Diamond Information
For as long as we can trace back the history of human civilization, we can find the use of diamonds as gemstones, both for ornamental use and as symbolic totems. The allure of the diamond is often believed to be a modern creation of marketing, but this is a rather cynical assessment of the actual situation. The fact is that diamonds have had a pull on the human mind since they were first utilized by ancient civilizations in India, and it is simply that today’s modern mining and shipping achievements have allowed diamonds to be accessed by ever larger segments of societies throughout the world.
History
The earliest known written evidence of diamond mining comes from India in the 4th Century BCE (Before Common Era), although it is believed that diamonds had already been in use as gemstones prior to this early written reference. The name given to diamonds at that early date, ‘vajra’ and ‘indrayudha’, serves as evidence of the how diamonds were seen at the time. ‘Vajra’ is a Sanskrit word for “thunderbolt” and ‘indrayudha’ is ‘Indra’s weapon’, a reference to the King of the Demigods, Indra. With such attributes given to the diamond, it is clear that the Indians of over two millennia ago had a great appreciation for the hardness and light properties of the diamond.
The appreciation of the diamond was brought to the west through the Middle-East and ancient Greece. It was the Greeks who gave us ‘adamas’, a word given for the hardest substance in the world. It is believed that this word may have been given to other substances prior to the diamond, but once the Greeks became familiar with diamonds, they quickly made ‘adamas’ synonymous with diamond.
Once the west possessed diamonds, a love affair began that continues to this day. This love affair was not always based on the diamond’s aesthetic appeals, however. The Romans, for example, saw great appeal in the diamond for what they believed were its beneficial effects on their physical and spiritual well-being. It was thought that diamonds held the power to ward off evil spirits and forces, and so they wore the diamonds as protective wards rather than as simple jewelry. It is further believed that the Romans used splintered shards of diamond for various drill use. Both of these uses of diamond were probably borrowed by the Romans from the Indians, from whom all diamonds were still coming at the time.
As the Roman Empire waned, and Christianity began to rise as the dominant force in the West, the diamond was, for a time, abandoned. As the middle ages went through its thousand years, from about 500 CE (Common Era) to about 1400-1500 CE, the gem diamond was seen as a distraction from Christianity and a hold-over of a pagan era. However, even during this age, the diamond was studied, and many scholars wrote on the supernatural attributes of the diamond. For example, Marbode, the Bishop of Rennes, wrote of the diamond around 1070, “This stone has aptitude for magical arts, indomitable virtues it provides the bearer,…Cures insanity, strikes hard against enemies. For these purposes the stone should be set in silver, armored in gold, and fastened to the left arm.”
It was after the Renaissance, with the 17th century, that the diamond truly began to rise to the place it holds in today’s world of gems. During the Renaissance, the diamond began to be utilized in jewelry once again, but the primary focus was on the setting, rather than the gemstone itself. With the 17th century, however, the diamond began to be seen as it once had been in the East and the Middle East. The first brilliant cut was developed for the diamond during this century, which gave the west a new look at this ancient gem.
With the exploration of the new world in full swing, the 18th century saw vast new wealth flowing into Europe. Amongst this new world treasure was a new source of diamond, coming out of South America. Now, no longer beholden to the trade demands of the Eastern trade routes from the India mines, the wealthy of Europe were able to indulge in the diamond and the new cuts that were being developed.
What had been restricted to the wealthy classes of Europe was to become spread throughout the middle classes, with the discovery of diamonds in South Africa in the 19th century. The discovery of vast gem-quality diamond deposits in South Africa ignited a desire for diamonds amongst the middle classes that had never been seen prior to this age. This new atmosphere changed the idea of the diamond as being solely associated with royalty and the incredibly wealthy. In 1871, the French Crown Jewels were put up for sale by the French State and purchased by the American jeweler, Tiffany and Co. This purchase brought the wealth of royalty to the still young American nation, while also demonstrating the great wealth that the new country had begun to produce.
With the increased demand for diamonds there came more and more diamond cuts, with this near mania reaching an unprecedented height as the 19th century came to a close and the 20th century was born. With this new age came new technology, such as the acetylene torch, that allowed for greater shaping of diamond settings, as well as the introduction of the American Standard Cut (also known as the American Ideal Cut) by the engineer and diamond cutter Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919.
