Diamond Terms You Should Know...

by Julie Lee of Julie's Jewelry Design, LLC.

Just like the infinite range of diamond qualities and colors, there are many different shapes and setting techniques offered by today's designers. Here is a mini-glossary of the most important ones:

Baguette - This refers to a rectangular-shaped small diamond that is often used to enhance the setting of a larger stone.

Bezel setting - A diamond is completely surrounded by a precious metal border in this setting technique that resembles a picture frame.

Channel setting - Popular for mounting rows of small, uniformly sized stones, this setting technique uses two strips of metal to hold the stones at the sides. Used for round, baguette and square-cut stones, the channel setting resembles a railroad track with the diamonds in the center.

Fancy cut - A diamond cut in any shape other than round. Fancy cuts include such shapes as baguette, emerald, triangle, pear, princess, oval and marquis.

Pavé setting - A setting technique for small diamonds in which the stones are set so closely together that no metal shows. A pavé surface appears to be paved with diamonds.

Solitaire - The mounting of a single gemstone.

Tiffany setting - A four- or six-prong setting using long, slender prongs to hold the stone.

Julie Lee is a web designer and founder of Julie's Jewelry Design, LLC.  Julie's Jewels is a Texas based retail jewelry company specializing in high quality, affordable jewelry pieces created to be treasured for a lifetime. 

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