Glossary

Adamas: Adamas is an ancient Greek word and means something that cannot be tamed. Originally the word was used for any really hard material. Of course, in the end, it was given exclusively to the hardest material of all, the diamond.

Asscher Cut: A square diamond cut with cut edges. It is made in lines or steps of extended facets parallel to the girdle, and to the two parts of the cut stone. On the top of the crown and down on the cone it looks like the emerald cut, but it’s square instead of rectangular and there is a culet not a facet on the pavilion finishing.

Baguette Cut: A rectangular cut with sharp edges and extended facets which run parallel to the girdle both on the upper part of it (crown) and the lower part of the girdle (pavilion).

Blood Diamond or Conflict Diamonds: Diamonds which come from territories controlled by rebel and antiestablishment forces which have opposing interests with the legal authorities of their countries. The earnings of these diamonds go to guns, terrorism, etc. There have been efforts on the part of the international diamond commerce control centers to isolate and ban diamond commerce in these areas.

Brilliance: The brilliance of a diamond is defined by the amount and the intensity of the reflected light from its surface. Brilliance is the most important factor for the beauty and the worth of a diamond. The cut proportions are the most deciding factor for the amount and the intensity of the reflected light. All factors work for the biggest possible amount of brilliance in a diamond.

Brilliant cut:  A cut with triangular and lozenge facets that start from the center of the diamond and end symmetrically in the girdle. The round brilliant cut is the most common and effective in the amount of brilliance. It has 32 facets on the upper part which is called a crown plus one big table facet on top. On the lower part which is named a pavilion, it has 24 facets plus a tiny facet on the lowest part which might be missing depending on the case, so the pavilion ends on a tip. The brilliant-cut apart from round can also be oval, heart or pear-shaped, radiating, marquise, etc.

Carat: Unit of weight measurement which is used for gemstones and equals 1/5 of the gram.

Carbon:  Carbon is the unique element of the body chemistry of the diamond (C).

Certificate: An evaluation document for diamonds and gemstones in general that fully and accurately describes the characteristics of the diamond. Such certified written reports are issued by recognized and independent gemological labs. The information they contain unambiguously leads to their evaluation and the estimation of their commercial price. The certificates are not a monetary evaluation, which means that they do not refer to the monetary worth, but mention all these characteristics according to which there can be an accurate monetary estimation.

Clarity: Clarity is one of the four factors for diamond evaluation (4C’s). In the Greek market, the term clarity is translated as clearness. During diamond crystallization, the crystal encloses foreign objects from its environment which diminish its clarity. That’s why clarity from inclusion gives a diamond worth and uniqueness.

Cognac: The commercial term for brown diamonds.

Crown: Crown is called the upper part of the cut diamonds, the part that is above the girdle.

Cubic Zirconia: The cubic zirconia is an artificial isotropic crystal. Artificial is a body that does not exist in nature and it is made in a lab by humans. The cubic zirconia or CZ is a zirconium oxide ZrO2 that does not exist in nature as a crystal and it is humanly made in a lab. It is a transparent crystal, colored or not, with a diamond sparkling.

Culet:  The lowest part of the brilliant-cut on the pavilion finish is called culet. This finish can either be a sharp point, a tip, or one tiny facet. Culet is also called the equivalent part of the emerald cut.

Cushion Cut: A mainly square cut which can also be a hewn rectangular, with circular edges. This kind of cut presents the hearts and arrows phenomenon.

Cut and Cut Grade: The Cut is the shape we can give to a polished diamond e.g., Brilliant Cut, Emerald Cut, Heart Cut, Princes Cut, Trillion Cut e.c.t. Cut is also named together the proportions, the symmetry and the polish of a diamond. It is one of the 4C’s that determine the value of a polished diamond. The quality of the Cut is always mentioned when a certification is issued.

Diamond: Diamond is the mineral crystalline form of the carbon. As an element, the diamond is the hardest thing known to man. Diamonds are found by man as crystals within rare rocks and after a specialized treatment of cutting and polishing, their true beauty is brought out.