The new standard of measurements that allowed for the Ideal Cut meant that diamonds achieved a level of standardization of quality in cut that had never been achieved before. This new revolution in finished gem-quality diamond quality meant that diamond cutters could create the most brilliant diamonds possible out of any given gem-quality rough diamond. Suddenly those who were not extremely wealthy could afford to own a diamond that shone as brilliantly and with as much fire as the greatest cut diamonds known, if not better, considering that most famous diamonds were not cut to the ideal cut.
The diamond market did not really begin to boom in the United States, however, until the post-WWII period. The sales of diamonds, as well as other luxury items, had waned during the war years, as people were concerned more with the necessities of life than with the niceties. De Beers, the largest diamond company in the world, decided to take an aggressive approach to this situation. Rather than sit back and hope that the post war years would see an increase in the attention given to diamonds, they began an ad campaign whose primary slogan was “Diamonds are Forever.” From this point on, diamonds began a meteoric rise with the American and international public that is still going strong.
Today’s gem-diamond market had benefited from a number of factors working together. For one, the development of ever new technologies in mining and gem-cutting have allowed ever larger deposits of rough, gem-quality diamonds to be found and cut into finished gem diamonds at ever lower costs for the public. Through the development of new precision tools for diamond cutting and polishing, diamond cutters are able to take a rough diamond and transform it into a gem-diamond not simply faster and less expensively than ever before, but with a greater quality control than had ever been thought possible.
In addition to this industrial technological development, there has been a commercial technological development that has brought diamonds to more households than ever before. The new tool that has helped with the evolution of the gem-quality diamond market is the internet. The internet has not simply increased competition within the market, thus benefiting the public in keeping with the capitalistic paradigm, but the internet has allowed for greater choice, more informed purchasing, and greater access to diamonds from throughout the world. The internet allows anyone to access more information about diamonds than had ever been available in one place, and to use that information to find and purchase the diamond or diamonds that are right for them.
The 4Cs, Shape, Fluorescence, Ideal Cut and Hearts and Arrows
There is some basic information who anyone interested in diamonds should understand. Things to be familiar with are the 4Cs, shape, fluorescence, ideal cut, and hearts and arrows. With a working understanding of each of the items on this short list, an individual can confidently look through a set of diamonds without being overwhelmed or pressured into making an unwise purchase.
The 4Cs
While a detailed and informed understanding of the 4Cs is critical to a solid understanding of gem-quality diamonds, it is helpful to have a brief summation of them, allowing the diamond novice to explore more fully at her or his leisure. The 4Cs of diamonds are Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat. Each of these has their own importance, but Cut is generally felt to be the most critical to the formation of the final, polished diamond.
Cut refers to the entire process of bringing the rough diamond to the finished polished diamond that most people imagine when thinking of diamonds. Cut also refers to the actual process of cutting the rough diamond so as to give it its facets, tables and angles, which are the primary elements behind how much brilliance, fire and scintillation a diamond displays. The cut is a melding of the natural state of the diamond and the skill and art of the human cutter. It is for this reason that a skilled diamond cutter is of incredible importance: a rough diamond with great potential for brilliance, fire and scintillation can be laid to ruin by a poor cutter. On the same note, however, a rough diamond that holds little promise can often be made into a treasure of beauty and radiance by a highly skilled and patient diamond cutter.
The next of the 4Cs is Color. Color refers specifically to the diamond’s color, or lack thereof. The color of a diamond is important to be familiar with. There are several different scales used for grading color. The leading independent gemological laboratory, the GIA, has developed the scale that is the most well known. It begins at ‘D’ or ‘colorless’ and proceeds up along the alphabet, indicating a greater amount of noticeable color within the diamond. In most diamonds, a lack of color, or whiteness, is most desirable. However, in such diamonds which have a large amount of color, such as deep yellow or brown or traces of blue, pink or red, the desirability of the diamond increases with the intensity and notability of the particular color, and there are different grades used for fancy colored diamonds. It is also important to be aware that diamonds are graded for color as seen under a 10x loupe when they are loose, not when they are already set into a jewelry piece, because the kind of metal used in the setting can affect the perceived color of the stone.
The Clarity referred to in the 4Cs is in regards to the ease with which light can enter, exit and reflect off of the surfaces of a given diamond. While much of a diamond’s clarity is dependent on proper cut, as cut is what provides the facets (the triangular and rectangular surfaces of a cut diamond) and angles of the facets that allow for the proper play of light through, on and within a diamond, there is also a matter of what is found within the crystalline lattice of the diamond that effects clarity. Any foreign object found within a diamond, whether it be a group of foreign atoms or a crack in the crystalline lattice, is referred to as an inclusion. The amount, size and placement of inclusions within a diamond have the primary effect on its grading, which runs along a scale (again, according to the GIA) of ‘FL’ or ‘flawless’ to ‘I’ or ‘inclusions visible (to the naked eye)’. The closer to flawless a diamond is, the greater its price will be. As with color, a diamond’s clarity is graded under a 10x loupe and while loose, not set.
