Jewelry with a Capital J, Understanding Basic Jewellery Terms, Processes, and Techniques

From princess cut ring. It is easy to feel intimidated and out-of-place when you’re visiting a high-class Jewelry shop for the first time. To avoid making unwanted and uniformed purchases, improve your knowledge about Jewelry starting with the tips below. If you speak the same language people in the Jewellery industry speak then you’ll surely go home with the Jewelry piece you want, need, and definitely can afford.

The Meaning of Diamond
A Diamond may be a rock, mineral, or even a petrified material that’s cut and polished to be used for making Jewelry pieces. It may be even harvested like pearls or organic like amber, just as long as it has aesthetic appeal. In the old days, precious Gemstones only referred to the Big Three: emeralds, sapphires, and rubies. Everything else was labeled as semi-precious Gems. 

Categories today, however, have been thankfully changed and widened to avoid further confusion.

The Ins and Outs of Lapidary
Lapidary refers to the process of cutting and polishing Diamonds. Rough materials are left uncut and unpolished. Cobbed materials are referred to as fractured. Materials like silicon carbide and Diamond, due to their hardness, are used for cutting Gemstones in a progressive abrasion process. Compounds like aluminum and chromium oxide are, on the other hand, used for polishing Gemstones. 

Common cutting techniques include tumbling, drilling, polishing, lapping, sanding, grinding, and sawing. Cut Gems are then polished into several forms such as sculptures, intaglios, cameos, mosaics, intarsias, inlays, spheres, beads, cabochons, and faceted stones.

Sawing  The main tool used in sawing is a copper or steel blade with Gemstone grit on the edges. Water or oil is used to eliminate cutting debris and prevent the blade and stone from overheating.

Grinding  Diamond-impregnated grinding wheels made of silicon carbide are used to grind Diamonds and shape them into a pre-form. Liquid substance is also used to prevent both the stone and tool from overheating. 

Sanding  This process is similar to grinding but utilizes finer abrasives instead. It is often performed as a follow-up after grinding for removing scratches caused by the previous cutting technique. For round Diamonds, a belt sander may be used in accompaniment to ensure smoother and rounder curves. 

Lapping  A lap, which is a flat disk that’s either vibrating or rotating, is used to create flat surfaces rather than round ones. The process however is similar to sanding and grinding. 

Drilling  This technique is used if the lapidarist wishes to create a hole through or in a Gem. Drilling tools may be rotating or ultrasonic. 

Tumbling  A Gem that’s placed in a rotating barrel filled with water and abrasives is tumbled for polishing. These Gemstones are usually roughly shaped and the polishing process is gradual and performed with interval washings. Sometimes, vibratory machines are used in lieu of rotating barrels. This time, the barrels vibrate rather than rotate. Tumbling techniques are also used to polish metal Jewellery pieces.

Cabochons  Cabbing or cabochon cutting is achieved by gluing or dopping the Diamond into a metal or wooden dopstick or simply holding it in place. The cabbing machine then twirls and creates a round smooth surface top and a flat or slightly rounded bottom for the Diamond. This is usually an alternative to faceting for Diamonds that possess too many inclusions.

Faceted Stones  Gemstones that have faceted forms reflect brilliant color and clarity from all sides and at all light levels. This technique is most suitable for transparent stones. Today, new techniques like grooves and concave facets are used to create new looks for faceted Gems.

The Importance of Cut and Polish in Gemstones
Cut is one of the all-important 4C’s and which is used not only to appraise Gems but Gemstones in general as well. Gemstones are often cut with regard to their size alone. But beautifully cut Gemstones take their color into consideration as well.

If you are shopping for faceted Gemstones, one way of determining the excellence of its cut is to check if its able to reflect light on a consistent level throughout its surface. Look for symmetrical rather than asymmetrical cuts as well. Lastly, be reminded that cut is different from shape.

Polish is simply like adding the final touches to a Diamond. A well-polished Gemstone is one with evenly smooth gloss and with no visible scratches on its surface.

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The Anatomy Of Your Diamond Jewelry

From: emerald cut engagement rings. Diamond jewelry had always been regarded to be on top of the list as the world’s most-desired gem, although a few would like to dispute it. Nevertheless, the diamond mystique still works its charms on people for them to want to own a piece, or at least to know more about it. 

After centuries of fascinating stories and myths, here are the bare facts all about the world’s most wanted gem.

The bare essentials

Most people would certainly have heard about diamonds. They may have heard how precious they are as jewels. Some may have heard, too, random bits and pieces about the qualities that make them fascinating and attractive to people. 

