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It all started with a small saying by actress Mia Farrow, who told ABC News in the U.S. that top model Naomi Campbell got a “blood diamond” from deposed Liberian President Charles Taylor.
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If you are looking for diamond jewelry, there is no shortage of exquisite designs. Whether you want a simple ring for everyday use, or an expensive brooch for that special occasion, there is a diamond to suit your needs. Diamond jewelry and accessories are available in a plethora of attractive styles and colors. Their rarity, beauty and durability make them a popular choice among both sexes.
The diamond has an intriguing history. In India, some 3000 years ago, it was first appreciated for its ability to refract light. Later, people used them for adornment and also as a charm to ward off evil. For a period during the Dark Ages, the diamond was used to treat illnesses and injuries. Some believed that if you held a diamond in one hand and made a sign of the cross with the other, that you would be healed. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that people became more aware of the diamond’s value rather than its alleged “mystical” powers.
In today’s society, the diamond satisfies the various needs of both traditional and modern individuals. However, when it comes to choosing a piece of diamond jewelry, it is important to know a few factors. For instance, the price will vary in accordance with the essential “4 C’s,”. This is how a diamond’s cost is determined. Cut, clarity, color and carat weight are the quality elements that determine its value. So what do these elements mean?
1. Cut – This refers to the proportions, finish, symmetry and polish of the diamond. The highest quality diamonds are well cut and will sell for a premium price, while a badly cut stone will be sold for a discount. How can one tell if a diamond is well cut? Nowadays, it’s very simple. Modern technology can determine the cut of a diamond by use of an advanced, high precision system called the Dia-mension system. It offers superior accuracy for the measurement of polished and semi-polished diamonds.
2. Clarity – It describes the diamond’s purity and brilliance. Every diamond is unique. None are completely flawless, even though a rare few come close. A diamond’s clarity is determined by its number of external blemishes and internal inclusions.
3. Color – Diamonds are valued by how close they come to being colorless. The less color it has, the higher the value. Most jewelry store diamonds are either colorless or near colorless; some with bits of brown or yellow. Exceptions to this rule are the fancy-color diamonds, like pink, blue, violet, and so on. Fancy diamonds have a deep, distinct natural color, and therefore, unlike the regular colorless stones, they are valued for their color.
4. Carat Weight – Diamonds are weighed using metric carats. One carat weighs about as much as a little paper clip or 0.2 grams. In the diamond industry exact precision is crucial since even a fraction of a carat can make a huge difference in cost.
Buying that special diamond basically comes down to a compromise between the 4 Cs and what factors you consider to be the most important to you. For instance, you may decide on a larger, lower color stone or prefer a smaller, high color cut one with good clarity. Either way, once you know how diamonds are graded, it will be much easier for you to make your selection.
Jenny Lynn O’Connor, Sales Mgr.
Dazzle in Diamonds: Diamond jewelry for all occasions.
Diamonds that have not been placed in a setting are referred to as loose diamonds, and are generally sought after by investors and professional retail jewelers. Any purchase of loose diamonds should be accompanied by a certificate of appraisal and value.
The certification, which should always be based on an appraisal and analysis done by an outside, independent third-party agency, is more properly known as a diamond grading report. This report describes your loose diamonds in terms of weight in carats, clarity of the gems, color and cut. The individuals who perform this service are known as gemologists, and have received specialized training in this particular sub-field of geology. Gemology focuses on the study and analysis of precious stones and gems.
When loose diamonds are accompanied by such a report, they are known as certified. Anyone considering an investment in such diamonds, whether they are for use in diamond jewelry or as a hedge against inflation should make sure that their purchase consists of certified loose diamonds.
The job of a gemologist’s certification is not to assign a monetary value on loose diamonds; that happens in the marketplace. However, such a report is used to determine such a value. The weight in carats (a carat is roughly equivalent to .015 of an ounce, or two-tenths of a gram) is the most obvious basis of valuation; however, if the gem has a “cottony” appearance inside, this can affect the value negatively.
