Brilliance: Light reflected through the crown. Cut is foremost, but colour and clarity are also characteristics linked to a gem’s brilliance.

Crown: The section of the stone above the girdle.

Dispersion: The internal fireworks of a diamond, dispersion is technically the breakup of white light into rainbow colours. This magical feature cannot be captured on film. It is the life of the gem.

Gem grading reports: Gem reports are a gemologist’s review of quality with graphs and letter grades evaluating the 4Cs.

Girdle: A narrow band of facets separating the crown from the pavilion.

Facet: The small planar surfaces of a cut diamond

Fancy Colour Diamonds: Coloured diamonds, such as pink and yellow

Fancy cut: An umbrella term used for all diamond shapes except the round brilliant cut.

Flawless: A diamond that shows no internal or external imperfections under a 10-power jeweler’s loupe.

Inclusion: Any internal flaw

Pavilion: The section of the stone below the girdle

Rough: An uncut diamond

Spread: An extra-large table, usually more than 60 percent of the crown

Step cuts: Long slender facets, step cuts usually appear in threes going up crowns and down pavilions like stairs

Stone papers: Sheets of special jeweler’s paper, folded into little packets to hold a diamond. The gem’s carat weight, colour and clarity grade are generally written on the outside.

Table: The largest facet on top of the stone, parallel to the girdle