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Your Guide to Diamonds
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CUT Cut refers to the relationship between the diamonds facets and not to its shape. It is otherwise known as a diamond’s proportions. Cut is man’s only contribution to the beauty of a diamond and indeed a significant one, because the cut is how a diamond gains its brilliance and fire. From their first discovery to the present day, diamonds were faceted and polished to enhance their beauty. Early diamond cutters used various proportions in an attempt to maximize all of the brilliance and fire the gemstone had to offer. Then in 1920 a man named Tolkowsky, writing his dissertation in physics, set down the proportions that are today considered ideal and thus revealing all a diamond’s fire and brilliance. Modern cut diamonds have fifty- eight facets, although experimentation is ongoing with diamonds containing as many as 144 facets. A well-cut diamond will allow light to enter through the top reflect from one pavilion facet across to another pavilion facet and then through the table. In this reflection process white light is broken into the spectrum of colors and becomes the fire in the viewer’s eye. A poorly cut diamond, one that is cut too far off the ideal proportions, will only allow a minimal amount of the light entering the diamond to refract and reflect through the table. In the case of a diamond that is too shallow, much of the light passes directly through the stone. If a diamond is too deeply cut, light may merely reflect off of one of the pavilion facets and through the sides of the opposite pavilion facet. Other examples of poorly cut diamonds are too thick of a girdle, very large open culets, or an off center table. These factors all have some bearing on the fire of the diamond. Very often poorly cut diamonds may have extra weight or area that may make them seem more valuable, while actually decreasing its beauty and value.
COLOR Diamonds are graded for their degree of colorlessness using the alphabet starting with the letter “D” and proceeding to “Z”. Although colorless diamonds are very rare and desirable it is not often known that diamonds have the broadest array of color of any gem. Diamonds with very distinctive body color are equally rare and valuable.
CLARITY Diamonds are graded for clarity using a scale that attempts to qualify the size, quantity, location and type of inclusions. The Gemological Institute of America clarity scale is shown below together with explanations for each of the grades FLAWLESS – Free from all inclusions or blemishes at 10x magnification INTERNALLY FLAWLESS – No inclusions visible at 10x; insignificant surface blemishes only. VVS-1 – Minute inclusions – extremely difficult to see at 10x VVS-2 – Minute inclusions – very difficult to see at 10x VS-1 – Minor inclusions – difficult to see face-up at 10x VS-2 – Minor inclusions – somewhat easy to see face-up at 10x SI-1 – Noticeable inclusions – easy to see at 10x SI-2 – Noticeable inclusions – very easy to see at 10x, may be visible to the unaided eye in gems over 1 carat I-1 – Obvious inclusions at 10x – visible to the unaided eye I-2 – Obvious inclusions – easily visible to the unaided eye I-3 – Prominent inclusions – extremely easy to see with unaided eye; usually affect durability Interesting Diamond Facts The word diamond comes from the name of the Greek god Adamis who was known for his strength Diamond is the gemstone that occurs in the broadest array of colors. It occurs in every color of the spectrum as well as black and brown. Color grades of "A", "B" and "C" do not exist because in an earlier time these grades were confused with school grades and were themselves not descriptive enough to explain the subtle color differences between diamonds. It is interesting to note that diamond is composed only of carbon, which by the way also makes it the only gems to be composed of one mineral. It is trace amounts of boron and nitrogen that affect the body color of a diamond and create some spectacular gemstones. The word Carat comes from the Greek word carob. The carob is the seed of the carob tree and is very uniform in its size and weight. Ancient merchants used the carob seed to weight such small items as gems and through the years became the carat we use today in the jewelry industry. Diamonds are so attracted to grease and oil that as part of the mining process all of the diamond bearing rock is placed on a greased conveyer belt that vibrates as it travels. The rock and other material are shaken off of the belt while the diamond remains in place. The tradition of the diamond engagement ring began in 1477 when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy. The reason that bridal jewelry is worn on the third finger of the left hand is credited to the ancient Greek notion that the vein of love (vena amoris) ran from that finger directly to the heart.
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