Certified diamonds are evaluated on what are known as the SI3 Clarity Scale and the Color Scale. The Clarity Scale was developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA); it ranges from “FL” for “flawless” to I3 for “Imperfect,” i.e., cracks and occlusions easily seen by the unaided eye.
Colored diamonds are rated on a scale that describes the gems in terms of hue and saturation. They are labeled with a letter of the alphabet from D to Z, ranging from virtually colorless to gems with a deep hue. Diamonds can be almost any color; the color variations include pink, green, blue, purple and amber, and are caused by chemical reactions during the diamonds’ formation. Such gems can be worth substantially more than “white,” or clear diamonds.
Control of the diamond market is concentrated in relatively few hands, centered around Antwerp, Belgium, where the diamond cutting industry was born over 500 years ago. These wholesalers recommend that diamonds be certified either by the GIA or the American Gem Society Laboratories.
Because of the way the analysis is done, it is impossible to perform a certification on mounted stones; loose diamonds should be certified prior to placement in a setting, ring, or watch, and the seller should provide documentation that such services have been performed.
Jonathon Blocker specializes in diamond jewelry, colored diamonds, and certified loose diamonds. He is a consultant for GemFind.com, a trusted name in the jewelry industry since 1999.
Diamond jewelry, especially engagement rings, has gone through many trends over the years. Vintage rings come and go out of popularity, and contemporary rings have their share of going up and down as well. If you’re looking for the perfect engagement ring, here are some ideas about where engagement ring trends are going.
Solitaire diamond engagement rings are still very popular. According to research, the round diamond shape on engagement rings is the most popular. Jewelry retailers predict that contemporary diamond cuts like the princess cut are going to be in high demand this season. Traditional oval and pear shaped diamonds are going to be pretty trendy too.
Another popular trend for engagement rings consists of recreating old antique designs with modern tools. Contemporary jewelry making methods can now reproduce vintage engagement ring designs with more detail.
The most popular metal used for modern engagement rings is platinum. Platinum is very durable and lustrous. You won’t have to worry about platinum fading like you would with sterling silver or certain gold settings. Yellow gold is still the classic choice, but many modern engagement rings contain both yellow gold and platinum; two-tone rings are very common these days.
If you want to give her a bright, colorful ring, it is being reported that colored diamonds such as pink, canary yellow, and blue are very popular. White diamonds will always remain classy and glamorous, though. Brown “cognac” diamonds, as well as champagne diamonds, are also great sellers.
Thankfully, many jewelers now offer you the flexibility to choose and customize the engagement ring yourself. Whether you want to get her an engagement ring with a contemporary style or a vintage-replica, you will have the options to do so. If you feel she’d appreciate a bright, colorful diamond or a classy white diamond, diamond jewelry stores will provide you with a variety of colors to choose from. When it comes to engagement rings, you will be presented with a large number of choices. Thankfully in this day and age, engagement ring settings are very easy to narrow down to her specific needs.
Written by Francis Coutun. Now you can learn all you wanted to know about Diamond Jewelry and you will even find articles on Jewelry Online
Like the diamonds themselves, there is an almost endless supply of informational websites teaching the consumer the best way to buy a diamond. The problem is, however, that if you look closely you will find that the vast majority of these informational pages are owned, either overtly or covertly, by the very same people looking to sell you a diamond. Most people know by now not to trust everything your car salesman says about the car he’s trying to sell you, so should the person trying to sell you a diamond be looked at any differently?
The simple fact is that almost all advice given online about how to buy a diamond is grossly exaggerated to fit the particular type of diamond that each vendor specializes in. A vendor who specializes in “ideal cuts” is going to tell you that everything else but “ideal cuts” are junk and don’t look nearly as nice as what they’re selling. An online vendor who doesn’t offer pictures will tell you that you need to buy a high clarity grade, or else you could wind up with an eye visible inclusion.
I would like to present to you, the diamond consumer, my take on the four Cs (Cut, Clarity, Color, Carat). What I’m going to explain to you now is the way every diamond dealer I know would approach buying a diamond for his wife or girlfriend. You’d be wise to do the same.
