Diamond Education
Diamonds are the rarest and most valuable natural gemstone. With so many characteristics and attributes, diamond buying can be a difficult task. For this reason it is important to not only learn as much as you can before making your purchase, but also to see your diamond live, as pictures and videos can be misleading. The guide below is by no means complete, and if you would like more information on diamonds or jewelry in general please feel free to contact us.
Cut
Diamonds are cut to maximize the sparkle, fire, brilliance and overall visual beauty of a diamond. The cut is a measure of light performance as light hits a diamond. Before a diamond is cut and polished, it is known as a rough diamond. The skin of the rough diamond is opaque and often difficult to see through. Rough diamonds have little to no sparkle. This is because they lack facets or faces that bounce and reflect light. Diamonds sparkle is a result of light performance. As light hits a diamond, it penetrates the diamond, bounces around and reflects within the diamond and ultimately returns light to your eye. That is the sparkle that you see.The cutting of a diamond directly impacts the amount of light performance achieved. The angles, locations, sizes and shapes of facets will determine the diamond sparkle.
Color
Diamonds are cut to maximize the sparkle, fire, brilliance and overall visual beauty of a diamond. The cut is a measure of light performance as light hits a diamond. Before a diamond is cut and polished, it is known as a rough diamond. The skin of the rough diamond is opaque and often difficult to see through. Rough diamonds have little to no sparkle. This is because they lack facets or faces that bounce and reflect light. Diamonds sparkle is a result of light performance. As light hits a diamond, it penetrates the diamond, bounces around and reflects within the diamond and ultimately returns light to your eye. That is the sparkle that you see.The cutting of a diamond directly impacts the amount of light performance achieved. The angles, locations, sizes and shapes of facets will determine the diamond sparkle.
Clarity
Inclusions found on a diamond can be considered nature's birthmarks, the distinguishing characteristics that make the stone unique. When grading a diamond, the amount of inclusions and blemishes has a direct impact on its clarity and value. Flawless diamonds containing no inclusions are extremely rare and very expensive. A majority of the commercially sold diamonds contains inclusions that are undetectable to the unaided eye.
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A diamond's clarity rating is based on the size, number, and location of internal and external characteristics. As most inclusions can't be seen by the naked eye, gemologists use a ten-power (10x) microscope to rate a diamond's clarity.
Carat
The carat is the standard unit of measurement used to indicate the weight of diamonds and precious gemstones. Since 1913, carat weight has been gauged against the metric system, with one carat equaling 0.2 grams or 0.007 ounces. Carat weight is measured to three decimal points and rounded to the nearest hundredth.
The origin of the word -carat- lies in the Mediterranean region, where carob trees have flourished since ancient times. The seeds of the carob tree were once used as units of measurement against which diamonds were weighed. One carob seed is roughly equivalent to one modern carat, the word we use today to describe the weight of diamonds.
In the Far East, diamonds were historically weighed against grains of rice, resulting in the coining of the term 'grainer'. Today, gemologists still quantify the weight of diamonds in grainers. A four-grainer diamond is equal to one carat.