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What Makes a Diamond Special?
Thinking of diamonds evokes sparkling, brilliant and scintillating
images of light shimmering through the world’s most beautiful gemstone. No
wonder, diamonds have always been sought after gems, enslaving humans by their
beauty.
The Romans thought diamonds
as splinters from falling stars, while the Greeks regarded them as tears
of Gods. Diamonds derive their name from the Greek word “Adamas" which
means invincible. For some diamonds symbolize power, and for others they
depict eternal love and ignite romantic passion.
Primary Token of Love?
Diamonds claimed their place
as primary tokens of love toward the end of 15th century, the time when
Austrian Archduke Maximilian presented his betrothed with a diamond
engagement ring. It was placed in the left hand’s fourth finger, from
which a vein directly goes to the heart. This was a trendsetter for
diamonds being used for depicting endless love.
The circular shape of a
wedding ring symbolizes eternal love. Gold represents enduring beauty,
purity, and strength, all appropriate marriage sentiments. Why wear the
ring on the third finger of the left hand? The ancient Egyptians
believed that the vein in that finger ran directly to the heart. As for
that big rock of an engagement ring, brides have the Archduke
Maximillian of Austria and Mary of Burgundy to thank for that: In 1477
he offered his beloved a diamond as a betrothal gift -- the first
recorded diamond engagement ring.
What Do Diamonds
Symbolize?
Diamonds are known to
symbolize everlasting love, eternity and power; and are an unmatched
paragon. A diamond has always fascinated humans and enkindled the
passion and emotion since the event of their discovery. Diamond is an
excellent investment if someone is looking for something that can be
considered to represent a timeless gift and symbol of purity and
commitment or a beautiful piece of art.
Beauty
The spark and fire from a well cut diamond has made diamonds valued as
precious gemstones. Each diamond is unique in its own way, and diamonds
are available in many beautiful shapes and cut types that exhibit a
diamond’s beauty and sparkle in their own unique way.
The colorless
beauty and inner fire of the diamond has made this precious gem prized
for centuries. Each stone's complex characteristics cannot be
duplicated, and no two diamonds can ever be the same. Each stone, like
its owner, is endowed with a personality and character uniquely its own.
A diamond's
beauty comes from the light it returns - called brilliance and fire.
These qualities live in every stone. Yet they can only be released
through the cut. For centuries, cutters sought to unlock the secret of
perfect light return. But their efforts remained unsuccessful until
their art came together with science.
Diamond's
brilliance is the most important characteristic of the many
characteristics often described of diamond. Diamond's brilliance is the
core of the beauty of diamond. Brilliance is the life of the diamond .
Brilliant diamonds explode with light, catching people's eye
inadvertently, sparkling in candlelight, adding elegance and glamor to a
woman's whole being.
Diamond
brilliance is defined as the reflection of a bright white light from the
facets of the diamond and is determined by the artistry of the cutting
and polishing. Each facet must be cut and shaped with precision, and
placed with perfect symmetry. A beautifully polished diamond provides
maximum luster or light reflected from its surfaces.
Durability
A diamond holds great value as a gem, and is the hardest of all natural
materials. This makes it resistant to scratches and deterioration. The
famous slogan from the renowned company, De Beers, “A Diamond is
Forever" confirms that diamond jewelry is a lifelong asset. When cared
for properly, diamond jewelry can be worn every day and passed on as an
heirloom to the next generation.
We know
that Diamond is the hardest substance found in nature, but few people
realize that Diamond is four times harder than the next hardest natural
mineral, corundum (sapphire and ruby). But even as hard as it is, it is
not impervious. Diamond has four directions of cleavage, meaning that if
it receives a sharp blow in one of these directions it will cleave, or
split. A skilled diamond setter and/or jeweler will prevent any of these
directions from being in a position to be struck while mounted in a
jewelry piece.
Diamonds
are the hardest and most brilliant of all gems and were once used in
medicine because they were believed to produce longevity, energy,
strength, and a good complexion. Hardness is not the only measure of a
mineral's durability. Its relative resistance to fracture is another
important measure of its durability.
Rarity
Are diamonds rare? It is ironic that during the lifetime of Sir Ernest
Oppenheimer, the founder of the largest Diamond Cartel - De Beers - over
a 100 years ago, De Beers never discovered a diamond mine itself.
Oppenheimers saw little point to investing profits in exploring for
diamonds, since De Beers essentially made its profits from scarcity not
from an abundance of diamonds. De Beers artificially restrict the flow
of diamonds, both by stockpiling diamonds in their vault in London and
by manipulating the open market so as to drive up the price and maintain
and even increase demand by aggressive advertising campaigns for the
illusion of diamonds.
Author
Matthew Hart says that today diamonds plainly are not rare, especially
consumer quality gems commonly used for engagement rings. "There is a
large supply of diamonds," Hart said. "In fact there is more than 100
million carats a year of diamonds that come out of the ground. That
might be as many as 800 million separate stones. That's not to say
they're not hard to find and it doesn't cost a lot of money to find
them, because it does
Although
only 20 percent of all mined diamonds are of gem quality (all others go
for industrial use) and of these 20 percent even fewer are graded as
pure quality diamonds, critics claim that the perceived rarity or
scarcity of diamond as a gem is artificially created by the well known
diamond cartel - De Beers.
Read more about the Diamond Cartel and the
Artificial Scarcity
Enduring Value
Market prices of diamond tend to fluctuate, but diamond being very
precious gem always retains its value. These sparkling gemstones retain
their value even after years of being worn and enjoyed.
For
centuries, people have found that the sparkle and brilliance of a
quality diamond expresses their deepest emotions and symbolizes their
enduring love. Yet with many beautiful diamonds to choose from-and no
two alike-how do you choose the right diamond while spending wisely? We
recommend getting to know what makes diamonds precious and desirable
such as the the 4Cs of diamond and buying only from reliable sources who
are reputable and provide diamond certification and product guarantees.
The
Gemological Institute of America ( GIA ) and American Gem Society (AGS)
grade many diamonds of one carat or greater according to the four Cs:
cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. The interplay of the four Cs
determines a diamond's value. A diamond's value rises as its size, or
carat weight, increases; a carat is one-fifth of a gram, or about 7 /
1,000 of an ounce.
Gemological
Institute of America's (GIA) quality analysis system and American Gem
Society's (AGS) grading systems are the most widely used methods for
grading gemstones in the United States.
Diamond Fluorescence
Fluorescence is the emission of bluish light emitted by about one third
of gem-quality diamonds when exposed to long-wave ultraviolet light. The
intensity may vary from faint to very strong. Under normal lighting conditions,
this property of fluorescence is not detectable. However, a naturally
fluorescent diamond tends to emit a soft colored glow when held under an
ultraviolet lamp or “black light". Fluorescence is not harmful to the diamond or
to the wearer........
Read more...
Get to Know Diamonds
A symbol of innocence, justice, faith and strength, the diamond was
believed to make its wearers courageous and victorious over their enemies. When
set in gold and worn on the left side, it held the power to drive away
nightmares and soothe savage beasts. Diamonds were even thought to be so
powerful that they could stop lechery.
Diamonds have lured and
fascinated us for centuries. Their ores and lore recorded romantic and
bloody events in the past. Diamonds have been long cherished and sought
after, fought over and killed for in the human history simply because of
its beauty and the fascination....
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What Makes a Diamond so Special?
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