To preface my discussion of each “C” individually, it’s important to discuss two important issues first. First of all, we need to address where to buy the diamond and the simple answer to that question is: online. While bricks and mortar stores provide the obvious benefit of being able to see the diamond ahead of time, that one benefit is not worth the much greater margin you’re going to end up paying. Most online vendors markup their diamonds anywhere from 10 to 18 percent. Bricks and mortar stores will typically markup their diamonds around 50% — and that’s down significantly from where it was just about 10 years ago when it was closer to 100%.
The second issue that needs discussion is my general approach to balancing tradeoffs between the four Cs. Before you attempt to evaluate this balance, you need to define the goal for yourself. I typically advise one of two goals: Either trying to buy the largest diamond for your specific budget, or alternatively, keeping the size where you had originally planned it, but trying to buy the cheapest diamond (that obviously covers my minimum requirements) for that size. The analogy for balancing the four Cs that I like to use is that of a pie. Each “C” represents a slice of the pie. The larger (better) one slice, the smaller the other slices necessarily become. My diamond buying strategy can be summed up quite succinctly as the following: minimizing the slices that your eye doesn’t notice (diamond color and clarity), and maximizing the slices that your eye does notice (carat and cut).
Lets get into it one “C” at a time: Color
Well-made round diamonds colored J or better look white when viewed face-up. You can only see that one diamond is more yellow than another if they are placed right next to each other. When diamond dealers evaluate a diamond’s color, it’s face down, sitting on a plain white folded card held directly underneath a fluorescent light. Even then, it’s very hard to detect what the color of a diamond is when taken by itself. When gemologists grade color, they use a master color sample to compare the test diamond against. Under normal lighting, with a diamond mounted by itself in a setting face-up, it’s pretty much impossible for any non-expert to detect any amount of yellowishness in a diamond J color or better. So why spend more money on a “colorless” diamond when it won’t be appreciated? Take that money you save on color, and buy a bigger rock!
Clarity
Clarity is a bit trickier than color, for the simple reason that every diamond is completely unique in the way it is included (filled with blemishes). A clarity grade is an evaluation of the size, color, and position of the inclusions inside of a diamond — but it doesn’t tell you how visible the inclusions are to the naked eye. I, personally, don’t view clarity in terms of grades. For me, clarity is strictly binary — that is, is the diamond completely clean to the naked eye, or is it not? A VS2 clarity grade will be clean to the naked eye about 95% of the time, but an I1 clarity stone will be completely clean to the naked eye probably around 50% of the time. All else being equal, though, a VS2 will cost about 75% more than an I1! So wouldn’t it make sense to buy an eye-clean I1 versus an eye-clean VS2? After all, unless your fiancé will walk around with a jeweler’s loupe inspecting her ring constantly, the two will look exactly the same to the naked eye. The trick, though, is finding the I1 that is eye clean. For that, you need the help of an expert to pick the right stone, and an online vendor that offers pictures of their diamonds.
Cut
Cut refers to how nice the diamond’s proportions and measurements stack up. It used to be, before 2006, that you either had to buy a diamond with an AGS certificate, which offered their own cut grade, or you had to learn about the different diamond measurements and figure out for yourself whether the diamond you were buying was a “nice-make” or not. In 2006, though, the GIA came out with their own cut grade system. Their cut grade system is based on over 10 years of research measuring light performance for every different combination of measurements imaginable. So now, the choice is very simple. Either buy a diamond with an “Excellent” or “Very Good” cut grade from the GIA, and you will have a beautiful diamond. There is some added fire and sparkle when buying Excellent over Very Good, but it’s really much less than most advice-givers would have you believe. The added benefit is further minimized over time when your wife’s ring will collect dirt and naturally become slightly duller. Also, you should know that the difference in light performance between Excellent and Very Good diamonds is particularly stark inside the jewelry store where they use specially designed overhead halogen lighting designed to make diamonds sparkle their artificially fullest. When you leave the store, and enter real-world lighting, the difference is much less. Unfortunately, GIA only offers cut grades on Round Brilliants. AGS, on the other hand, offers cut grades on the popular Princess Cut Diamond shape as well.
