Diamonds
Diamonds
Every person is unique, and so is every diamond…
The mere mention of a diamond inspires thoughts of luxury, love and beauty. A natural wonder that dazzles tirelessly, a diamond is a fiery, brilliant display of the earth’s best work and at Grahams we take pleasure in finding the perfect stone to make that special moment and captivate and delight the wearer.
Diamonds are known as the "King of Gems", the diamond is the most precious of gemstones, famed for both its fiery brilliance and its hardness. It derives its name from the Greek word "adamas", which means "invincible". In addition to being the hardest of gemstones, diamond is the simplest in composition. Like graphite or charcoal, diamond is carbon, however it is crystallised under enormous pressure and at extremely high temperatures. Typically diamonds form at great depths within the earth where these conditions exist and over millions if not billions of years. Geographically, the diamond production leaders are Australia, Zaire, Botswana, Russia and South Africa.
The Beauty of a Diamond – Brilliance, Fire and Scintillation
The beauty of a diamond comes from the light that passes through it, or that is reflected from it. As a ray of light enters the diamond, it changes direction according to the refractive index. This means the ray of light will strike and bounce off every facet within the diamond. The unique beauty of a diamond is due to the combination of three separate elements; its 'Brilliance', 'dispersion of fire' and its 'scintillation'.
The 'brilliance' of a diamond is the intensity of white light that is reflected by the gem. Due to the fact that diamonds have a great power of refraction, a diamond will always seem to attract light.
'Dispersion of fire' is the manner in which a diamond breaks up a ray of white light into the colours of the spectrum. When a ray of light leaves the top surface of a diamond, it is separated into many colours. When we see this, it is easy to understand why this effect is called the 'dispersion of fire'.
The flashing and twinkling sparkle of a diamond is called 'scintillation'. A diamond will always be more beautiful in motion, because its 'scintillation' depends upon the number of facets visible to the eye when the diamond moves.
4C’s Buying Advice
Diamonds are the hardest, most imperishable, and most brilliant of all the gemstones. When buying and valuing a diamond there are 5 factors to take into consideration. These 5 factors are known as the 5 Cs. The 4Cs are Carat weight, Colour, Clarity and Cut of the Diamond, the 5th C is the confidence that you are dealing with an experienced jeweller and the diamond you purchase is guaranteed.
Carat Weight
The weight of a diamond is measured in 'carats' (ct). It is an ancient measuring unit derived from the seeds of the carob tree. One carat is divided into 100 points. Diamonds of less than one carat in weight are known as 'pointers'.
| CARAT WEIGHT (ct) | Points |
| 1 carat | 100 |
| 3/4 carat | 75 |
| 1/2 carat | 50 |
| 1/4 carat | 25 |
Colour
A diamond’s colour is one of the important factors in determining its value. The nearer a diamond is to being absolutely colourless, the more valuable it will be. Most diamonds used in jewellery will appear to be white or colourless but very few are totally colourless.
Whilst white diamonds are valued for their lack of colour, other diamonds are valued for their depth of colour. These diamonds will have a strong distinct colour such as yellow, brown, green, blue or pink. These spectacular coloured diamonds are known as ‘fancies’.
On the colour chart, ‘D’ represents a diamond that is pure white. Obviously ‘D’ colour is very rare and most of the gems that are offered in the retail market range from ‘H’ to ‘L’ in colour. The colour grade scale goes all the way up to ‘Z’.
| Colour | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | « -- » | Z |
| Scale | Exceptional White + | Exceptional White | Rare White+ | Rare White | White | Slightly Tinted White | Slightly Tinted White | Tinted White | Tinted White | Tinted Colour | Tinted Colour | Tinted Colour |
Clarity
As diamonds are formed in the earth over millions of years, there will inevitably be imperfections as carbon crystallises to become a diamond - As we all know, nature is rarely perfect.. These imperfections of crystallisation, which occur in the diamond, are known as ‘inclusions’.
There are many types of inclusions that can occur within a diamond.
‘Feather’ is an inclusion that gives the impression that part of the internal gem is ‘chipped’. This is also known as a ‘Beauty Spot’.
‘Specks’ and ‘Hairlines’ are black dots and lines throughout the diamond, which is simply uncrystallised carbon.
The type, number, size and position of the inclusions determine the clarity of a diamond and as long as they do not affect the passage of light through the diamond, the inclusion will not detract from its beauty.
So, a ‘flawless’ diamond is not necessarily a perfect diamond. It only means that no imperfections or inclusions are visible to a trained eye, using a 10x magnification in good light. The chart below is used to grade a diamond based on its inclusions.
FL, IF Diamonds: Flawless: No internal or external flaws. Internally Flawless: No internal flaws. Very rare and beautiful diamonds.
VVS1, VVS2 Diamonds:
Very, Very Slightly Included: Very difficult to see inclusions under 10x magnification. An excellent quality diamond.
VS1, VS2 Diamonds:
Very Slightly Included: Inclusions are not typically visible to the unaided eye. Less expensive than the VVS1 or VVS2 grades.
SI1, SI2 Diamonds:
Slightly Included: Inclusions are not typically visible to the unaided eye. Less expensive than the VS1 or VS2 grades.
P1, P2, P3 Diamonds:
Inclusions are visible to the unaided eye
Cut
Whilst we know that nature is responsible for most of a diamonds characteristics, the cut of a diamond is the work and artistry of an individual. When a diamond is cut precisely to the right proportion, light is reflected from facet to facet until it is bounced back outside the diamond through the top of the stone. For example, if two identical diamonds are placed side by side and one is less brilliant and fiery than the other, the fault lies in the cutting. A careful examination of that stone will show that its facet angles and proportions are not those of the perfectly cut diamond and therefore cannot demand as high a price.
A well cut diamond
So why aren’t all Diamonds cut to ideal proportions?
When a diamond cutter is given a diamond crystal to cut into a finished diamond, he has a choice to make: Will he cut the largest diamond that he can from the rough crystal or will he cut the brightest and most brilliant diamond that he can?
If he goes for the largest diamond he will sacrifice some brilliance. If he goes for the most brilliant he will sacrifice some size. The more brilliant diamond is smaller but is valuable because it is so brilliant. The larger diamond is valuable because it is large, but is worth less per carat because it is not so brilliant.
At Grahams we strongly recommend the brighter ideal cut because if its brilliance…a brilliance that will last forever.
There are many different styles of cut available
Every person has their own unique style, and there are many diamond cuts available to suit the beautiful settings whether they be traditional or more modern styles.
Diamond Certificates
Our EGL, GIA ,HRD and IGI certificates are recognized around the globe for their integrity, defining industry standards in evaluation and appraisal. Nevertheless even these institutions vary sometimes when grading the same diamond because The best grading available to date has not yet been proven to be an exact science. These diamond grading laboratories maintain a worldwide presence in the major diamond trading centres, cooperate with leading organizations including the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and run extensive educational programs as part of their dedication to standardize all gradings and raising the level of professionalism in the field. We therefore refuse to be drawn into having to defend any certificates that we supply with any of our diamond jewellery should they be at odds with a local jeweller or any other grading laboratory . We will however be happy to defend the fact that all our diamond jewellery represents excellent value for money.