The final of the 4Cs is Carat. Carat is the simplest of the 4Cs to grasp, but it also tends to have the greatest impact on price. Carat is the unit of weight measurement that is utilized to express the weight of diamonds and is equal to 200 milligrams, 1/5th of a gram or one seven thousandths of an ounce. This minuscule measurement comes out of the near weight of the carob seed (which had been used in the ancient world with gemstones for its uniform weight), for which the carat received its name, coming through ancient Greek from Arabic. Today’s carat is a scientifically measured weight, and is a great determinant in the pricing of a diamond, as the larger the carat-size of a diamond, the greater the cost. Diamonds become increasingly rare as their carat size increases, and so diamonds are priced by carat. In other words, a diamond of one carat could be priced at $500. Yet a diamond of identical cut, color and clarity, but of two carats, might be priced at $1500, or $750 a carat, rather than $500, as with the single carat stone.
Shape
Shape is a category that is often confused with cut. Cut is utilized to produce a particular shape, but to say that they are one and the same is like calling the taste of a particular food a recipe. Shape is the result of the diamond cutters work of taking a rough stone, cutting it and polishing it. The shape that results from this work can be round, square, rectangular or any number of other types of shape. In short, shape is the actual physical parameters of a diamond once it has been cut and polished.
Each shape has different properties that give each particular shape its own appeal. For example, the round shapes are ideal for bringing out the greatest display of brilliance, fire and scintillation. If one is looking for a high luster and deep, warm glow, however, the square shapes are better at producing such light effects, as well as maintaining a higher carat weight than many other shapes. Shape is also an important consideration in regards to how the diamond will look on one’s hand, meaning that long diamonds can create the illusion of lengthening the fingers, while rounder diamonds can accentuate a shortening of the fingers.
Fluorescence
Fluorescence is another factor that many people are beginning to hear about in regards to diamonds. Fluorescence is an effect that some diamonds can have under ultraviolet light in which the diamond flashes white-blue. This is created through the effect of the ultraviolet light on boron atoms that are trapped within some diamonds during their formation in the earth.
While some people may be worried about fluorescence having a negative effect on their diamonds, this is an unnecessary concern. The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) conducted extensive research on the subject in 1997. The results of their studies found that only 1% of diamonds with fluorescence showed a negative effect on the diamond. These are referred to as ‘overblues’. The rest of the diamonds with fluorescence showed either no effect or a positive effect from the fluorescence, as the fluorescence positively influenced the diamond’s color.
Ideal Cut
The ideal cut is a fairly straightforward title for a type of cut. It comes out of the research and study published by Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919. In this study, Tolkowsky published the measurement and placement of facets, angles, the crown, pavilion, table and girdle of the diamond that would produce the greatest brilliance, fire and scintillation in a given diamond. The ideal shape was found to be the round. Since then, ongoing research using modern technological advances have allowed cutters to make improvements on Tolkowsky’s original measurements, creating ever more ‘ideal’ ideal cuts, also sometimes referred to as ‘super ideal cut’.
Hearts and Arrows
Carrying on from the ideal cut, the Hearts and Arrows cut is similar in that it is a round brilliant cut created to produce a tremendous display of brilliance, fire and scintillation. However, the Hearts and Arrows cut has another primary goal. It was discovered in the 1980s in Japan that some diamonds, when cut toward the ideal cut, would display an effect of 8 arrows when viewed loose from the table, or top, down, and 8 heart shapes when viewed from the bottom up. It also so happens, that in order to best get this display, the cut must be so precise that the produced diamond, while not necessarily ‘super ideal cut’, is extremely expensive. This is due to the enormous carat weight lost and greater amount of time required in order to produce the proper display of the Hearts and Arrows design.
Rapaport
When looking to buy a diamond, being familiar with the 4Cs, shape, fluorescence and ideal cut can help, but it will give you only a part of the story. Another important thing to be aware of is the general market price for a particular type of diamond that you might be interested in, such as the general price for a one carat, VS1, ‘G’, round brilliant cut. To find out such general price information, people turn to the Rapaport Guide. This is a guide published by Martin Rapaport that gives a general guide for the going market price for diamonds of different carat size, cut, color and clarity. It cannot give exact prices, as each diamond is unique, but it can allow one to see the general area of pricing into which the diamond that one is interested in falls.