Carat
To me, this is the most important of the four “C”s because this is the one that your eye sees the clearest and people appreciate the most. Everyone will notice the difference between a 1.50 carat diamond and a 1 carat diamond, but few people will notice, for example, the difference between an eye-clean I1 and a VS2, or a J color and an H color diamond, or an Excellent and Very Good cut.
Bottom Line Recommendation
Buy an I or J color, SI2 or I1 clarity (confirmed to be clean to the naked eye), Excellent or Very Good Cut Grade from GIA (or 0 or 1 Cut Grade from AGS), and use all that saved money from buying an I/J SI2/I1 to either buy a bigger diamond, or save it for the down payment on your first house together.
Ira Weissman recommends you to visit http://www.truthaboutdiamonds.com for more information on diamond color.
Every body know that diamonds is most beautiful stones in over the entire world but a very few people know that what is diamonds and where is it found? diamond may be up to 3 billion years old, which is much older than their surface host rock. Diamond crystallization originates some 200 kilometers, or 320 miles, beneath the surface and the disaggregated crystals are merely transported to the surface via kimberlite and lamproite pipes. These igneous host rock formations are roughly cylindrical in shape and act as a conduit from the Earth’s mantle to the continental crust. Today, 75-80% of the world’s natural diamonds are used for industrial purposes and 20-25% for gemstones. Diamond may even be found in meteorites.
Diamond is a colourless exceptionally hard mineral (but often tinted yellow, orange, blue, brown, or black by impurities), found in certain igneous rocks esp. the kimberlites of South Africa. It is used as a gemstone, as an abrasive, and on the working edges of cutting tools. Composition: carbon. Formula: C. Crystal structure: cubic. Name derived from the Greek adamas meaning invincible. Relative density 3.50- 3.52. Cleavage eminent along octahedral faces. Fracture conchoidal. Tenacity brittle. Lustre brilliantly adamantine. Refractive index 2.417- 2.419. Dispersion strong 0.044. Diamond crystals form as cubes, octahedra , the most common gem form, and dodecahedra. Colourless to yellow diamonds which have a strong absorbtion line in the violet end of the spectrum are members of the Cape series. Color is usually pale yellow to colorless, but can also be brown, blue, green, orange, red, and black.
The most famous diamond bearing country is South Africa. The first diamond was reported in 1866. By 1869 an 83.5 carat diamond had been found and was named The Star of Africa. It was subsequently cut into a pear shape brilliant weighing 47.74 carats. The Golconda area of Southern India has been the source of some famous diamonds such as the Koh-i-nor (mountain of light 186cts cut to 108.92 cts and now in the Tower of London) and Jehangir. Diamond is widespread in Brazil, most stones being small but of good gem quality. Alluvial diamonds have been found in most states of the USA. White and fancy coloured diamonds such as pinks and pinkish browns are mined at Argyle in North Western Australia. Other important producers are Russia, now the fourth largest producer, and China.
Djewels manufacturer and exporter of high quality certified diamond studded jewelry in 14/18 k Gold. We combine quality jewelry and hard work to bring out the best in every individual at a truly exceptional price. Our superbly crafted collection of diamond, white/yellowgold, gemstones, and Kundan Jewelry is specially designed to suit your preferences. Djewels offers bouquets of very special services to all customers. Honesty, Accuracy, Hospitality, perfect price and above all Customer satisfaction.
Diamond is the hardest naturally formed mineral found on earth. It is used not only for making expensive and beautiful jewelry but also for making drilling equipments. Since diamonds are very hard, they are ideal for making cutting and grinding equipments. Diamonds can be used to cut, drill, grind and polish. Thus it is greatly used in various industrial applications. Some of the common equipments used are the diamond tipped drill bit and the saw blades. Diamond powder is used as an abrasive in industries. The diamonds used for these purposes are of lesser quality and are called ‘bort’. Thus, there are two grades of diamonds – the gem grade diamond and the industrial grade diamond. The industrial grade diamonds should be hard and have heat conductivity.
