Buying jewelry can be fun, exciting and confusing. Whetheryou're considering a gift of jewelry for someone special or as a treat foryourself, take some time to learn the terms used in the industry. Here's someinformation to help you get the best quality jewelry for your money, whetheryou're shopping in a traditional brick and mortar store by catalog or online.

Gold

The word gold,used by itself, means allgold or 24 karat (24K) gold. Because 24K gold is soft, it'susually mixed with other metals to increase its hardness and durability. If apiece of jewelry is not 24 karat gold, the karat quality should accompany anyclaim that the item is gold.

The karat qualitymarking tells you what proportion of gold is mixed with the other metals.Fourteen karat (14K) jewelry contains 14 parts of gold, mixed in throughout with 10 parts of basemetal. The higher the karat rating, the higher the proportion of gold in thepiece of jewelry.

Most jewelry ismarked with its karat quality, although marking is not required by law. Solid gold refersto an item made of any karat gold, if the inside of the item is not hollow. Theproportion of gold in the piece of jewelry still is determined by the karatmark.

Jewelry can beplated with gold in a variety of ways. Gold plate refers to items that are eithermechanically plated, electroplated, or plated by any other means with gold to abase metal. Eventually, gold plating wears away, but how soon will depend onhow often the item is worn and how thick the plating is.

Gold-filled, gold overlay and rolled gold plate are termsused to describe jewelry that has a layer of at least 10 karat goldmechanically bonded to a base metal. If the jewelry is marked with one of theseterms, the term or abbreviation should follow the karat quality of the goldused (for example, 14KGold Overlay or 12K RGP). If the layer of karat gold isless than 1/20th of the total weight of the item, any marking must state theactual percentage of karat gold, such as 1/40 14K Gold Overlay.

Gold electroplate describes jewelry that has a layer(at least .175 microns thick) of a minimum of 10 karat gold deposited on a basemetal by an electrolytic process. The terms gold flashed or gold washeddescribe products that have an extremely thin electroplating of gold (less than.175 microns thick). This will wear away more quickly than gold plate,gold-filled or gold electroplate.

Gemstones

Natural gemstones are found in nature. Laboratory-created stones, as the name implies, aremade in a laboratory. These stones, which also are referred to aslaboratory-grown, [name of manufacturer]-created, or synthetic, haveessentially the same chemical, physical and visual properties as naturalgemstones. Laboratory- created stones do not have the rarity of naturallycolored stones and they are less expensive than naturally mined stones. Bycontrast, imitation stones look like natural stones inappearance only, and may be glass, plastic, or less costly stones. Laboratory-created and imitation stones should be clearly identified as such.

Gemstones may be measured by weight, size, or both. Thebasic unit for weighing gemstones is the carat, which is equal to one-fifth(1/5th) of a gram. Carats are divided into 100 units, called points. For example, a half-carat gemstone would weigh .50 carats or 50 points. When gemstones are measured by dimensions, the size isexpressed in millimeters (for example, 7x5 millimeters).

Gemstone treatments or enhancements refer to theway some gems are treated to improve their appearance or durability, or evenchange their color. Many gemstones are treated in some way. The effects of sometreatments may lessen or change over time and some treated stones may requirespecial care. Some enhancements also affect the value of a stone, when measuredagainst a comparable untreated stone.

Jewelers should tell you whether the gemstone you'reconsidering has been treated when: the treatment is not permanent; the treatedstone requires special care; or the treatment significantly affects the valueof the gemstone.

Some common treatments that you may be told about andtheir effects include:

1. Heating can lighten, darken or change the color of some gems, or improve a gemstone's clarity.
2. Irradiation can add more color to colored diamonds, certain other gemstones and pearls.
3. Impregnating some gems with colorless oils, wax or resins makes a variety of imperfections less visible and can improve the gemstones' clarity and appearance.
4. Fracture filling hides cracks or fractures in gems by injecting colorless plastic or glass into the cracks and improves the gemstones' appearance and durability.
5. Diffusion treatment adds color to the surface of colorless gems; the center of the stone remains colorless.
6. Dyeing adds color and improves color uniformity in some gemstones and pearls.
7. Bleaching lightens and whitens some gems, including jade and pearls.

Diamonds

A diamond's value is based on four criteria: color, cut, clarity, and carat. The clarity and color of a diamond usually are graded. However, scales are not uniform: a clarity grade of "slightly included" may represent a different grade on one grading system versus another, depending on the terms used in the scale. Make sure you know how a particular scale and grade represent the color or clarity of the diamond you're considering. A diamond can be described as "flawless" only if it has no visible surface or internal imperfections when viewed under 10-power magnification by a skilled diamond grader.

As with other gems, diamond weight usually is stated in carats. Diamond weight may be described in decimal or fractional parts of a carat. If the weight is given in decimal parts of a carat, the figure should be accurate to the last decimal place. For example, ".30 carat" could represent a diamond that weighs between .295 - .304 carat. Some retailers describe diamond weight in fractions and use the fraction to represent a range of weights. For example, a diamond described as 1/2 carat could weigh between .47 - .54 carat. If diamond weight is stated as fractional parts of a carat, the retailer should disclose two things: that the weight is not exact, and the reasonable range of weight for each fraction or the weight tolerance being used.

Some diamonds may be treated to improve their appearance in similar ways as other gemstones. Since these treatments improve the clarity of the diamond, some jewelers refer to them as clarity enhancement. One type of treatment - fracture filling - conceals cracks in diamonds by filling them with a foreign substance. This filling may not be permanent and jewelers should tell you if the diamond you're considering has been fracture-filled.

Another treatment - lasering - involves the use of a laser beam to improve the appearance of diamonds that have black inclusions or spots. A laser beam is aimed at the inclusion. Acid is then forced through a tiny tunnel made by the laser beam to remove the inclusion. Lasering is permanent and a laser-drilled stone does not require special care.

While a laser-drilled diamond may appear as beautiful as a comparable untreated stone, it may not be as valuable. That's because an untreated stone of the same quality is rarer and therefore more valuable. Jewelers should tell you whether the diamond you're considering has been laser-drilled.

Imitation diamonds, such as cubic zirconia, resemble diamonds in appearance but are much less costly. Certain laboratory-created gemstones, such as lab-created moissanite, also resemble diamonds and may not be adequately detected by the instruments originally used to identify cubic zirconia. Ask your jeweler if he has the current testing equipment to distinguish between diamonds and other lab-created stones.

Tony’s background lies in sales & marketing and he has worked with both suppliers and end users worldwide for over 17 years in various industries, including electronics, contract manufacturing and subsequently polished diamonds and diamond jewellery.