Famous Diamonds
Of course, there are diamonds which go beyond pricing based primarily on the 4Cs. These are the famous diamonds of the world. Such diamonds as the Hope Diamond, the Cullinan and the Darya-ye Noor are all beyond calculating their value through the 4Cs and other standard forms of price-valuation. These and other famous diamonds, while larger than most normal diamonds, have achieved fame through their rich histories, their famous owners or both.
A good example of this can be found with the Hope Diamond. The Hope Diamond has received much of its fame due to its long and rich history, as well as its various owners throughout the ages. The Hope was originally brought to the West out of India by the explorer and merchant, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, in the 1660s. The stone he purchased, or may have stolen, became known as the ‘Tavernier Blue’ for its notable blue color. He sold this stone to the King of France, Louis the XIV. The blue stone was cut down and became known as the ‘French Blue’, becoming a part of the Royal French Jewels.
The blue stone disappeared after the French Revolution, reappearing again in London in the beginning of the 19th century. The stone that appeared had been cut down to near the current parameters of the Hope Diamond as it now appears. Until recently, it was not known if the lost ‘French Blue’ and the Hope Diamond were one in the same. However, recent computer mapping based on the extensive diagrams drawn by French scientists of the ‘French Blue’ over the years of its inclusion with the French Royal Jewels have demonstrated that the Hope Diamond was, in fact, cut out of the ‘French Blue’.
By the 20th Century, the Hope Diamond had received its current name, and was in the possession of a famous socialite, Ms. Evalyn Walsh McLean. By the time of her taking possession of the blue diamond it not only held a long and rich history, involving theft, travel across continents, war and royal ownership, but it had also received tales of a curse. In fact, the tales of the curse, as recounted, and embellished upon, by Paris jeweler, Pierre Cartier, were the primary allure that sold Ms. McLean on purchasing the Hope Diamond. She believed that anything that was bad luck for the rest of the world would be good luck for her. By the end of her life, she was deep in debt, her husband had left her, gone mad and died, her son had been run over by a car while still a child, and her daughter had died of an overdose of drugs. Today, the Hope Diamond resides in the Smithsonian Museum, having been donated to the United States’ national museum by the famous Hollywood Jeweler, Harry Winston.
Many other famous diamonds have equally rich and lavish histories behind them. While most of these famous diamonds are of an extremely large carat weight (the Hope Diamond weighs in at 45.52 carats), many of them have poor cuts, clarity, and/or color. In short, the sheer size of these diamonds give them great value, but it is not size alone that makes such diamonds so valuable. Oftentimes, the people who own them and/or their histories can imbue particular diamonds with value beyond their measurements.
Wedding Bands
The Diamond Engagement Ring
As we know, diamonds have been used for over 2000 years as gemstones. However, the modern use of the diamond in the now-traditional engagement ring dates back to 1477. It was in this year that Maximilian I, the Archduke of Austria, presented a diamond engagement ring to Mary of Burgundy. There may have been other instances of diamonds being used in engagement rings prior to this particular betrothal gift, but this is the first recording of such an event.
Since that event over 500 years ago, the diamond engagement ring has gone from being a gift exclusive to royalty and the extremely wealthy, to becoming a traditional engagement presentation throughout much of the world. Every day, the engagement ring grows in popularity, as greater access to diamonds makes them more affordable and desirable to individuals the world over. While the US remains the largest consumer of diamonds for engagement rings today, Japan, India and China are quickly catching up to the number of sales of diamond engagement rings, something that had been a primarily western tradition up until recent years.
Summation
Diamonds are utilized for far more than just gemstones, but it is the use of them as gemstones that catches our imaginations and fascination. Diamonds are being utilized for cutting blades, drilling, polishing and other precision and strength-requiring industrial uses. One interesting new place that diamonds are being utilized is in computer technology. Research is well along the path towards utility in which nano-diamonds are being utilized to create processing and computing chips that are far more powerful than the currently utilized silicon-based computer processors and chips.
Despite all of the industrial uses, however, the gem diamond is still the diamond use that holds the greatest appeal for most of us. The amazing light properties that are produced by this hardest of all natural substances continues to delight and amaze us with each passing century. From those of us amazed and delighted by the tetrahedral bonding of the carbon atoms into a crystalline lattice that makes up a diamond, to those of us who simply enjoy the play of light and color that is created through this amazing, naturally occurring prism, diamonds continue to astound, delight and ignite the mind and the soul of people throughout time and the world.
