History Of DiamondsHow and where are diamonds formed?
Diamonds form between 120-200 kms or 75-120 miles below the earth's surface. According to geologists the first delivery of diamonds was somewhere around 2.5 billion years ago and the most recent was 45 million years ago. That is a long time, my friend! According to science , the carbon that makes diamonds, comes from the melting of pre-existing rocks in the Earth's upper mantle. There is an abundance of carbon atoms in the mantle. Temperature changes in the upper mantle forces the carbon atoms to go deeper where it melts and finally becomes new rock, when the temperature reduces. If other conditions like pressure and chemistry is right then the carbon atoms in the melting crustal rock bond to build diamond crystals. There is no guarantee that these carbon atoms will turn into diamonds. If the temperature rises or the pressure drops then the diamond crystals may melt partially or totally dissolve. Even if they do form, it takes thousands of years for those diamonds to come anywhere near the surface The
Origin of Diamond Cutting.
No one knows exactly when, where and who made the first attempt to cut diamonds. It is assumed that the first diamond cutting styles originated from India. However, it was only limited to chipping or grinding. Moreover in ancient times diamonds were valued more for their magical and mythological properties. By modifying the natural state of a diamond in any way would alter it's magical properties and render it useless. At the most the cleaving techniques of diamond were attempted to get flat faces on diamonds. It is believed that the early diamond cutting styles originated in Europe. The European travelers visiting India for it's diamond treasures used to transport diamonds from the Golconda Mine to Europe for cutting. It ultimately used to be transported back to India and made a part of the Kings, Moghuls and Maharaja's treasury. The
Evolution of Diamond Cutting.
Experimentation with diamond cutting did not yield any significant
results till the seventeenth century. The early diamond cutters were unable to
polish the rough octahedral diamonds. However, they found out that they could
polish or grind diamonds into a point by polishing almost parallel to the
diamonds rough faces, at an angle lesser than the diamond rough faces. They also
realised that only diamonds cut diamonds. Hence they used a wooden table covered
with diamond dust to achieve any kind of polishing. This resulted in the "Rose
Cut". It was called the rose cut due to it's resemblance to the "Rose Bud". The
rose cut came into existence in the early sixteenth century and was widely used
till the early nineteenth century. The
Round Brilliant Cut.
There have been a few intermediaries who have contributed to the present
cutting style of the round brilliant cut. The most noteworthy and the direct
ancestor (the grandfather) is the "Old Mine Cut" or the "Old Miner". It is also
known as the "Triple Cut". It came into existence in the late seventeenth
century. The old miner was the first diamond cut that had all the facets of the
present round brilliant cut viz. the bezel, the star, pavilion mains, etc.
However, the facet alignment and sizes were in a different manner as compared to
the current round brilliant. The old miner was also more of a square or cushion
cut, rather than being round. The direct descendant to the old miner is the "Old
European Cut". I consider the old European cut to be the father of the present
round brilliant cut. The old European cut was more evident in the late
eighteenth century till the early twentieth century. Many experiments were done
on the old European cut during the early twentieth century regarding it's
various facet positioning and angles. Most notable were the one done by Henry
Morse and Marcel Tolkowsky. More has been mentioned about them in the Ideal
Diamond Cut section. They ultimately gave birth to the present round brilliant
cut and the ideal cut diamond proportions.
If you have done your research work then you already know what I am going to talk about (the 4 C's). However, what most people do not do is make a relationship between the 4 C's and diamond prices. Diamond prices work on the basis of these 4 C's and they are all interdependent. So here I go, the 4 C's in no particular order. Carat
Color ![]() D-E-F - The three of them are 'Colorless'. The only
difference between each of them is transparency with D being the most
transparent. There you go! Carat and Color, two important C's explained. Continue to the next page for information on the other two C's - Clarity and Cut. Let's resume with the other two C's and then I will put it all together to explain the relation between the 4 C's and pricing. Clarity IF-FL - Internally Flawless to Flawless.
