Gemstones Glossary

Alface - This word is used to describe a pale green color in tourmaline.

Appraisal - Value placed on a stone in money terms by an appraiser.

Bi-colored - A stone with two colors.

Body color - The color of a gemstone as caused by transmitted light as opposed to reflected light.

Brilliancy - The amount of light the eye views from the stone as a result of the facets and gridle.

Bubble veils - Inclusions that appear as bubbles but are actually small crystalline inclusions.

Cabochon cut - Gemstone with a smooth dome top and no facets. The underneath of the stone may or may not be polished.

Carat - A standard weight for weighing gemstones.

Cat's eye - A cabochon cut stone with lines across the top of the stone.

Clarity - This term is used to describe whether the stone has inclusions and how bad the inclusions are.

Cobbing - Mining term to clear away or remove parts before getting to the actual stone.

Cloud-like Inclusions - A small group of inclusions that make up a cloud effect.

Crown - The part of the faceted stone above the gridle.

Cut - Going from rough to finished stone, whether it be pear, round, marquise etc.

Eye-clean - A stone without flaws or inclusions.

Fire - This term can relate to the term "play of color" How many colors are displayed in your stone.

Flawless - A perfect stone.

Flaws - A stone with blemishes and foreign matter.

Gemstones - Any precious stone that can be cut or polished to be used in a piece of jewelry.

Gridle - The part of the stone with the greatest diameter. You may have a 1-cart stone and your neighbor may have a 1-cart stone, her stone may appear larger because the majority of her stone is on the top while yours may be set inside the setting.

Hue - A name of a color, orange, yellow or pink. You may have a stone that displays mixed color properties such as pink in Tanzanite or Amethyst.

Mineral - A class of many substances that may be natural but have inorganic material or chemical composition.

Opaque stones - Stones that transmit no light.

Pavilion - The portion of the stones that is underneath the gridle or table.

Saturation - A single colored stone free from any mixture of colors.

Synthetic - Stone containing artificial or lab created properties.

Table - The flat portion of the top of the stone.