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Information About Diamonds...

Physical properties

Before making a diamond purchase one must know the 4 C's first; carat weight, diamond clarity, diamond color and diamond cut (not shape). Other advanced characteristics of diamonds include diamond fluorescence and diamond enhancements. By understanding what all the diamond characteristics are and what to ask when purchasing a diamond, you are much more empowered when it comes time to make your diamond investment. When purchasing diamonds either for your engagement ring, diamond stud earrings, tennis bracelets or other jewelry, make sure the diamonds you select best suit that type of jewelry application. Visit our engagement rings section to see some of the most popular ring setting designs. Some diamond qualities are best suited for engagement rings while others are best suited for diamond stud earrings. For more help, see our Diamond Applications Guide. You may also want to check out our sections on Canadian Diamonds and Conflict Diamonds as well. By getting a Conflict Free Canadian Diamond, you can be sure your diamond was not used in funding war or terrorism.

Diamond Shapes

	Round Brilliant - Do not confuse with round. The round brilliant is the modern version of the round which has been refined for maximum shine. The round brilliant is by far the most popular and has the best angles for which to shine maximum brilliance.
	Oval - Not as popular for solitaires, but very popular for three stone anniversary rings, with two matching diamonds on the sides.
	Princess - A square cut diamond that has refractive properties almost near round brilliant. The princess is the preferred square cut shape over radiant.
	Emerald - A more traditional shape, the emerald is not as popular as it used as it once was, but has an old world elegance to it.
	Radiant - Popular before the princess shape was around, the radiant has more facets than a princess, but has the corners trimmed like the emerald shape. This shape is not widely popular.
	Heart - Hard to find due to low demand, but some people prefer a heart shape diamond for sentimental purposes.
	Marquise - Like the emerald, the marquise is a traditional shape. This is probably the fourth most popular shape behind the round, princess and oval.
	Pear - Mostly used in pendants, the pear shape diamond is shaped in a tear drop shape and has fairly good proportions to refract light well.

 

Diamond Enhancements

There are a variety of diamond enhancements or treatments a diamond can undergo that can significantly alter the price of the diamond when compared to a natural diamond. The FTC requires all diamond merchants to disclose all diamond enhancements and treatments to their customers. Failure to do so can result in fraudulent charges and lawsuits against the diamond dealer. When buying a diamond, it is recommended to simply ask for a non-treated or enhanced diamond and have the merchant clearly indicate on the invoice somewhere that the diamond is in fact, not treated and 100% natural mined from the earth. Listed below are some treatments that are done with gemstones.

Bleaching: The use of chemicals or other agents to lighten or remove a gemstone's color to achieve a brighter/whiter diamond.

Gamma/Electron Irradiation: The use of gamma and/or electron bombardment to alter a gemstone's color; may be followed by a heating process. Heating: The use of heat in a high temperature sintering furnace to effect desired alteration of color, clarity, and/or phenomena.

Infilling/Fracture Filling: The intentional filling of surface breaking cavities or fractures usually with glass, plastic, opticon with hardeners and/or other hardened foreign substances to improve durability, appearance and/or add weight. The foriegn material will have a different index of refraction than diamond, and a trained gemologist can see the light bending within the stone.

Lasering: A laser is used to penetrate a diamond and remove certain black inclusions. Chemicals are then used to further reach and alter inclusions in diamonds.

Oiling/Resin Infusion: The intentional filling of surface cavities of a colorless oil, wax, natural resin, or unhardened man-made material into fissured transparent/translucent gemstones to improve appearance. (i.e., oil, man-made resin, paraffin, etc.)

Irradiation: The use of neutron bombardment, with the combination of any other bombardment and/or heat treatment to alter a gemstone's color.

Conflict Diamonds

Conflict diamonds are diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments. These diamonds are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments. The diamonds are sold on the black market and are used to propagate a bloody war which victimizes many children. The last thing anyone wants on their mind when making a diamond purchase is to know that their diamond possibly helped aid such a violent and brutal act of aggression.

How can a conflict diamond be distinguished from a legitimate diamond?

A well-structured 'Certificate of Origin' regime can be an effective way of ensuring that only legitimate diamonds -- that is, those from government-controlled areas -- reach market. Additional controls by Member States and the diamond industry are needed to ensure that such a regime is effective. These measures might include the standardization of the certificate among diamond exporting countries, transparency, auditing and monitoring of the regime and new legislation against those who fail to comply. Many diamonds now mined in the Yukon within Canada now come with certificate of origin which eliminate the possibility of conflict diamonds. Legislation is being passed in North America which will require all diamonds being sold to be verified as conflict-free diamonds.

Asscher Cut Diamonds

The modern Asscher cut: The Asscher Cut was developed by Joseph Asscher, who was commissioned by the Royal Family to cut the world's largest diamond in history; the 3,106ct Cullinan diamond. After which he invented the now-famous Asscher cut, this cut reached it's peak of popularity in the 1920's in very limited production. Up until 2001, the Asscher cut was a hard to come by commodity and available mostly in antique shops or art deco jewelry dealers.

In 2001, the cut went through considerable reasearch and development and was re-launced with new specifcations and addtional facets for a more brilliant shine. Now Asscher cuts have been revatilized especially with the increasing popularity of square shapes, princess and asscher cuts are in demand more than ever.

