AS IS: A diamond that comes with no bonding or warranties. Its sale is final, no exceptions after the buyer takes possession from the vendor.

BACK ALLEY: A diamond that has had at least one previous owner and is being purchased on the secondary market. Example: Joe has purchased a Back Alley diamond. Translation: Joe has bought a used diamond.

BANANAS: A marquise shaped diamond whose length to width ratio exceeds 2.25 to 1. The diamond appears to have been stretched to look like a banana.

BIG BROTHER: Diamond Trading Company a.k.a. DeBeers.

BLEMISH: A flaw on the exterior of a diamond, such as a scratch, abrasion, nick or chip.

BLING BLING: A sparkly valuable diamond or diamond jewelry.

BLUE BOOKED: The dollar value placed on a diamond at time of purchase that the seller agrees to purchase the diamond back at some time in the future.

BLUE-WHITE: Refers to a diamond that glows (flouresces) blue under ultraviolet light.

BONDED: Synonymous with warranty. All diamonds are either fully bonded, partially bonded or not bonded. A new subcategory that has been popularized of late is the fully bonded diamond with an expiration date i.e. a limited lifetime warranty. The diamond is warranted not for the life of the diamond or person but for the life of the warranty itself. Most of these bogus warranty packages (breakage guarantee, buyback, exchange) run 90 days. A true fully bonded diamond has no expiration date or restocking fee.

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.

CANARIES: A canary diamond is yellow in color due to the fact it is saturated with nitrogen. The four main categories of canaries are light fancy, fancy, intense fancy and vivid.

CHUBBIES: Diamonds that are poorly proportioned. Typically, diamonds that have over-sized girdles or deep pavilions that cause the diamonds to appear smaller than they should when viewed from the top for any given weight.

COGNAC: A brown diamond dramatized as attractive and valuable with an appealing title.

DECORATE THE TREE: How the facets are arranged on a diamond.

DOUBLET: A diamond or gemstone that is made of two pieces. Example: The crown is diamond but it is epoxied to a pavilion made out of cubic zirconia.

DUPING: The con of selling a diamond with a Lab Grading Report or GIA appraisal that does not match the diamond being sold but rather matches a diamond that was shown loose to make the initial sale and later switched for the understudy.

ESTATE: A diamond or piece of jewelry that has been previously owned and is up for sale.

FANCIES: Has two meanings. 1.) Any shape other than a round diamond or 2.) Any diamond of any particular color of the rainbow but white. These would include: blues, pinks, violets, and yellows to name a few. The most famous fancy in the world is "The Hope Diamond," which is steel blue.

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.

FISHEYE: The circular centrally dark light pattern that appears in the table of a round diamond when it is cut shallow. It derives its nickname due to the fact that the light leakage through the pavilion creates the look from the crown of that of a fish’s eye.

FLUORESCENCE: A diamond's reaction to ultraviolet (UV) light, causing the stone to glow in various colors.

FOOTBALLS: The opposite of a banana shaped marquise which is too long. Rather a football is a marquise that closely resembles the shape of a football. A marquise could be described as a football if its length to width ratio is less than 1.75 to 1.

FULL-CUT: A diamond with 58 or more facets.

FULLY WARRANTED: Can be synonymous with fully bonded. A diamond that has a breakage, buyback, exchange and market crash guarantee. When it comes with no expiration dates, it is considered fully bonded, otherwise it is a limited lifetime warranty

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.

GLOW WORMS: A diamond that exhibits fluorescence in the presence of ultra violet light. Fluorescent diamonds are 20% less valuable than non-fluorescent diamonds.

GRADE BUMPING: A diamond whose clarity or color grade has been raised by one or more grades by a lab, appraiser or salesman to enhance the value of the diamond.

GRAINERS: In the orient, diamonds were weighed using grains of rice. (4 grains = 1/5 of a gram
which = a 1ct diamond on a counter balance) Example: a 6 grainer = 1 1/2ct diamond

GRANDFATHER: An old diamond (Old Miners, Old European) or a diamond whose paperwork is outdated. A Lab Grading Report is considered a grandfather when it is over six months old and an appraisal is considered a grandfather at two years old.

HEAD: The prongs which hold a diamond in its setting.

HOT ROCKS: Diamonds whose country of origin (South Africa, Sierra Leon, etc.) is linked to fueling wars and oppression with the funds acquired from the sale or barter of diamonds.

ILLUSION SETTING: The placement of a diamond into a mirrored high polished plate of metal to give the illusion that the diamond is larger than it appears from a distance.

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.

LENGTH-TO-WIDTH RATIO: See "MEASUREMENTS"

