Before you even begin to consider buying jewellery or gemstones there is one most important thing to remember: in order to make a satisfactory transaction you must be able to negotiate on equal terms. Though at the early stages the conversation is merely a pretext to detemine the competence of the parties involved. Some jewellers are masters in the art of intimidation. As soon as the unsuspecting customer, who has simply come for advice, sets foot inside the shop, he is bombarded wih a volley of questions astutely designed to heighten his feeling of discomfort. Having temporarily silenced his customer, the salesman, a winning smile on his face, begins his manoeuvre. Out of the display cases come an endless stream of dazzling jewels which leave the 'victim' gasping for breath. This is the moment our salesman has been waiting for the strike the final blow, and in reality it is he who chooses for the customer, from whatever merchandise he wants.

But when the salesman himself becomes a buyer, what a change we see! Now the aim of our subtle-minded friend is to quickly gain the upper hand, to the extent that the poor supplier, his inferiority complex growing wiht every minute that passes, has but two alternatives: withdraw defeated or sell at some absurdly low price. Luckily for us, salesmen such as the one I have described are becoming few and far between now a days, for the simple reason that licences are no longer granted to the non-professional. My advice, nonetheless, is to learn the terms of this profession. Do not hesitate to use them whenver necessary, if only to impress upon your "opponent" that you are not quite as naive as he would like to believe. If he is honest, he will respect your knowledge; if he is not, he will at least think twice about tricking you.

Adamantine Referred to diamond: pure, brilliant of impregnable hardness.

Amorphous An uncrystallized substance.

From the Latin adamas, meaning invincible, is derived the term "adamantine" used to describe the brilliance, purity and hardness of a diamond. The diamond in the photo is of a pear-drop shape.

Asterism An optical phenomenon characteristic of starstones when cut en cabochon, producing a six-rayed star shape within the stone.

Baguette A 25-facet rectangular cut with sharp corners.

Bead A stone cut in the shape of a small sphere.

Beryl A mineral species including emerald and aquamarine.

Brilliance The intense, sparkling brightness of a gemstone.

Brilliant A fine, roun-cut diamond. You never have a rectangular or drop-shaped brilliant.

Cabochon Cut "en cabochon" means smoothly cut, without facets, into a domed shape.

Carat A measure of weight used for gemstones equivalent to 1/5 gram. The carat is divided into one hundred points. For instance, a ¼ carat stone would weight 25 points, or 25 hundredths of a carat, or 0.25 carats.

Carat/Karat This has nothing to do with the previous definition. In this connotation it denotes the quality of gold, or the amount of gold in an alloy. A carat is one 24th part of a whole, therefore: 24 carat gold = 24/23ths = 100% pure gold. 18 carat gold = 18/24ths = 75% pure gold. 14 carat gold = 14/24ths = 58.5% gold.

Casing The metal setting that holds a gemstone in place.

A white and yellow gold clasp set with brilliant diamonds. By Deambrogio of Valenza, it is designed with three different types of setting: pave, invisible, rub-over.

Ceylon Gemmologists continue to use this name in reference to gemstones coming fromthe Rebulic of Sri Lanka.

Choker A necklace of pearls of the same size.

Clasp A fastening for jewellery, of especially fine works.

Claws The part of the casing that secures the stone in place.

Cleaving The term given to the division of a stone such as diamond into segments suitable for shaping into the final jewel. It is essential to determine the natural cleavage planes, for if these are not followed the whole stone may shatter into fragments.

Colour In gemmology, colour is of prime importance. With diamonds we do not actually talks of colours, but nuances invisible to the naked eye. With coloured gemstones the meaning of the term is even more subtle, for in many cases it indicates the provenance of the stone.

Corundum The mineral form of alumina. It includes the precious gemstones ruby, sapphire and yellow sapphire.

Crown The upper part of a faceted stone. The large flat facet on the top of the stone is known as the table.

Cutting The cutting, faceting and polishing of a rough stone. This is the work of the lapidary.

Diamond:

White-white A diamond of no other nuance than white;
Blue-white A diamond of a very slight blue tint which together with the pink, mauve, and red tinted gems is among the rarest; Commercial white, lightly tinted with yellow or brown; Cognac, softly tinted with a shade varying from light to dark cinnamon brown; Yellow, the paler shades are known as straw or champagne, the darker as canary or jonquil.