For as long as we can trace back the history of human civilization, we can find the use of diamonds as gemstones, both for ornamental use and as symbolic totems. The allure of the diamond is often believed to be a modern creation of marketing, but this is a rather cynical assessment of the actual situation. The fact is that diamonds have had a pull on the human mind since they were first utilized by ancient civilizations in India, and it is simply that today’s modern mining and shipping achievements have allowed diamonds to be accessed by ever larger segments of societies throughout the world.
History
The earliest known written evidence of diamond mining comes from India in the 4th Century BCE (Before Common Era), although it is believed that diamonds had already been in use as gemstones prior to this early written reference. The name given to diamonds at that early date, ‘vajra’ and ‘indrayudha’, serves as evidence of the how diamonds were seen at the time. ‘Vajra’ is a Sanskrit word for “thunderbolt” and ‘indrayudha’ is ‘Indra’s weapon’, a reference to the King of the Demigods, Indra. With such attributes given to the diamond, it is clear that the Indians of over two millennia ago had a great appreciation for the hardness and light properties of the diamond.
The appreciation of the diamond was brought to the west through the Middle-East and ancient Greece. It was the Greeks who gave us ‘adamas’, a word given for the hardest substance in the world. It is believed that this word may have been given to other substances prior to the diamond, but once the Greeks became familiar with diamonds, they quickly made ‘adamas’ synonymous with diamond.
Once the west possessed diamonds, a love affair began that continues to this day. This love affair was not always based on the diamond’s aesthetic appeals, however. The Romans, for example, saw great appeal in the diamond for what they believed were its beneficial effects on their physical and spiritual well-being. It was thought that diamonds held the power to ward off evil spirits and forces, and so they wore the diamonds as protective wards rather than as simple jewelry. It is further believed that the Romans used splintered shards of diamond for various drill use. Both of these uses of diamond were probably borrowed by the Romans from the Indians, from whom all diamonds were still coming at the time.
As the Roman Empire waned, and Christianity began to rise as the dominant force in the West, the diamond was, for a time, abandoned. As the middle ages went through its thousand years, from about 500 CE (Common Era) to about 1400-1500 CE, the gem diamond was seen as a distraction from Christianity and a hold-over of a pagan era. However, even during this age, the diamond was studied, and many scholars wrote on the supernatural attributes of the diamond. For example, Marbode, the Bishop of Rennes, wrote of the diamond around 1070, “This stone has aptitude for magical arts, indomitable virtues it provides the bearer,…Cures insanity, strikes hard against enemies. For these purposes the stone should be set in silver, armored in gold, and fastened to the left arm.”
It was after the Renaissance, with the 17th century, that the diamond truly began to rise to the place it holds in today’s world of gems. During the Renaissance, the diamond began to be utilized in jewelry once again, but the primary focus was on the setting, rather than the gemstone itself. With the 17th century, however, the diamond began to be seen as it once had been in the East and the Middle East. The first brilliant cut was developed for the diamond during this century, which gave the west a new look at this ancient gem.
With the exploration of the new world in full swing, the 18th century saw vast new wealth flowing into Europe. Amongst this new world treasure was a new source of diamond, coming out of South America. Now, no longer beholden to the trade demands of the Eastern trade routes from the India mines, the wealthy of Europe were able to indulge in the diamond and the new cuts that were being developed.
What had been restricted to the wealthy classes of Europe was to become spread throughout the middle classes, with the discovery of diamonds in South Africa in the 19th century. The discovery of vast gem-quality diamond deposits in South Africa ignited a desire for diamonds amongst the middle classes that had never been seen prior to this age. This new atmosphere changed the idea of the diamond as being solely associated with royalty and the incredibly wealthy. In 1871, the French Crown Jewels were put up for sale by the French State and purchased by the American jeweler, Tiffany and Co. This purchase brought the wealth of royalty to the still young American nation, while also demonstrating the great wealth that the new country had begun to produce.
With the increased demand for diamonds there came more and more diamond cuts, with this near mania reaching an unprecedented height as the 19th century came to a close and the 20th century was born. With this new age came new technology, such as the acetylene torch, that allowed for greater shaping of diamond settings, as well as the introduction of the American Standard Cut (also known as the American Ideal Cut) by the engineer and diamond cutter Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919.
The new standard of measurements that allowed for the Ideal Cut meant that diamonds achieved a level of standardization of quality in cut that had never been achieved before. This new revolution in finished gem-quality diamond quality meant that diamond cutters could create the most brilliant diamonds possible out of any given gem-quality rough diamond. Suddenly those who were not extremely wealthy could afford to own a diamond that shone as brilliantly and with as much fire as the greatest cut diamonds known, if not better, considering that most famous diamonds were not cut to the ideal cut.
