Naat, Naats | Dutch or Afrikaner word for knot, usually caused by twinning or change in crystal growth direction. difficult to cut and polish because of grain direction changes.
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Naif, Naife, Naives | Said of a gemstone having a true or natural luster when uncut; e.g., of the natural, unpolished faces of a diamond crystal. Usually referring to a "natural" on a girdle.
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Nailhead, Nail Head | A diamond with a dark-looking table, usually due to the pavilion angle being too high, partially by the viewer blocking light when viewed in sub-optimal lighting.
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Namibia | Diamonds discovered in 1908. The fifth largest source of diamonds, mainly alluvial, recovered from coastal areas.
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Nanotechnology | Carbon including its diamond isomer is an important material in nanotechology because of its many unusual and extreme properties.
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Natural, Naturals | A natural diamond is one which was formed in the earth rather than synthetically. A natural is a surface mark or feature on a polished diamond which was present on the rough, and has not been polished away, often on the girdle, and may appear as a small matt, rough or glassy area.
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Needle | A thin, sharp looking inclusion in a diamond.
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Nick | A notch made on a rough diamond where it needs to be cleaved. A notch on a polished diamond, usually near the girdle.
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Nickel | Used as a solvent and catalyst in production of synthetic diamonds.
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Nitrogen | Present in small quantities in type 1 diamonds, the cause of yellow colouration.
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North Light | Diamonds have traditionally been sorted in north light, often before midday, as this is considered to be a consistent colour, although special standardised diamond sorting lighting is now available and in common use.
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Nova Diamond | In 1999, NovaDiamond of Utah announced its HPHT process to turn type 1 brown diamonds to yellow or vivid yellow-green.
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There are currently over 600 entries in this table.
Over 90 of them have page links to a page on this site. Eventually, we intend to add a more complete description for most entries, each on its own page.
Please watch this space!