Emerald cut The most popular cut for an emerald. It is rectangular with bevelled corners. A diamond cut in this shape is called an "emerald cut diamond".

Fire The brilliance and luminosity of a gemstone.

Flat setting A setting of gemstones close together like the stones of a pavement so that no metal can be seen.

Garden A term used in connection with emerald with emeralds which refers to the inclusions and fissures almost always present in this mineral, and which is vaguely reminiscent of vegetation.

Gem A precious or semi-precious stone.

Geode A nodular stone containing a cavity usually lined with crystals or mineral matter.

Girdle The periphery at the widest part of a cut stone. The girdle of a faceted stone separates the crown from the pavilion, while the widest part of a cabochon cut stone is at the base.

Inclusion A gaseous or liquid substance or small body contained in a crystal or mineral mass.

Kashmir The name given to the finest coloured sapphiare. It can also mean sapphire mine.

Loss Difference in the weight of a metal before and after it has been worked.

Lot A selection of stones grouped together according to similarities in color, purity, cut or other general characteristics.

Marquise A pointed oval cut with 58 facets.

Matrix The rock-mass surrounding a precious mineral. Also called gangue.

Melting down Melting down gold objects in order to recover the precious metal for re- utilisation.

Mounting A jewel in the work phase preceding its setting.

Orient The peculiar lustre of a top quality pearl.

Parure A set of jewels intended to be worn together.

Pavilion The lower part of a faceted gemstone. The tiny facet at the undermost tip of the stone is called a culet.

Pear drop A pear-shaped jewel used as a pendant.

Pectoral In ancient times, a gem-encrusted piece of cloth extending over the chest area. Today, this term describes a wide necklace that covers the body between breast and neck.

Pigenon blood

Red The finest colour of ruby.

Phenomenal

stones Stones so-called because they have particular optical effects, for instance cat's -eye or starstones.

Pique The name given to the black and white inclusions in a transparent gemstone, especially diamond. They are visible to the naked eye.

Purity The degree of purity or clarity of gemstone is determined by close examination with a jeweller's loupe or magnifier. Number, size and nature of inclusions within the stone are thus established. A gem is considered "loupe clean" if no inclusions are present.

Ray The silky lustre of a cat's eye or tiger's eye which, when the stone is held to the light, resembles the contracted pupil of a cat's eye.

Refined gold Pure gold. Eighteen carat gold is a gold alloy.

Rubover setting Covering the periphery of a stone.

Schiller A peculiar lustre characteristic of certain minerals when the crystal is turned in different directions.

Siam The name by which gemmologists still refer to Thailand.

Silk A series of gaseous or crystalline inclusions found in corundum (ruby and sapphire) and forming a kind of veil that sometimes prevents the light from reflecting. One the smooth surface of a cabochon cut stone, such as starstones, these silks create an optical effect.

Solitaire A precious stone, often a diamond, set by itself.

Square cut A square cut gem with sharp corners.

Stone Coloured stone, a precious gemstone, except diamond; Ornamental stone, a stone used for making ornamental objects. It may also be used for fancy coloured jewellery; Precious stone (there are only four): diamond, ruby, emerald and sapphire. All the others are semi-precious stones; Rough stone, a stone in its natural state before cutting: semi -precious stone, any natural gemstone, apart from the four precious stone: Synthetic stone, man-made stones having the same physical properties as the natural stone. They can be distinguished by the types of inclusions they contain.

Title The expression in carats of the degree of purity of gold, which means the precentage of pure gold contained in an alloy. For instance, 18 carat gold is 75% pure gold. All gold articles must bear the maker's hallmark stating the standard of the metal.

Translucent Semi-transparent, allowing the passage of light but diffusing it.

Vein A deposit of metallic or crystalline material having an extended or ramifying course underground.

Vermeil Gilded silver.

Water The lustre and transparency of a gem. A gem is considered of the finest or first water when it is so pure that it seems to contain a transparent liquid.

Silver is an essential part of thje goldsmith's trade. This masterpiece is entirely handmade by highly skilled craftmen from a design by Kelita Capuano of Capuano's of Via Veneto in Rome. The fountain, worthy of a palace of a Thousand and One Nights, contains 90 kg of silver and vermeil, is two metres high and took 14 months to make.