LOUPE: A small magnifying glass eyepiece used to view gemstones

MEASUREMENTS - LENGTH, WIDTH, DEPTH & RATIOS: LENGTH-TO-WIDTH RATIO is used to determine if a fancy-shaped diamond (anything other than round) is well-proportioned. For example, you don't want to buy a marquise that is so skinny it looks like a pencil, or one that's so fat it looks like a apple. Pleasing proportions aside, the length-to-width ratio also affects a phenomenon known as the bow-tie. It's important to consider total depth and length-to-width ratio. Fancy shapes are not symmetrical —  only a round is. And because fancy stones aren't symmetrical, they all have a bow-tie — two triangular shadows in the middle of the diamond where light leaks out the bottom. If the length-to-width ratio is off, it will intensify the bow-tie in the stone! For a marquise diamond, the length should be no less than 1.75 times the width, and no more than 2 times the width. For pear shapes, the length should be no less than 1.5 times the width, and no more than 1.75 times the width. For emerald and oval shapes, the length should be no less than approximately 1.3 times the width, and no more than 1.75 times the width. GIA has made it easier to determine if a diamond is well-proportioned by dividing all cut diamonds into four classes. Essentially, Class One and Class Two diamonds are well-proportioned; Class Three and Class Four diamonds are not. Class One diamonds are investment-quality stones, beautifully proportioned and priced to match. If your objective is to buy a beautiful diamond to wear, Class Two is fine. A poorly proportioned diamond is worth as much as 40% less than a well proportioned stone. One reason for the difference in worth is that it takes a 3-carat rough, which is a diamond as it's found in nature, to produce a well proportioned 1-carat cut stone. But it only takes a 2-carat rough to produce a poorly proportioned 1-carat stone. A poorly proportioned diamond will not sparkle nearly as much as a well proportioned diamond. If a diamond is poorly proportioned, only 35-40% of the light that enters it will reflect back up into your True Love's eyes, while a well proportioned diamond will reflect close to 90% of the light. A woman wants a diamond to be "big, clean, white and sparkly," and it won't sparkle unless it's well proportioned.

MELEE: Small diamonds, usually used to describe diamonds under 1/4ct in size.

OFF-MAKES: Generally speaking, a poorly proportioned diamond that is either cut too shallow, too deep or warped. All Class 3 and Class 4 cut diamonds are considered off-makes.

OLD EUROPEAN: A round diamond popularly cut in the early 1900’s for the public from European cutting houses. These diamonds had the same characteristics as an Old Miners (small table, high crown, open culet) with the exception that they were not squarish round but round in diameter.

OLD MINERS: A squarish round diamond typically 75 years or older whose facet arrangement is highlighted by a small table, high crown and open culet. Old Miners are also referred to as heavy makes.

ORPHAN: A diamond that is being sold at an auction and has no current owner that is wearing it. Orphan can also be used to describe a diamond that does have an owner but the owner no longer wears it. Example: Mary owns a beautiful 2ct orphaned diamond. She should rescue it from her safety deposit box.

PADDED: See spreads and chubbies. The cutter kept extra weight on the stone that does not optimize the optics of the diamond. Only goal is to increase revenue.

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.

P.B.’s: “Partially Bonded.” A diamond with some warranties.

PEGASUS, MONARCH, or BELLATAIRE: Brand names for annealed (heated, baked) diamonds introduced into the market by General Electric and Lazare Kaplan in 1998.

PICK POCKETING: A salesman has been said to be "pick pocketing" a customer when he uses the two month salary guideline in order to get as much money from a client in order to make a larger sale.

PLOT: The mapping of inclusions and blemishes on a paper diagram of the facet arrangement of any given diamond for identification purposes. Similar to a fingerprint.

POINT: One-hundredth of a carat. A diamond weighing one-and-a-half carats weighs 150 points.

RIVER ROCK: A diamond that is so heavily included (I2 and I3’s) that they deserve to be thrown in the river. River rock is synonymous with a bad diamond of little or no value.

ROVALS: A poorly proportioned oval diamond that has a length to width ratio under 1.2 to 1 causing the diamond to look not quite round and not quite oval. Hence “Roval.”

SANDBAGGER: An appraiser who misgrades an appraisal to sabotage a sale in order to recommend that the client purchase somewhere else.

SINGLE CUTS: Round diamonds that have less than 16 facets.

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.

65/65 RULE: A rectangular diamond whose table and total depth percentage does not exceed 65% of the diamonds width.

SPARKLE: The liveliness of the light reflecting from a diamond; the sum of the brilliance and the fire (dispersion).

SPREADS: A diamond that is purposely cut wide to give the impression that the diamond is larger than its corresponding weight when viewed from the top. All spreads are also shallow with less than 38% light return.

TABLE: The size of the table, as a percentage of the crown, is important because it determines the amount of brilliance, or white light, the diamond will reflect. For example, if the table is 60% of the diameter of the crown, 60% of the light you see will be brilliance and 40% will be fire, or dispersion. Avoid a diamond with a table area of 65% or higher. It will give the diamond too much brilliance, and not enough fire--and the diamond will look fuzzy or foggy. (The only exception to this rule is emerald and rectangular cut diamonds that can have a 65% table. This includes all princess cuts, quadrillions and radiants.) HERE'S THE FORMULA: Table area 53-60% = GREAT! Table area 61-64% = GOOD! Table area 65%+ = except emerald and rectangular cuts.

TIFFANY: A simple, elegant 2-3mm ring setting with a head that holds a single diamond.

TOTAL DEPTH: is a simple, straightforward measurement: take the height of the stone and divide it by the diameter of the stone. For a fancy stone, the diameter is measured at its widest part. The answer should be in the 56%-61% range. If it's not, it means there's something wrong with the crown angle and/or the pavilion angle, or the girdle thickness. (The only exception to this rule is emerald or rectangular cut diamonds that can have a total depth of 65%.)

WARPED: A diamond whose crown height percentage + maximum girdle thickness percentage + pavilion depth percentage doesn’t equal the total depth percentage within .5%.