The demand for diamonds is greater than the supply, so the diamond drill is very expensive. Although, there are a number of types of drills, the diamond drill is a very essential piece of equipment in an industry that needs to do a lot of drilling. The diamond drill is actually a drill with the diamond drill bit attached to the end of hollow drill rods. The diamonds used are fine to micro fine diamonds. To keep the sharpness and hardness of the diamond drill, it is necessary to give it sufficient lubrication and cooling. The holes made are very clean and giving the best results. The drilling has to be done slowly so that the life of the drill bits can be extended for a longer period of time. Drilling is a laborious process. It is also a tiring and demanding task and uses up a lot of physical energy. But, it needs to be done.
The diamonds drills can make holes in any type of substance, right from a soft one to a hard one. It includes bricks, metals, concrete and any other material without giving out much noise. The holes can be made quickly without any vibrations and much effort, since the drill is made of hard diamond. The diamond drilling equipments are long lasting and penetrate fast to drill a hole.
The diamond drilling equipments are used in all kinds of industrial applications. We are generally not aware of it many uses. They are used by the construction industry for making holes in bricks, concrete and iron. It is used in the mining industry to drill holes at places where there are mines. Wherever holes have to be made for placing cables, where anchoring bolts have to be placed and also where load carrying machines have to be installed, the diamond drilling equipments are used.
There are two types of drilling techniques. The dry drilling technique is used when concrete, hard surfaces, pavements, bricks or any hard surface has to be drilled. The wet drilling technique is used when the place that has to be drilled is fully under water.
The diamond drilling equipments are of different types. Synthetic diamonds are used in the impregnated bit’s matrix series. The matrix layer has the diamonds in a powdered metal bond. They have a long life and also penetrate fast. They are used in many forms of drilling. Surface set diamond bits have a single natural diamond layer. They have a hard matrix compound on the face of the bit. They are used while drilling soft to medium hard surfaces.
Diamond reaming shell has natural or synthetic diamonds. It is used to attach the drill bit to the core barrel. The main work of the reaming shell to make a hole that is exact in diameter for the core barrel to go through, having enough space for a new drill bit, when the old one has to be changed. Long diamond reaming shells are also available for drilling purposes.
Diamond core bits are thing walled core bits that are used in a large number of applications. They are used to drill holes in are concrete, glass, ceramics and also in all kinds of pipes used in electricity, drainage etc. Wet cut drill core bits and dry cut drill core bits are available for various purposes.
Synthetic diamond polycrystalline is also used in making drilling equipments. They are used in making drill bits, reaming shells, saw blades etc. Polycrystalline diamond pads or cutters (PDC) are placed in rows of polycrystalline diamonds kept on tungsten carbide substrate on the bit face, to drill holes in areas that are too sticky or soft. You have PDC core bits and PDC drill bits which are cost effective and very useful in drilling and cutting activities.
The diamond drilling equipments are no doubt expensive, but they are very effective in making clean holes that are necessary for all construction, mining and power, drainage, gas lines purposes. We should check out the various companies that manufacture these equipments, obtain details about the equipments and the price and then order the equipment that we need. The internet would be the best place to gather all the information.
Tom Cruise is a Copywriter of Diamond core drilling company, Diamond core drills. He written many articles in various topics Core drilling equipment, Canadian drilling companies . For more information visit: http://www.diamondcoredrilling.com
Diamond is the hardest known naturally occurring stuff, scoring 10 on the relative Mohs scale of mineral hardness and having an total hardness value of between 167 and 231 gigapascals in a number of tests. Diamond’s hardness has been known ever since antiquity, and is the origin of its name. Nevertheless, aggregated diamond nanorods, an allotrope of carbon first synthesized in 2005, are now known to be even harder than diamond.
The hardness of diamonds also contributes to its suitability as a gemstone. Because it can just be scratched by other diamonds, it maintains its polish exceptionally well, keeping its luster over extensive periods of time.
Unlike hardness, which sole denotes resistance to scratching, diamond’s toughness is only fair to good. Toughness relates to a material’s capacity to resist breakage from strong impact. Diamonds cut into certain particular shapes are therefore much more prone to breakage than some others.
