The world’s love of diamonds had its start in India. Its recorded that the first men to know diamonds where dravidians of India. They found it seven or eight centuries before Christ and two or three centuries before Buddha.
There is no other gemstone quite like a diamond. It is found in the most remote places on earth, and the fact that it forms at all is something of a miracle. It takes about one ton of rock to recover less than half a carat of rough, making diamond one of the rarest and most desired gemstone in the world. A diamond is a testament of endurance and strength- and not surprisingly, the ultimate symbol of love. Every diamond is unique. Each reflects the story of its arduous journey from deep inside the earth to cherished object of adornment.
“… It is nice to have so many people in love with diamonds today, but it is also important to take them seriously. The best way to learn about diamonds is to buy them. All diamonds seem alike, but they are not; they are, like most women, desirable and tempting. It’s important to look at diamonds seriously with a good idea of what you are looking for and why…”
- Harry Winston
Buying a diamond may be one of the most important purchases of your life. If a man select a diamond to present it to his bride as a shining symbol of eternal love, Only a diamond can say it all: your love for her is clean, pure, brilliant, perfect and indistructible. If you are a woman buying a diamond for the most important man in your life, the symbolism is the same. The diamond says, “You are the one.”
For most people, the engagement ring is the first and surely the most important diamond they will ever buy. Selecting a diamond therefore is a big responsibility. Let’s make sure you get it right.
Yes diamonds are romance, the highest expression of love, glamour, elegance, wealth, and refinement (No song ever sang, “cubic zirconia are a girls best friend!”). Some diamonds can be seen as a commodity. There are different grade of dimonds and each grade has a different value. Diamonds can be evaluated on 4C’s
- Clarity
- Color
- Cut
- Carat
A/. Clarity: The Clarity scale of diamonds include eleven clarity grades ranging from
Flawless to I3. Because diamonds form under tremendous heat and pressure, it is
extremly difficult to find a diamond that lacks any internal and external characteristics. These characteristics are a byproduct of its formation and help gemologist separate natural diamonds from synthetics and simulants, and identify individual stones.
B/. Color: Color scale of diamonds extend from D ( colorless) to Z ( Light Yellow or Brown). Although many people think of gem quality diamonds as colorless, truly colorless diamonds are actually very rare. Most diamonds used in jewellery are nearly colorless with tint of yellow or brown. Color grades are determined by comparing each diamond to master set. Each letter grade represents a range of color and is a measure of how noticeable a color is.
C/. Cut: The cut scale of diamond ranges from excellent to poor. Diamond certificate provides a cut quality grade for standard round brilliant (i.e round diamonds) that fall in the D to Z color range.
A polished diamond’s beauty lies in its complex relationship with light: how light strikes the surface, how much enters the diamond, and how, and in what form light returns to your eye.
The result is a magnificient display of three attributes. Brightness is the combination of all white light reflecting from the surface and interior of a diamond. Fire describes the “flares” of color emitted from a diamond. Scintillation describes the flashes of light you see when the diamond, the light, or the obsever moves.
A polished diamond’s proportion affect its light performance, which in turn affects its beauty and averall appeal. Diamonds with fine proportions, symmetry, and polish optimize their interaction with light, and have increased brightness, fire, and scintillation.
D/. Carat: Carat is the unit in which the diamonds are weighed. One carat equals 200
Milligrams in weight. For diamonds under one carat, each carat is devided into 100 points or cents- similar to paises in rupees. For eg. 0.75 cts = 75 cents, ½ ct = 50 cents. Carat is a very important C in determining the price of a diamond bigger the size higher the value.
One should follow certain precautions while buying a diamond:
A/. One should always buy a diamond from a reputed and renowned store.
B/. It’s always good to buy a certified diamond, certified from a recognised lab.
C/. Diamond is a non-perisable object and it always has a re-sale value, while buying
One should always vouch for it buyback price and policy.
Compiled by: -
YASH AGARWAL
(Graduate Diamonds, Gemologial Institute of America)
(Author is also the owner of Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas Jewellers)
