Diamond Jargon Glossary

Diamond shopping comes with its own vocabulary, and a confident buyer is one who knows the words. This is a plain-English glossary of the terms you will meet on certificates and product pages, in alphabetical order. Keep it open while you browse.

A to C

• 4Cs: the four qualities that grade every diamond, Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat.
• Blemish: a surface imperfection such as a scratch or nick, as opposed to an internal inclusion.
• Brilliance: the white light reflected back from inside a diamond, the core of its brightness.
• BIS hallmark: the Bureau of Indian Standards mark that certifies the purity of gold, stamped on every Varniya piece.
• Carat vs karat: carat is the weight of a diamond (0.20 grams), while karat (KT) is the purity of gold, as in 14KT or 18KT.
• Certificate: an independent lab report grading a diamond's 4Cs, such as an IGI, GIA or SGL report.
• Crown: the upper part of a cut diamond, above the widest point.
• Culet: the tiny facet or point at the very bottom of the diamond.
• CVD: Chemical Vapour Deposition, one of the two methods used to grow lab diamonds.

D to G

• Eye-clean: a diamond whose inclusions cannot be seen by the naked eye, which VS1 and above reliably are.
• Facet: one of the flat, polished surfaces cut into a diamond. A round brilliant has 57 to 58.
• Fire: the flashes of rainbow colour a diamond throws as it splits light.
• Fluorescence: a soft glow, usually blue, that some diamonds give off under UV light.
• Girdle: the thin band around the widest edge of the diamond, where the laser inscription usually sits.
• GIA: the Gemological Institute of America, a strict, globally respected grading lab.

H to P

• HPHT: High Pressure High Temperature, the other main method of growing lab diamonds.
• IGI: the International Gemological Institute, the leading lab for lab-grown diamonds in India.
• Ideal cut: the top cut grade, returning maximum light. IGI calls it Ideal, GIA calls it Excellent.
• Inclusion: a natural internal characteristic, such as a tiny crystal, used to grade clarity.
• Pavilion: the lower part of the diamond, below the girdle, which acts like a cone of mirrors.
• Plot map: the diagram on a certificate that maps where a diamond's inclusions sit.

S to T

• Scintillation: the sparkle and play of light as a diamond, or the viewer, moves.
• SGL: Solitaire Gemological Labs, which certifies Varniya's finished jewellery.
• Solitaire: a ring set with a single diamond and no side stones.
• Table: the large flat facet on the very top of the diamond, its biggest window for light.

How Varniya uses these terms

Every Varniya diamond is graded on the 4Cs to a no-compromise standard: Ideal or Excellent cut, DEF colourless colour, VS1-and-above clarity that is always eye-clean, certified by IGI on solitaires above 0.50 carat, with SGL on finished jewellery and a BIS hallmark on the gold.

FAQs

What is the difference between carat and karat? Carat measures a diamond's weight, where one carat is 0.20 grams. Karat measures the purity of gold, so 18KT gold is 75% pure and 14KT is about 58.5% pure.

What does eye-clean mean? It means any inclusions are invisible to the naked eye at normal viewing distance. Every clarity grade Varniya stocks, VS1 and above, is eye-clean.

Next: Diamond Fluorescence. Back to Diamond Buying Guide.