Eight Cut:  Old cut type with only sixteen facets plus the table seat at the top. The eight seats are in the crown and the other eight in the cone. This cut is still used today when we are going to process very small stones. This cut is also known as “Single Cut”.

Emerald cut: It is a type of rectangular or square cut with large surfaces, which highlight the color of the precious stones.

Facets: These are tiny surfaces on the treated diamond that determine its final shape. The way light interacts with these facets affects the sparkle and brightness of the diamond.

Fancy Color: With this term we name all diamonds that display any color (except of course white and black) which is intense and homogeneous.

Fancy shapes: Any diamond shape other than Round – for example, Marquise, Square, Emerald, Oval, Heart and Pear.

Fire: The term Fire is synonymous in a sense with the term Dispersion. Light entering the diamond is resolved into the colors of the rainbow. The percentage of these analyzed colors, which is reflected inside the stone and is visible to the observer, is called Fire.

Fluorescense: Fluorescence is the phenomenon in which when we throw light energy (sunlight, ultraviolet light, etc.) on a body, it returns light energy colored or not. Most diamonds show strong white, blue or yellow fluorescence. In diamond certificates, fluorescence is mentioned as a special characteristic, and it does not affect its value.

Four C’s: The four fundamental criteria by which a diamond’s quality and value are determined: Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight. We would also call a fifth C the Certificate, the certificate, which actually officially and scientifically documents the remaining four C’s.

Gemology: Gemology is the science that studies precious stones, regarding their genesis, their authenticity, their properties, their laboratory composition, the methods of improving their external appearance, etc.

Girdle: It is the outer perimeter of the diamond between the crown and the cone.

Hardness: Hardness is the measure of a material’s resistance to friction, i.e., scratching and abrasion. Diamond is the hardest material known to man. On the relative Mohs scale, it ranks first at 10. In absolute hardness value, it is 75% harder than the second hardest natural gemstone which is ruby/sapphire. The term durability has to do with toughness as well as cohesion. Cohesion is the resistance to fracture and should not be confused with hardness.

Hearts & Arrows: As Hearts & Arrows are likened the designs that are formed when we look from above or below the diamonds that are cut round brilliant or square cushion. When we look from above the crown through the table facet, we see with a little imagination eight arrows with their heads forming. When we look down through the cone/panilion, the shapes we see look like eight hearts. When we can distinguish the hearts and arrows it does not mean that the stone is cut to the ideal proportions, but that it has the correct symmetry in order to be visible.

Heart Cut: Heart-shaped cut.

HPHT: (High Pressure High Temperature) Treatment: Laboratory operation to change color or enhance it. Certain types of diamonds, where their crystal chemistry allows, are affected by high pressures and temperatures, resulting in a total change in the absorption of the crystal and a change or improvement in their color.

Inclusions: Inclusions are bodies foreign or not to the diamond crystal, which are trapped by it during crystallization. Inclusions can be solid, liquid or gas, breaks or cracks inside the diamond or traces of its structure. The inclusions characterize each stone and classify it into categories of clarity, based on which their final value is determined

Independent Laboratory: A gemological laboratory that studies stones and issues certificates for diamonds and/or colored stones, without having anything to do with trading and selling precious stones. According to international rules, only certificates issued by independent laboratories are considered valid.

Kimberlite: Kimberlite is the rock within which the diamonds travel from the interior of the earth to the surface. It usually has a blue color and occurs in the oldest rocks of the continents

Laser Inscription: A laser inscription on the diamond is carried out by a very thin laser beam with which we can write and even draw on the surface of a cut and polished diamond. A private message can be written, but usually the stone’s certificate number and code are written. The recording takes place in the area of the zone and is carried out in the following way: The heating caused by the laser beam on the carbon atoms locally transforms them from diamond to graphite.  So, they go from crystalline form locally due to the high energy they absorb, to gray graphite. This gives the impression when observing the area with the microscope that we have a three-dimensional inscription. This operation has a permanent effect, and the inscription is only removed by re-polishing and of course only by a specialist craftsman and in specialized laboratories. The laser inscription is tiny and completely invisible to the naked eye. One can only see it at x10 magnification with the help of a microscope or magnifying glass. Laser inscription does not affect the color and clarity of diamonds.

