Glossary of Jewelry Terms

Akoya: Cultured pearls grown primarily in Japan.

Baroque: A pearl with balance of form. Equal or corresponding characteristics on opposite sides.

Blemish: An imperfection on a diamond's surface that may or may not be recognizable.

Body color: The basic color of a pearl: white, cream, yellow, pink, silver or black. A pearl can also have a hint of secondary color (see overtone).

Brilliance: The amount of white light reflected that radiates from the diamond's surface. A more properly proportioned cut results in a more brilliant diamond.

Brilliant Cut: A round diamond that contains 58 facets.

Calcium Carbonate: The main mineral component of a pearl's nacre, or outer layer. Mostly calcite and aragonite.

Carat: Measurement used for the weight of a diamond. One carat is equal to 100 points or one fifth of a gram.

Center Stone: The central, dominant stone in a piece of jewelry set with multiple stones.

Choker: A pearl necklace measuring 16 inches long.

Clarity: A graded scale that measures the amount of inclusions within a diamond. The ranges from flawless (FL) to severely included (I3).

Cloud: Minor inclusions clustered within a diamond.

Color: Color tones of a diamond that is graded on a scale of D (colorless) to Z (yellow/brown).

Comfort Fit: The rounded finish on a ring's interior, designed to provide additional comfort for long-wear.

Culet: The bottom point of the diamond which may or may not contain a facet.

Cultured pearls: Pearls cultivated by artificial insertion of a small bead, often made of mother-of-pearl and mantle tissue, into an oyster. Patented by Kokichi Mikimoto in 1916.

Cut (Make): The proportion and symmetry of a diamond determines the stone's brilliance and dispersion capabilities.

Ideal Cut: A round diamond that is perfectly proportioned.
Very Good Cut (Premium): A proportioned cut that maximizes brilliance, reflection and dispersion. Meets the highest standards and dimensions for a quality diamond.
Good Cut: An acceptable and more reasonably priced cut with decent proportions.
Fair Cut: While still capturing some sparkle, this cut is lacking in brilliance when compared to the Good and Very Good cuts.
Poor Cut: A clearly dull and lifeless diamond that sacrifices proportion and quality.

Depth: A diamond's height from culet to table.

Depth %: Height divided by width. Determines brilliance and sparkle.

Eye-clean: When viewing with the naked eye, a diamond with no visible inclusions or imperfections.

Facet: A gemstone's flat, polished surface.

Fire (Dispersion): Reflected spectral colors that radiate from the inside.

Fluorescence: When exposed to ultraviolet light, an illuminating color that glows from the diamond surface, which usually doesn't affect appearance or quality.

Freshwater pearl: A pearl produced by a fresh water mollusk.

Girdle: A diamond's outer edge or periphery.

Head: An attachment that holds a gemstone. Usually 4 prongs, but can be from 3 to 12 or more as a rule.

Head Shape: The head shape of any ring is determined by the shape of the gemstone that it is intended to hold. For example, the head that holds an ideal-cut diamond is round, where a head intended to hold a princess-cut diamond is square.

Head Size Range: Describes the different carat weights of diamonds that may be mounted into one particular head.

Inclusion: An imperfection within a diamond that typically manifests in the crystal. May or may not be visible to the naked eye, but noticeable when magnified.

Irritant: Small parasite or particle which catalyzes the pearl-growing process. Can be naturally occurring or artificially inserted.

Luster: A combination of the pearl's exterior shine and glow from within. Created by light reflected from tiny crystals in the nacre.

Mabe pearl: Cultured pearls grown against an oyster's shell rather than in an oyster's tissue. The result is a semi-spherical pearl with a relatively flat back.

Mantle: Soft tissue located inside an oyster. Man-made pearls are formed when the mantle surrounds a surgically inserted nucleus.

Matinee: A pearl necklace measuring 24 inches long.

Metal Type: Jewelry is generally designed in the precious metals of platinum gold and silver.

Millimeter: Unit of measure in the metric system used to determine a pearl's diameter, equal to about 1/25th of an inch.

Mohs hardness scale: A scale developed by Friedrich Mohs to determine the relative hardness of minerals and other objects. The scale assigns numbers 1-10 to specific minerals, softest to hardest, using a scratch test.

Mother of Pearl: The iridescent lining of an oyster's shell. Often used as a nucleus for a man-made pearl.

Natural pearls: Pearls formed by an irritant without surgical implementation.

Nacre: (Nay-ker) The crystalline substance secreted by an oyster to form a pearl. The microscopic crystals of nacre refract light to produce a pearl's color and luster.

Nucleus: The object which is artificially inserted into a pearl's mollusk during the cultivation process. This becomes the center of a finished pearl.

Overtone: A hint of a secondary color (see body color): pink and green are the most common.

Opera: A pearl necklace measuring 32 inches long.

Orient: The rainbow effect that is on or just below the pearl's surface.

Pavilion: A gemstone's bottom portion.

Point: One hundredth of a carat.

Polish: The external finish of a stone, which ranges from excellent to poor.

Princess: A pearl necklace measuring 18 inches long.

Ring Setting: Collective term for the shank and the head of the ring before the center stone has been set.

Ring Size: A measurement, generally somewhere between 4 and 13, that is determined by the diameter of the finger which will wear the ring, that permits a ring to be easily slipped over the knuckle. To determine your ring size, see our ring guide.

Rope: A pearl necklace measuring 40+ inches long.

Roundness: Scale distinguishing between various degrees of roundness. Classifications include: all-round, mostly-round, slightly off-round and off-round.

Shank: The part of the ring that encircles the bottom of the finger.

Side Stone: A stone set alongside or encircling a center stone.

South Sea: Large pearls created by tropical oysters. Grown in Australia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Tahiti and the Philippines.

Sparkle: The amount of reflected light that radiates from a diamond's surface and combines both fire and brilliance.

Spherical: Having a round, globular shape.

Surface markings: Imperfections on the pearl's surface. Often described as spots, blisters, or indentations.

Symmetry: The overall unity and proportion of a stone's cut. Symmetry ranges from poor to excellent.

Table: The largest facet on the top of a gemstone.

Table %: The total diameter of a gemstone's table in direct proportion to its overall width. A table which is too small or too large will negatively affect its brilliance and dispersion

Tahitian Pearls: Pearls grown mostly in French Polynesia. Well known for their beautiful colors, ranging anywhere from silvery-gray to purplish-black.

Tone: A classification scale, ranging from light to dark, which indicates (specifies) the color intensity of gemstones and fancy colored pearls.

Uniformity: The grading system used to denote how well pearls in a piece of jewelry match one another. Uniformity can be excellent to poor.