Bail - a loop of sheet metal (gold, platinum or silver) or heavy wire attached to a pendant, used as a hanging mechanism to connect the pendant to a necklace or chain.
Ballerina Setting - a gemstone setting in which a central gemstone is surrounded by a combination of straight and tapered baguette diamonds or colored gemstones set side-by-side and radiating outward. Although baguette cut diamonds are very common in this type of setting, almost any shape gemstone can be used and when they are, they are usually pave' set.
Baroque Pearl - both natural and cultured, which have an irregular shape.
Bead Setting - a method of securing a faceted gemstone. A small burr of metal is raised with a graver (jeweler's tool) and worked to the edge of the gemstone. This burr is then burnished (polished) with a concave tipped punch into a small ball over the girdle of the gemstone.
Bezel - a thin strip of metal (gold, platinum or silver) which forms a rim around a gemstone to hold it in place. Bezel settings can be formed completely around the entire gemstone or partially around the gemstone with two or more bezels with gaps between them.
Biwa Pearl - non-nucleated fresh-water cultured pearls (often oval or baroque in shape) from Lake Biwa, Japan.
Body Color - the dominant hue within a gemstone.
Box Setting - a method of setting a gemstone in which the gem is enclosed in a box and the edges of the metal are pressed down to secure the gemstone.
Bright Cut - the cutting of flat reflective facets into the surface of metal. An example of this would be a diamond cut rope chain.
Burnishing - the polishing of a surface by rubbing with a hard polished tool.