I.F. as it mentions have nothing in them and F.L. have only minor blemishes
which can be removed by polishing. Cut In the next section, I will explain the relationship between the 4 Cs that make up the 5th C - Cost.
Relationship between the 4 C's and Diamond Prices (the 5th C - Cost).Let's continue then, shall we! The 4 C's working among themselves directly affect the price of a Diamond. They are all interconnected to come to the final price determination. Each one of them is important and none supersedes the other in any way. This might get confusing but just stay with me and I will explain everything step by step. While considering the price factor, always keep in mind the rarity of a diamond. The rarer the stone, more is the price. I will explain the prices in a relative or comparative manner. Keep in mind, no two diamonds are ever identical. Always remember that a diamond is nature's gift and it does not come with a price tag nor are two prices identical. You might get different prices from different jewelers depending on their buying patterns, sources and suppliers. Let's now start with Carat Size (no particular order). Carat Color Clarity Cut The next section I am working on is buying over the internet. I am sure that once in a while you go and check out the prices at the internet diamond companies. I would love it if I could get any feedback from anyone who has bought diamonds from the internet. Diamond Certification: Grading reports play an extremely important role in evaluating a diamond. They are important for the consumer as well as for the jeweler. A Diamond certificate gives security to the consumer that they are buying what the jeweler is promising them and for the jeweler they eliminate the mystery of grading an uncertified stone. A certified diamond secures and builds a relationship between the customer and the jeweler. It is thus important to understand a diamond certificate. A diamond grading report has complete information about the diamond. It describes the various factors determining the beauty, durability, value and quality of the diamond. It verifies and confirms the identity of the diamond. They are extremely helpful for insurance companies to replace your diamond as close as possible in the event of a loss or theft. Accuracy of the certificate also depends on who is certifying or grading the diamond. In the USA, the GIA Gem Trade Laboratory is the topmost authority in diamond grading. Their grading and measurements are the most accurate. The AGS (GIA's sister company) is also in the forefront. There are other laboratories like the European Gemological Laboratories, International Gemological Institute that are US Based and many other local gem labs. The topmost European laboratories are Gubelin Labs of Switzerland and The Belgian Diamond High Council in Antwerp. Anatomy of a Diamond Certificate. Date: You have to make sure that the certificate is not very old. Usually a certificate, which is 2-3 years old, should stand good. In the case of an old certificate, usually 4 - 5 years old, you should make sure that there are no alterations done to the stone. This means that the stone should not be chipped or damaged in any other way. You can do this buy comparing the stone with the certificate. Report Number: This is very important in case you loose your certificate. You can issue a duplicate certificate incase you loose your original. Carat Weight: This mentions the exact weight of the diamond rounded to the hundredth of decimal e.g. 1.01 carats Clarity and Color: This mentions the clarity and the color of the diamond. As you have already read in the 4 C's section this plays an important part in diamond prices. Shape/Cut: This mentions the cut of the stone i.e. old european cut, round brilliant cut, princess (square modified brilliant), etc. Measurements/Dimensions: This part of the report has the measurements of the stone in millimeters to the hundredth of decimal. The measurements could be the highest diameter measurement and the lowest diameter measurements for a round. Fancy shapes have the length and the width. The diameter in round diamonds help you to decide whether the stone is round or out of round. The deviations between the diameters result in an out of round diamond. It is not possible to get a perfectly round diamond. Slight deviations are acceptable. The length and the width in fancy shapes decide whether the stone is too long or too short. Let's take an example of emerald cut. The length to width ratio in an emerald cut diamond should be between 1.50: 1 and 1.75: 1. Any deviations more than that makes it look too long or too short. Proportions: They are usually mentioned in percentage or angles. The right percentage and angles result in an optimum balance of dispersion and brilliance. They consist of Table %: The table decides how much brilliance (white light) is reflected back to the eye. A majority of diamonds have their table percentage ranging from 53 % to 64 %. Total depth %: This is very important. A diamond with a high total depth % (more than 63%) could add weight to the stone but no beauty. On the other hand low total depth percentage will look bigger to the naked eye than its weight. In both cases the stone looks dark when looking straight through the table. |