You can expect to pay a 10-20% premium for Asscher cut diamonds, but they really need to be seen in person to be appreciated. They're not nessessarily any more brilliant than round brilliant cuts or have more flashes of light, however they are spectacular diamonds to look at with a very unique cut pattern.

Diamond Fluorescence

Fluorescence as a term means that a diamond will glow (in blue) under a UV lamp when illuminated. It was used originally in diamond certifications as additional information for identification, but eventually it began to affect the value of the diamonds.

How does Diamond Fluorescence affect price?

The impact of blue fluorescence on price depends on its noticeability. For some higher color stones, fluorescence gives the stone a milky white appearance, which greatly lowers value. In some instances, the fluorescence is hardly noticeable and has minimal impact on the stone's brilliance and value. Fluorescence often adds value to lower color stones as it gives the stones a whiter, brighter appearance. Some buyers regularly pay better prices for highly fluorescent "I" color and lower stones. Yellow fluorescence may require an additional 5 to 10 percent discount. Generally, the higher the quality and price per carat the more strong fluorescence lowers value.

Diamonds containing fluorescence fluctuate in prices roughly by the following:

For D to H colors	IF to VS	SI1 to I3
Very Strong Fluorescence	-8% to -12%	-3% to 0%
Strong Fluorescence	-5% to - 7%	-1% to 0%
Medium Fluorescence	-2% to - 4%	0%

For I to N colors	IF to VS	SI1 to I3
Very Strong Fluorescence	0% to +4%	0% to +4%
Strong Fluorescence	0% to +4%	0% to +4%
Medium Fluorescence	0% to +3%	0% to +3%
Slight to Faint	0% to +1%	0%

 

Ideal Cut Diamondsl

So what is Ideal Cut? Everyone has their own opinion on what Ideal is. Some people prefer a diamond to have a somewhat larger table, say around 60%, so the diamond "looks" bigger, some want the Tolkowsky Ideal cut, as calculated in the early 20th century by mathematician Markov Tolkowsky. The diagram below describes the Class 1 and 2 grades of GIA. They are the largest body in the world for diamond grading, and we use their classifications to grade our diamonds. Class 1 is Ideal. Class 2 is Very Fine, Class 3 is Fair, and Class 4 is Poor. We do not sell Class 3 or 4 diamonds. All diamonds we sell that are 0.50ct or larger on this website fall into the GIA's definition of "Ideal - Very Fine" Class, and are as follows:

Please keep in mind that diamonds other than round brilliant do not always have their cuts measured in such detail because they are classified as "fancy cut" diamonds and have very loose tolerances. For more information regarding our "fancy cut" diamond specifications, please contact us.

When buying a diamond, especially a round brilliant cut diamond, it is always best to have a complete analysis of cut. This will tell you all the specifications of the diamond's cut such as table percentage, depth percentage, etc., usually obtained from a scope (or megascope). Ask your jeweler for this report on cut if you are making a large diamond purchase.

Origin of a natural pearl

Previously natural pearls were found in many parts of the world. Present day natural pearling is confined mostly to seas off Bahrain. Australia also has one of the world's last remaining fleets of pearl diving ships. Australian pearl divers dive for south sea pearl oysters to be used in the cultured south sea pearl industry. The catch of pearl oysters is similar to the numbers of oysters taken during the natural pearl days. Hence significant numbers of natural pearls are still found in the Australian Indian Ocean waters from wild oysters. X-Ray examination is required to positively verify natural pearls found today.

Different types of cultured pearlsl

Black pearls, frequently referred to as Black Tahitian Pearls, are highly valued because of their rarity; the culturing process for them dictates a smaller volume output and can never be mass produced. This is due to bad health and/or non-survival of the process, rejection of the nucleus (the small object such as a tiny fish, grain of sand or crab that slips naturally inside an oyster's shell or inserted by a human), and their sensitivity to changing climatic and ocean conditions. Before the days of cultured pearls, black pearls were rare and highly valued for the simple reason that white pearl oysters rarely produced natural black pearls, and black pearl oysters rarely produced any natural pearls at all. Since pearl culture technology, the black pearl oyster found in Tahiti and many other Pacific Island area has been extensively used for producing cultured pearls. The rarity of the black cultured pearl is now a "comparative" issue. The black cultured pearl is rare when compared to Chinese freshwater cultured pearls, and Japanese and Chinese Akoya cultured pearls, and is more valuable than these pearls. However, it is more abundant than the south sea pearl, which is more valuable than the black cultured pearl. This is simply due to the fact that the black pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera is far more abundant than the elusive, rare, and larger south sea pearl oyster - Pinctada maxima, which cannot be found in lagoons, but which must be dived for in a rare number of deep ocean habitats. Black cultured pearls from the black pearl oyster — Pinctada margaritifera — are NOT south sea pearls, although they are often mistakenly described as black south sea pearls. In the absence of an official definition for the pearl from the black oyster, these pearls are usually referred to as "black Tahitian pearls" The correct definition of a south sea pearl — as described by CIBJO and the GIA — is a pearl produced by the Pinctada maxima pearl oyster. South sea pearls are the color of their host Pinctada maxima oyster — and can be white, silver, pink, gold, cream, and any combination of these basic colors, including overtones of the various colors of the rainbow displayed in the pearl nacre of the oyster body itself.

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