GLOSSARY OF DIAMONDS PART TWO

Making diamond claddagh rings is our specialty the following is part two in our diamond terms glossary, giving an insight into the world of diamonds.

CANARY YELLOW: - A shade of intense yellow colour rarely found in either rough or polished diamonds. The term is often misused to denote diamonds of yellowish hue.
CAPE (capital 'C'): - Cape Province, one of the four provinces of the Republiic of South ZAfrica, in which Kimberley is situated.
CAPES (small 'c'): - A broad range of diamonds of a yellow colour.
CARAT: - The unit of weight used for measuring diamonds and other gems. The metric carat universally employed today (200 milligrammes).
CARATAGE: - Either the weight of a stone or the output of a mine.
CARBONADO: - A species of exceptionally hard industrial diamonds usually black in colour. The province of Bahia in Brazil is the principal source.
CHIPS: - Small cleavages weighing less than a carat.
CLEAVAGE: - An irregularly shaped rough diamond, broken at some stage of its existence, that necessitates its being cleaved rather than sawn before it is polished.
CLEAVAGE PLANE: - The direction in which a stone may be cleaved.
CLEAVING: - A preparatory stage in the cutting of a diamond. The stone is split along the grain parallel to one of its octahedral faces either to remove impurities within or to eliminate major flaws or cracks.
COLLET OR CULET: - The pointed end of a cut diamond which is sometimes polished and thereby slightly flattened. If it has been poliished it represents the 58th facet of a brilliant-cut.
CROWN: - The part of any faceted gemstone which lies above the girdle.
CUBE: - A basic shape in which rough diamonds are found. Cubes possess six square faces that make 90o angles with one another, similar to dice; the faces may be flat, concave or convex.
CUSHION-CUT: - A polished gem with a squarish outline and rounded corners. The side view is similar to that of a brilliant-cut. This style of cutting is no longer undertaken on a commercial basis.