++As I was trained in grading and describing colored stones by GIA, many of these definitions are similar to or identical with theirs - some, however; are my own as are any errors herein.++

Clarity terms:

Flawless at 10x: using a 10 power magnifier and good light, no inclusions, surface imperfections or color banding can be seen.

Internally flawless: using a 10 power magnifier and good light, no inclusions can be seen, but there may be polish marks or tiny abrasions on the surface. "Almost "or "nearly" used with either of the above means that only the tiniest imperfections can be seen.

Darkfield illumination: a way of lighting a gem so that normally hard to see inclusions stand out sharply in relief. I use this lighting in conjunction with the 10x loupe in grading the stones.

Eyeclean: The stone has no visible inclusions, surface imperfections or color banding as viewed face-up, about 12-16 inches away in normal, good lighting. This is how the average person would view a stone in jewelry or a collection . For many, this is the most desirable clarity state as the stone looks great, but when viewed under magnification shows internal characteristics which can prove its naturalness or even identify its source. Since everyone's visual acuity is different there's a possibility that what I label as eyeclean might look better or worse to you. An eyeclean stone as described above might have visible inclusions if scrutinized under very bright light, held close to the eyes or turned on its side or back where reflections do less to hide inclusions. "Better than" or "almost" will be found as modifiers to the term eyeclean to indicate stones which fall just outside this designation. In some gem pictures which were taken with a magnifying closeup lens, inclusions may be visible in the photo even though the stone is graded eyeclean.

Very Slightly to Slightly Included: Stones with this designation have eye-visible inclusions which do not markedly affect either the stability or beauty of the stone. A few varieties such as emerald and rubellite almost never exceed this grade.

Moderately Included: The inclusions are grossly visible and affect the beauty and/or stability of the stone. Usually these stones are acceptable only if the material is very rare or the price is very low.

Included: Pretty much like driveway gravel. None are offered on this site.

Color Terms:

**(colors usually are relative to the range for that variety: a medium aqua would be lighter in tone than a medium rhodolite, for example)**

AAA: the best color that a stone could have for its variety. In the GIA scheme: 10/10.

AA: just one shade lighter or darker or one hue off the AAA color. 8-9/10.

Very dark: the stone looks black under most lighting conditions, only in strong sunlight or when lighted from the side or below is color seen.

Dark: the darkest shade of color without looking black under normal lighting.

Medium dark/medium: these are the tone values which, for most stones, are most desirable.

Medium light: not as dark as medium, but with good noticeable color

Light/pastel: noticeable color

Pale: only the faintest hint of color, often only noticeable against a white background

Intense/vivid/electric/neon, etc. Terms meant to indicate a richness of color that is outstanding

Saturated: This term means a color is pure, rather than being modified by grayish or brownish tones. It is NOT a synonym for deep or dark. A stone can be deep, but not saturated and saturated without being dark.

Cut terms:

Native cut: Usually this means a stone has been cut at the country of origin by lapidaries working on native style equipment. Generally the stones are windowed (to save weight) and often have little crown and very large bellies (which deepens color). Often facet meets and polishes are imperfect. Styles are usually ovals or cushions. On this site "native cut" will mean a stone with these characteristics, regardless of where it was cut or with what style of equipment.

Custom cut: This means that a stone was cut using optimal pavilion angles to maximize brilliance. It shows excellent symmetry, a well proportioned crown, good facet meets, a fine polish and no window. Occasionally a custom cut stone is deliberately windowed to show inclusions (rutilated quartz) or to emphazise color separation (ametrine) or to lighten a dark stone (almandite/iolite) In these cases, however, something other than maximum brilliance was being sought. Sometimes stones from "native" sources meet or come very close to custom specifications, in which case they have not been designated as native cut. All gems, on this site unless otherwise labelled are custom cut.

Well proportioned: a stone is well proportioned if its crown is 1/3 - 1/4 of total depth, and if its table falls between 40 and 70% of the total width.

Window: A window is an area under the table of a stone that does not reflect light. It's called a window because light goes through it like window glass. It is almost always undesirable and occurs when pavilion facets are cut below the critical angle for a gem material. To test for a window, hold a gem, face up, with the table parallel to a sheet of newspaper and look through it. If you can read the print, the stone has a window. Most native cut stones have large windows as using low pavilion angles allows a larger stone from a given piece of rough.