If you are in the market to purchase a piece of diamond jewelry or loose diamond, you will certainly come face to face with some jewelry jargon that you may or may not quite understand. Today, I wanted to share some common jewelry terms that you should know as you continue your search for either a loose diamond or for a piece of jewelry. As a deBebians GIA graduate gemologist, I am happy to assist you further if you need clarification on any of the following jewelry terms or any other term that you may not be familiar with.

1. Eye clean: This means that although the diamond has inclusions, you will not be able to see them with your naked eye. You will need a 10x loupe or microscope in order to see the inclusions.
2. Out of round: This is referring to a round diamond or gemstone that no longer has a perfect circular perimeter. Perhaps there is a chip in the diamond/gemstone and therefore what was once a perfect circle, is no longer.
3. Loupe clean: This means that even with a loupe, it’s almost impossible to see any inclusions in a diamond. This would most likely be for a VVS diamond or higher clarity.
4. Face up: This refers to the positioning of the diamond. It refers to looking at a diamond from the top down. Imagine the diamond standing up like an ice cream cone with the point down. You would be looking through the scoop of ice cream!
5. Canary: This refers to all yellow diamonds past Z color (fancy color). This includes fancy light yellow through fancy deep. Canary is basically just referring to yellow, but not the intensity of the yellow color.
6. Spread: This refers to the overall length and width of a diamond or gemstone. You must remember that carat weight is just the weight so be sure to look at the overall measurements to find a stone that measures well. Spread is often used with the term ‘face up’ as you judge the spread (overall size) of the diamond or gemstone.

As a gemologist, I tend to use these terms quite often. I find that some customers are familiar with these terms while others are not. This is a short, handy list for your reference.