Diamonds appear in a variety of transparent hues colorless, white, steel, blue, yellow, orange, red, green, pink, brown or colored black. Diamonds with a detectable hue to them are known as colored diamonds. Colored diamonds have in it impurities or structural defects that cause the coloration, while pure or almost pure diamonds are transparent and colorless.
The carat weight measures the mass of a diamond. One carat is defined as exactly 200 milligrams (about 0.007 ounce). The point unit equal to one one-hundredth of a carat (0.01 carat, or 2 mg) is commonly worn for diamonds of less than one carat.
The price per carat does not grow smoothly with increasing size. Instead, there are sharp jumps around milestone carat weights, as demand is much higher for diamonds weighing just more than a milestone than for those weighing just under. As an example, a 0.95 carat diamond may have a significantly lower price per carat than a comparable 1.05 carat diamond, because of differences in demand.
Huge amount of information on Diamond Buying pls. visit our web site: http://djewels.org
Djewels manufacturer and exporter of high quality certified diamond studded jewelry in 14/18 k Gold. We combine quality jewelry and hard work to bring out the best in every individual at a truly exceptional price. Our superbly crafted collection of diamond, white/yellowgold, gemstones, and Kundan Jewelry is specially designed to suit your preferences. Djewels offers bouquets of very special services to all customers. Honesty, Accuracy, Hospitality, perfect price and above all Customer satisfaction.
Yellow Diamonds
Yellow diamonds were once thought to be inferior. Paler yellows, such as canary yellow, are more common but are not as desirable as their darker counterparts. Intense fancy yellow diamonds are the most rare and valuable of the yellow diamonds. A tiny .25-carat yellow diamond can be priced as high as 10,000 dollars depending on its clarity and cut. Several larger 6 carat Fancy Vivid Yellow diamonds have just recently been sold for $57.000 per carat.
Yellow diamonds are colored because of the impurities that are trapped inside diamonds when they are created. If a few of the millions of carbon atoms have been replaced by nitrogen atoms, then structure of the diamond will not be significantly altered but the clarity will be changed. The amount of color displayed is dependent on the amount of nitrogen involved.
When we see color it is because the object we are looking at reflected a specific wavelength of the light spectrum. A good example of this is a yellow flower. The flower absorbs all of the light except the yellow light, which is reflected by the yellow flower.
Yellow Diamonds
The increase the popularity of the Yellow diamonds has been caused by several factors. Celebrities are increasingly purchasing the very rare but beautiful Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamonds. Johnny Damon, the Red Sox baseball star, married Michelle Mangan last year, everyone was dazzled by the brilliant yellow diamond engagement ring she was wearing, so the yellow diamond has begun to take over the spotlight.
Many other celebrities jumped on the bandwagon, most notably Dennis Quaid’s main squeeze, Kimberly Buffington, supermodel Heidi Klum, cover girl Varonica Varekova, hockey player Petr Nedved, producer Rodney Jenkins, and singer Joy Enriquez. Celebrities may be adopting yellow diamonds as the newest hot diamond trend due to their extreme rarity.
Yellow diamonds are rarely found in diamond mines. Only estimated 1/10 of 1 ppercent of diamonds mined have an intense yellow color. It is fortunate for the general public that lab created yellow diamonds are more common, more affordable, and just as beautiful.
Tiffany Diamond
The Tiffany Yellow is one of the most famous of the yellow diamonds. It is believed that the diamond was found in 1877 or 1878 at the De Beers Mine in South Africa. In the rough, the stone was a beautiful canary-yellow octahedron weighing 287.42 (metric) carats and it was valued at $12,000.000 in 1983. It is difficult to get an accurate description because no Major Gemological organization has ever formerly examined the diamond.
Kimberly Octahedron
The Kimberly Octahedron was discovered in the Dutoitspan Mine in South Africa in 1964. At 616 carats it is considered the largest yellow diamond in the world.
With the new techniques in creating laboratory diamonds it will only be a matter of time before quality Yellow diamonds are available to the general public at an affordable price.
David Cowley has created numerous articles on Diamonds. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to Diamonds. Visit Diamonds