Loose Diamond: By the term “Loose Diamond” we mean unattached/loose diamonds in a piece of jewelry. Usually when we want to evaluate a diamond we free it from the jewelry, so that we can more accurately determine its color, its cut proportions and its clarity (4Cs).

Loupe: Hand magnifier. For the evaluation of diamonds, the internationally established magnification is x10. Only with x10 magnification should we study diamonds to classify them in a clarity category.

Marquise shape: Kind of Oval cut with pointed and not curved ends. It is also called Navette, which in French means small boat, because its shape resembles a boat.

Moh’s Scale: The relative hardness scale of minerals is named after the German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs who invented it in 1812. According to this scale, minerals are ranked with increasing hardness from 1 to 10. Each mineral depends on which step of the scale it belongs to it inscribes all that has gone before and is inscribed by all that follows. For example, any mineral that has a hardness of 7 on the Moh’s Scale outranks minerals with a hardness of 6 to 1, but is outclassed by all minerals that have a hardness of 8,9, and 10. Diamond has the highest hardness with a 10.

Moissanite:  Rare natural mineral. Man created it in the laboratory in 1993 and then found that it also exists in nature. It is one of the most perfect diamond imitations.

Natural Diamond:  Natural are the diamonds that are born/created inside the earth by natural processes.

Oval Cut: A type of diamond cut with an ellipse-shaped perimeter in which triangular seats predominate and which generally follows the philosophy of the brilliant cut.

Pavilion: The lower part of the stone, below the girdle, which reaches up to the culet.

Pear Cut: Type of cut in drop or pear mark.

Polish Grade:  Qualitative assessment of the overall condition of a diamond’s outer surface. The quality of the polish depends entirely on the care and skill of the polisher, and is important to the brilliance and sparkle that a diamond emits.

Princess Cut: Type of square or rectangular cut, which combines features from the brilliant and step cut.

Proportions and Proportion Grade:  The round brilliant cut has specific proportions that bring out the beauty of the diamond to the maximum (brilliancy, sparkle, diffusion of light). These proportions concern the relationship that the diameter has with the total height and the individual heights of the crown and the cone. Also included in the proportions are the angles of the girdle with the crown and the cone as well as the opening of the cone. The specific values of these proportions must be respected for the cut to be of quality. Fancy cuts do not have set proportions because each one has its own distinct shape that requires its own distinct proportions. Thus, they were determined for the most commercial and efficient cut which is the round brilliant.

Radiant Cut: Type of square or rectangular cut (princess cut), but in which the corners have been cut and small facets have been created.

Round Brilliant Cut: It is the most popular and most commercial cut. As the description says, it has a round or almost round circumference, and at the bottom it ends with a conical shape that we call a pavilion. This type of cut has now been standardized and has a total of 57 or 58 facets.

Symmetry: The symmetry of the diamond is the harmony of the facets and perfect angles, created by a skilled craftsman. The perfect symmetry of a diamond, with an ideal cut and ideal proportions, affects the diamond’s brilliance. Gemological Diamond Analyzes often state the diamond’s symmetry as Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

Synthetic Diamond: Man succeeded in reproducing in the laboratory the conditions of diamond genesis, and by supplying the system with carbon, succeeded in crystallization of diamond. In other words, synthetic diamonds are diamonds that have been born in a laboratory by man. Synthetic diamonds are not imitations, but real diamonds with the exact same features as natural diamonds. What changes is that their origin must be declared. Certificates always state whether the diamond is natural or synthetic.

Tapered Baguette Cut: A type of triangular cut which can be done to a diamond, with rows of stepped or elongated facets parallel to the girdle. These facets are found in both the crown and the cone. This is a modified form of baguette cutting.

Trillion shape:  It is the diamond in triangular shape, which has 50 facets. Trillions are often used as side stones.