The diamond market did not really begin to boom in the United States, however, until the post-WWII period. The sales of diamonds, as well as other luxury items, had waned during the war years, as people were concerned more with the necessities of life than with the niceties. De Beers, the largest diamond company in the world, decided to take an aggressive approach to this situation. Rather than sit back and hope that the post war years would see an increase in the attention given to diamonds, they began an ad campaign whose primary slogan was “Diamonds are Forever.” From this point on, diamonds began a meteoric rise with the American and international public that is still going strong.
Today’s gem-diamond market had benefited from a number of factors working together. For one, the development of ever new technologies in mining and gem-cutting have allowed ever larger deposits of rough, gem-quality diamonds to be found and cut into finished gem diamonds at ever lower costs for the public. Through the development of new precision tools for diamond cutting and polishing, diamond cutters are able to take a rough diamond and transform it into a gem-diamond not simply faster and less expensively than ever before, but with a greater quality control than had ever been thought possible.
In addition to this industrial technological development, there has been a commercial technological development that has brought diamonds to more households than ever before. The new tool that has helped with the evolution of the gem-quality diamond market is the internet. The internet has not simply increased competition within the market, thus benefiting the public in keeping with the capitalistic paradigm, but the internet has allowed for greater choice, more informed purchasing, and greater access to diamonds from throughout the world. The internet allows anyone to access more information about diamonds than had ever been available in one place, and to use that information to find and purchase the diamond or diamonds that are right for them.
The 4Cs, Shape, Fluorescence, Ideal Cut and Hearts and Arrows
There is some basic information who anyone interested in diamonds should understand. Things to be familiar with are the 4Cs, shape, fluorescence, ideal cut, and hearts and arrows. With a working understanding of each of the items on this short list, an individual can confidently look through a set of diamonds without being overwhelmed or pressured into making an unwise purchase.
The 4Cs
While a detailed and informed understanding of the 4Cs is critical to a solid understanding of gem-quality diamonds, it is helpful to have a brief summation of them, allowing the diamond novice to explore more fully at her or his leisure. The 4Cs of diamonds are Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat. Each of these has their own importance, but Cut is generally felt to be the most critical to the formation of the final, polished diamond.
Cut refers to the entire process of bringing the rough diamond to the finished polished diamond that most people imagine when thinking of diamonds. Cut also refers to the actual process of cutting the rough diamond so as to give it its facets, tables and angles, which are the primary elements behind how much brilliance, fire and scintillation a diamond displays. The cut is a melding of the natural state of the diamond and the skill and art of the human cutter. It is for this reason that a skilled diamond cutter is of incredible importance: a rough diamond with great potential for brilliance, fire and scintillation can be laid to ruin by a poor cutter. On the same note, however, a rough diamond that holds little promise can often be made into a treasure of beauty and radiance by a highly skilled and patient diamond cutter.
The next of the 4Cs is Color. Color refers specifically to the diamond’s color, or lack thereof. The color of a diamond is important to be familiar with. There are several different scales used for grading color. The leading independent gemological laboratory, the GIA, has developed the scale that is the most well known. It begins at ‘D’ or ‘colorless’ and proceeds up along the alphabet, indicating a greater amount of noticeable color within the diamond. In most diamonds, a lack of color, or whiteness, is most desirable. However, in such diamonds which have a large amount of color, such as deep yellow or brown or traces of blue, pink or red, the desirability of the diamond increases with the intensity and notability of the particular color, and there are different grades used for fancy colored diamonds. It is also important to be aware that diamonds are graded for color as seen under a 10x loupe when they are loose, not when they are already set into a jewelry piece, because the kind of metal used in the setting can affect the perceived color of the stone.
The Clarity referred to in the 4Cs is in regards to the ease with which light can enter, exit and reflect off of the surfaces of a given diamond. While much of a diamond’s clarity is dependent on proper cut, as cut is what provides the facets (the triangular and rectangular surfaces of a cut diamond) and angles of the facets that allow for the proper play of light through, on and within a diamond, there is also a matter of what is found within the crystalline lattice of the diamond that effects clarity. Any foreign object found within a diamond, whether it be a group of foreign atoms or a crack in the crystalline lattice, is referred to as an inclusion. The amount, size and placement of inclusions within a diamond have the primary effect on its grading, which runs along a scale (again, according to the GIA) of ‘FL’ or ‘flawless’ to ‘I’ or ‘inclusions visible (to the naked eye)’. The closer to flawless a diamond is, the greater its price will be. As with color, a diamond’s clarity is graded under a 10x loupe and while loose, not set.
