Gemstone Glossary - Terms and Definitions

CARAT (CT) Unit used to measure the weight of gems; one carat equals one fifth of a gram. CLEARSHOT Treated with clear resins. COLORSHOT/STABILIZED Treated with colored resins. COMPRESSED A treatment employing pressure. ELJEN PROCESS Treatment utilizing genuine turquoise to produce a harder stone, without stabilizing, enhancing, or reconstructing. It is considered the closest treatment to natural. ENHANCED Stone that has been electrochemically treated. No resins or dyes are used. IMITATION Any compound or mineral which is manufactured or treated so as to resemble a natural gemstone in appearance. Usually this term is not associated with labgrown and synthetic materials. Cubic zirconia can be classified as imitation diamond. LAB GROWN Like “synthetic”, describes artificially made substances that have all the physical properties and chemical composition of their natural counterparts. MOHS’ SCALE A standard scale used to measure the hardness of a stone. It runs from 1-10 , based on how easily a stone can be scratched. NATURAL Material which has not been chemically or otherwise altered. It usually excludes any backing materials. ORGANIC GEM Any gem originally formed from living animal or plant matter. STABILIZATION Resins are used to harden the stone and darken its color. Clearshot and Colorshot Turquoise are stabilized. SYNTHETIC A much-abused term. Synthetics are artificially made substances which have all the physical properties and the chemical composition of natural substances. Value is high. TREATED Vague term. Stones are treated to change coloration and hardness. Black Onyx and Carnelian are examples of treated stones, as are enhanced and stabilized Turquoise. Treated Turquoise is not usually identified by its place of origin.