loupe CleanLoupe Clean
A diamond is called 'loupe-clean' if under these conditions it has been found absolutely transparent and free from inclusions.
VVS (VVS1,VVS2)
Very Very Small Inclusions, very hard to find with 10x loupe.
VS (VS1, VS2)
Very small inclusions, which can hardly be found with 10x loupe.
SI (SI1,SI2)
Small inclusions, easy to find with a 10x loupe, not seen with the naked eye.
Cut
The cutter decides what shape the diamond will be. He takes into consideration the shape of the rough, its size, inclusions and
how much weight will be lost in the cutting. The most popular shape for the engagement diamond is the round brilliant cut.
This is usually cut from an eight-sided crystal. The marquise, oval, pear, emerald and heart-shaped diamonds are known as fancy cuts.
These are all fashioned from different shapes of rough diamonds. The shapes of the facets differ in each of the cuts and these
tiny polished planes of the surface of each diamond account for its brilliance and fire.
Certificate: diamond certification and certified diamonds
To the original four C's-Carat Weight, Color, Clarity and Cut a fifth has been added in modern times-Certificate.
This modern 'C', which became important for most diamonds in the last few years, is the diamond certificate.
The best-known and most widely accepted certificate is that issued by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
The certificate is a quality analysis of a stone, a measurement of its weight, color and clarity.
A number of other organizations also offer certificates like the International Gemological Institute, the European Gem
Laboratories and the United States Gemological Services. India too has introduced the facility in its laboratories.
Certificates gained immense popularity in the late 1970's, when individuals and companies selling diamonds for their
investment value used these documents as selling aids. The certificate offers to the customer an outside opinion on the diamond,
in effect providing a guarantee. Efforts are underway to harmonize and standardize the nomenclature used by certifying
agencies in various countries.