The final of the 4Cs is Carat. Carat is the simplest of the 4Cs to grasp, but it also tends to have the greatest impact on price. Carat is the unit of weight measurement that is utilized to express the weight of diamonds and is equal to 200 milligrams, 1/5th of a gram or one seven thousandths of an ounce. This minuscule measurement comes out of the near weight of the carob seed (which had been used in the ancient world with gemstones for its uniform weight), for which the carat received its name, coming through ancient Greek from Arabic. Today’s carat is a scientifically measured weight, and is a great determinant in the pricing of a diamond, as the larger the carat-size of a diamond, the greater the cost. Diamonds become increasingly rare as their carat size increases, and so diamonds are priced by carat. In other words, a diamond of one carat could be priced at $500. Yet a diamond of identical cut, color and clarity, but of two carats, might be priced at $1500, or $750 a carat, rather than $500, as with the single carat stone.
Shape
Shape is a category that is often confused with cut. Cut is utilized to produce a particular shape, but to say that they are one and the same is like calling the taste of a particular food a recipe. Shape is the result of the diamond cutters work of taking a rough stone, cutting it and polishing it. The shape that results from this work can be round, square, rectangular or any number of other types of shape. In short, shape is the actual physical parameters of a diamond once it has been cut and polished.
Each shape has different properties that give each particular shape its own appeal. For example, the round shapes are ideal for bringing out the greatest display of brilliance, fire and scintillation. If one is looking for a high luster and deep, warm glow, however, the square shapes are better at producing such light effects, as well as maintaining a higher carat weight than many other shapes. Shape is also an important consideration in regards to how the diamond will look on one’s hand, meaning that long diamonds can create the illusion of lengthening the fingers, while rounder diamonds can accentuate a shortening of the fingers.
Fluorescence
Fluorescence is another factor that many people are beginning to hear about in regards to diamonds. Fluorescence is an effect that some diamonds can have under ultraviolet light in which the diamond flashes white-blue. This is created through the effect of the ultraviolet light on boron atoms that are trapped within some diamonds during their formation in the earth.
While some people may be worried about fluorescence having a negative effect on their diamonds, this is an unnecessary concern. The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) conducted extensive research on the subject in 1997. The results of their studies found that only 1% of diamonds with fluorescence showed a negative effect on the diamond. These are referred to as ‘overblues’. The rest of the diamonds with fluorescence showed either no effect or a positive effect from the fluorescence, as the fluorescence positively influenced the diamond’s color.
Ideal Cut
The ideal cut is a fairly straightforward title for a type of cut. It comes out of the research and study published by Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919. In this study, Tolkowsky published the measurement and placement of facets, angles, the crown, pavilion, table and girdle of the diamond that would produce the greatest brilliance, fire and scintillation in a given diamond. The ideal shape was found to be the round. Since then, ongoing research using modern technological advances have allowed cutters to make improvements on Tolkowsky’s original measurements, creating ever more ‘ideal’ ideal cuts, also sometimes referred to as ‘super ideal cut’.
Hearts and Arrows
Carrying on from the ideal cut, the Hearts and Arrows cut is similar in that it is a round brilliant cut created to produce a tremendous display of brilliance, fire and scintillation. However, the Hearts and Arrows cut has another primary goal. It was discovered in the 1980s in Japan that some diamonds, when cut toward the ideal cut, would display an effect of 8 arrows when viewed loose from the table, or top, down, and 8 heart shapes when viewed from the bottom up. It also so happens, that in order to best get this display, the cut must be so precise that the produced diamond, while not necessarily ‘super ideal cut’, is extremely expensive. This is due to the enormous carat weight lost and greater amount of time required in order to produce the proper display of the Hearts and Arrows design.
Rapaport
When looking to buy a diamond, being familiar with the 4Cs, shape, fluorescence and ideal cut can help, but it will give you only a part of the story. Another important thing to be aware of is the general market price for a particular type of diamond that you might be interested in, such as the general price for a one carat, VS1, ‘G’, round brilliant cut. To find out such general price information, people turn to the Rapaport Guide. This is a guide published by Martin Rapaport that gives a general guide for the going market price for diamonds of different carat size, cut, color and clarity. It cannot give exact prices, as each diamond is unique, but it can allow one to see the general area of pricing into which the diamond that one is interested in falls.