Let us take you to a short guided tour and introduce you to the essential parts (and other aspects) of a diamond for your information. It is then up to you to discover what make them special as gems.

Table 

This is the first surface (surfaces in gems are called facets) that you will see. It is on top of the diamond, and is the largest area in the whole stone’s body.

Crown

This is the upper part of the diamond just above the girdle that includes the table and the bezel facets around. (The girdle is the outer edge of the gem stone forming the stone’s total width around it.) 

The crown slopes down to the girdle and this is called the crown angle. It passes and intersects the stone’s bezel facets. (The bezel is the metal holding the stone around the girdle.)

This crown angle helps in the dispersion of light, called fire, in a diamond. It also helps to enhance the diamond’s brilliance. 

Girdle 

As pointed out, this is the narrow band encircling the widest part of the gem. This part of the stone is sometimes faceted (tiny polished surfaces) and some are not. Some jewelers have the diamond’s certificate number inscribed in laser on the girdle.

Pavilion

This is the bottom part of the diamond, essentially the facets just below the girdle, all leading to the culet. This is where lights come in and is reflected out of the stone’s table.

Culet

This is the pointed end at the bottom of the stone which may be faceted (a tiny polished surface at the endpoint) to protect from chipping. 

In the early days, large faceted culets were common in diamonds, especially the Old European or Old Mine cuts. Modern diamonds have very small culets or none at all.

Other essentials 

The above are only the basic physical parts of the diamond. But there are other considerations that make it the most-coveted stone today. This is where the other aspects of the stone would make it stand out and differ from the others.

Depth

This is the stone’s measurement from the culet to the table. The stone’s depth is responsible for the correct angling and height for light to enter and be reflected back to the viewer in a most fascinating manner.

These flashes of reflected light are commonly referred to as sparkle.  The intensity of this reflected bunch of light beams to the top of the gem is called brilliance. When a diamond moves, there are flashes of color reflected from within, and it is called fire. 

Symmetry

This is another important gauge in a gem stone’s desirability because this is an indicator of the stone’s quality. Misalignments (facet angles, polish, lengths, etc) can diminish some of the diamond jewelry’s other near-perfect qualities.

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Online Shopping: What To Keep In Mind When Buying Diamond Jewelry

From: unique diamond solitaire engagement rings. Gem Stone jewelries, although expensive, are becoming popular gifts not only for engagements, but also for anniversaries, birthday and other joyous occasions. diamond jewelry shopping could be a bit overwhelming, since there are national chains and local jewellers which could provide what you want.  Another place to search and purchase diamond jewelries is on the internet.  

More people are choosing online shops rather than personally buying the jewelry from the shops.  Mainly, it is because the price tends to be more affordable when buying things online.  Aside from the difference in the cost, there are also more choices in online shops.  It would also give you enough time to make a guided decision and learn more about diamonds.   It would even make jewelry hunting easier, since you can do this while at home or in the office.  

If you have chosen to purchase online, there are guidelines that should be considered to make sure that you will be getting your money’s worth.  

– When buying jewelries online, always look for shops that would display their business registration number.  They would also be displaying company contact information.  You could start by checking if these online shops are credible enough by calling the company offices.   You could also check online stores by sending them e-mails.  Immediate reply to your call or e-mail would show how much the company value its customers. 

– Always check the money-back guarantee. There are online stores that would offer gem and other kinds of jewelries in low prices, only to find out that they have no-return policies in the fine print.  

– Once the online purchase is finished, it is available to take the jewellery to a trustworthy jeweller for inspection.  If your jeweller decides to use a loupe or a scope to examine it, make sure that your jeweller would be done with the inspection before the return-policy expires.  This would help you get an idea if your purchase would be worth its price,  if not, then you could return it. 

– Don’t immediately buy the diamond jewellery that would catch your eye.  Continue with searching for similar diamond jewelry that could cost you lower. 

– When purchasing the diamond, always ask for the diamond certification or grading report.  This would ensure that your jewelry was properly inspected and documented.  

– When buying gem jewellery online, using your credit card for purchase would be a good idea.  There are some credit card companies who would prevent or intervene if the product purchased or site is fraudulent.  Check with your bank if they would be able to do this for you in case you would run into a problem.

Online shops and stores could be convenient but safety and precaution should be followed when purchasing on the internet.  Regardless of any kind of product you will be buying, research is very crucial. 

There are also organizations which you could approach to learn more about a particular business or assistance regarding a problem with a purchase.  There are also local programs which could help in resolving disputes about jewelry, even gem stone jewelry disputes.

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