Your guide to diamond

diamond

Diamonds are probably one of the most well-known gemstones. They are in fact basic carbon with the same composition as charcoal, but they have a different chemical structure which makes them one of the hardest natural minerals on earth.

It is the birthstone for the month of April and marks the 60th anniversary in western cultures.

Diamonds are formed at great depths within the earth, and are brought closer to the surface by volcanic activity and such. Some diamonds are up to 3.3 billion years old, while others are less than a billion.

As diamonds are very hardwearing and resistant to scratching it makes them an ideal stone for rings which naturally get a lot of wear and tear.

Diamond value is decided by the four C’s which are cut, clarity, color and carat. See our diamond buying guide for more information on these qualities. Price can vary greatly, and some fancy diamonds (blue or pink) can command quite high prices as can pure transparent diamonds, due to their rarity. The clear gems, graded D-F on the colour scale are rare and therefore highly valued. Value will decrease in most ‘white’ gems as the yellow tint increases, making grades G-Y more common but less desirable and less valuable the lower down the scale you go. There is an exception to this rule as bright yellow gems, graded Z, are also rare which makes these highly desirable.

Natural diamonds are worth more than synthetic ones, although as the manufacturing process becomes better it becomes harder and harder to tell the difference. In fact more diamonds are synthetically produced than are mined each year, despite the fact that man made diamonds are more expensive to produce than mining natural ones.

Contrary to popular belief not all diamonds are clear. Most mineral contain tiny amount of other elements, these can quite often show up as a coloured tint to the stone. diamonds can come in many colors from yellow to blue. The most famous blue diamond is the “hope diamond”, which takes its fantastic blue color from trace amounts of boron.

The largest gem quality rough diamond ever found was the Cullian diamond, It weighed over 3,100 carats before it was cut. one of the diamonds cut from it (the Cullian I)is now part of the british crown jewels, and was until 1985 the largest cut gem weighing in at 530 carats.

In 1985 the Cullian I was surpassed by the golden jubilee, weighing in at 545 carats.

The largest FLAWLESS (grade D) cut diamond is the centenary diamond which weights in at 273 carats.