Famous Diamonds
Of course, there are diamonds which go beyond pricing based primarily on the 4Cs. These are the famous diamonds of the world. Such diamonds as the Hope Diamond, the Cullinan and the Darya-ye Noor are all beyond calculating their value through the 4Cs and other standard forms of price-valuation. These and other famous diamonds, while larger than most normal diamonds, have achieved fame through their rich histories, their famous owners or both.
A good example of this can be found with the Hope Diamond. The Hope Diamond has received much of its fame due to its long and rich history, as well as its various owners throughout the ages. The Hope was originally brought to the West out of India by the explorer and merchant, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, in the 1660s. The stone he purchased, or may have stolen, became known as the ‘Tavernier Blue’ for its notable blue color. He sold this stone to the King of France, Louis the XIV. The blue stone was cut down and became known as the ‘French Blue’, becoming a part of the Royal French Jewels.
The blue stone disappeared after the French Revolution, reappearing again in London in the beginning of the 19th century. The stone that appeared had been cut down to near the current parameters of the Hope Diamond as it now appears. Until recently, it was not known if the lost ‘French Blue’ and the Hope Diamond were one in the same. However, recent computer mapping based on the extensive diagrams drawn by French scientists of the ‘French Blue’ over the years of its inclusion with the French Royal Jewels have demonstrated that the Hope Diamond was, in fact, cut out of the ‘French Blue’.
By the 20th Century, the Hope Diamond had received its current name, and was in the possession of a famous socialite, Ms. Evalyn Walsh McLean. By the time of her taking possession of the blue diamond it not only held a long and rich history, involving theft, travel across continents, war and royal ownership, but it had also received tales of a curse. In fact, the tales of the curse, as recounted, and embellished upon, by Paris jeweler, Pierre Cartier, were the primary allure that sold Ms. McLean on purchasing the Hope Diamond. She believed that anything that was bad luck for the rest of the world would be good luck for her. By the end of her life, she was deep in debt, her husband had left her, gone mad and died, her son had been run over by a car while still a child, and her daughter had died of an overdose of drugs. Today, the Hope Diamond resides in the Smithsonian Museum, having been donated to the United States’ national museum by the famous Hollywood Jeweler, Harry Winston.
Many other famous diamonds have equally rich and lavish histories behind them. While most of these famous diamonds are of an extremely large carat weight (the Hope Diamond weighs in at 45.52 carats), many of them have poor cuts, clarity, and/or color. In short, the sheer size of these diamonds give them great value, but it is not size alone that makes such diamonds so valuable. Oftentimes, the people who own them and/or their histories can imbue particular diamonds with value beyond their measurements.
Wedding Bands
The Diamond Engagement Ring
As we know, diamonds have been used for over 2000 years as gemstones. However, the modern use of the diamond in the now-traditional engagement ring dates back to 1477. It was in this year that Maximilian I, the Archduke of Austria, presented a diamond engagement ring to Mary of Burgundy. There may have been other instances of diamonds being used in engagement rings prior to this particular betrothal gift, but this is the first recording of such an event.
Since that event over 500 years ago, the diamond engagement ring has gone from being a gift exclusive to royalty and the extremely wealthy, to becoming a traditional engagement presentation throughout much of the world. Every day, the engagement ring grows in popularity, as greater access to diamonds makes them more affordable and desirable to individuals the world over. While the US remains the largest consumer of diamonds for engagement rings today, Japan, India and China are quickly catching up to the number of sales of diamond engagement rings, something that had been a primarily western tradition up until recent years.
Summation
Diamonds are utilized for far more than just gemstones, but it is the use of them as gemstones that catches our imaginations and fascination. Diamonds are being utilized for cutting blades, drilling, polishing and other precision and strength-requiring industrial uses. One interesting new place that diamonds are being utilized is in computer technology. Research is well along the path towards utility in which nano-diamonds are being utilized to create processing and computing chips that are far more powerful than the currently utilized silicon-based computer processors and chips.
Despite all of the industrial uses, however, the gem diamond is still the diamond use that holds the greatest appeal for most of us. The amazing light properties that are produced by this hardest of all natural substances continues to delight and amaze us with each passing century. From those of us amazed and delighted by the tetrahedral bonding of the carbon atoms into a crystalline lattice that makes up a diamond, to those of us who simply enjoy the play of light and color that is created through this amazing, naturally occurring prism, diamonds continue to astound, delight and ignite the mind and the soul of people throughout time and the world.
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