Diamond Gemstone

Diamonds, with their mesmerizing bursts of light and unparalleled beauty, have captured the human imagination for centuries. Yet the cut and polished diamonds you see, for example, in engagement rings, bear little resemblance to their original form.

Diamond, the hardest known substance, is made entirely of carbon. Diamonds form over billions of years and as much as 120 miles below the Earth’s surface, where unfathomable temperature and pressure rearrange carbon atoms into a crystalline structure. Volcanic eruptions then act as an elevator, lifting the diamond-bearing material closer to the Earth’s surface. Some of the material gets washed down ancient riverbeds.

Turning rough diamonds into “Wow!” diamonds

When mined from the earth or the ancient riverbeds, rough diamonds look like pieces of ordinary molten glass. The raw material holds remarkable, natural optical qualities. But it takes highly specialized skill, scientific knowledge, and tools to turn rough diamonds into the sought-after, scintillating gemstones that are universally treasured. It wasn’t until the mid-1700s that man’s understanding of the science of optics and the art of diamond cutting converged. In 1919, master gem cutter and mathematician Marcel Tolkowsky established the 58-facet standard and today’s most widely accepted proportions for an ideal cut round diamond.

By the way, if you are in the market for an engagement ring, take some advice from someone who has been buying diamonds from the cutters in Antwerp, Tel Aviv and Mumbai for 25 years. Buy a 58-facet diamond and you will have a diamond which will be more valuable over time, worldwide. A diamond that has been deliberately cut with an odd number of facets – which is a marketing gimmick used by some jewelers – will prove to be very difficult to trade in or resell in the future.

Why do diamonds sparkle?

A diamond’s sparkle is caused by light reflecting or sparkling off of the crown facets of the diamond – the table, upper girdle, bezel and star facets. These flickers or flashes of light are called scintillation. Fire describes the diamond’s ability to disperse the different colors of the light spectrum, while brilliance describes the diamond’s return of white light to the eye. The more light a diamond reflects back to your eye, the more scintillation, dispersion and brilliance it has.

The cut of a diamond determines how much scintillation, dispersion and brilliance is present. A diamond cut too deeply will allow light to escape out of the side of the diamond. A diamond cut too shallow will allow light to escape out of the bottom of the diamond. Other major or minor symmetry issues may also result in an optically inefficient diamond.

Whatever your definition of affordable engagement rings is, knowing how to evaluate diamonds will help ensure you get the finest quality diamond for your money.

Learn more about the relationship between cut and sparkle at ShaneCo.com.

I’m going to give you some helpful tips when you’re shopping for diamonds at jewelry stores. But first allow me to introduce myself. My name is Edward, and I oversee all loose diamond purchases for Shane Co., direct diamond importers. I earned my Graduate Gemologist certification from the Gemological Institute of America’s “in residence” laboratories. I have been a loose diamond buying specialist for over 25 years. After years of traveling extensively to the diamond manufacturing centers of Antwerp, Belgium, Tel Aviv, Israel and Mumbai, India, I have acquired the market knowledge necessary to deliver a quality product. Additionally, I have lived overseas for Shane Co. for 18 months.

 

Every advantage Shane Co. has is a result of decades and generations of relationship building with the world’s elite specialty diamond manufacturers. Buying this far up the supply chain gives us the buying privilege of the finest goods. I like to say, “from the hand of the maker to the hand of our customer.” The same advantages we have worked so hard to create in the world’s diamond markets translate into a buying advantage for our customers.

When I buy our diamonds I buy with the eye of our customer, knowing the diamonds we select will become part of diamond engagement rings, wedding rings, and other jewelry that symbolizes the most important of life’s events and relationships. I bear down and pick the brightest diamonds with the most agreeable clarity characteristics. I select from thousands of diamonds and reject a relatively high percentage of them. I like to say we get the rib eye, the others get the leftovers, with apologies to my vegetarian friends.

Diamond Buying Tips from an Expert

Here are a few tips from someone with more than one pair of worn out diamond tweezers. (Diamonds are the hardest of substances. They will wear down the metal in diamond tweezers.)  When buying diamonds, it is important to shop where you find the broadest and deepest selection. These are the serious companies of which there are very, very few.

From the Atlanta jewelry stores to the Seattle jewelry stores,  or jewelry stores wherever you happen to shop, examine the diamonds loose. You have more control when you can see the most important diamond of your engagement ring or wedding set while it is clean and loose. It is much easier to compare diamond to diamond. When the center diamond is already mounted it is more difficult to make the most informed buying decision. Examine the diamond with a diamond loupe to better understand what you are buying.

Although important, do not get caught up in all the letters and numbers of diamond grading and don’t let that be your only guide for your purchase. Look into the soul of the diamond. How bright and sparkly does it look? Does it look like its size, as some diamonds are cut with intentionally shorter diameters? Consequently, a 1.00 carat looks like a .90 carat. Compare diamonds side by side as no two diamonds look alike.  Two diamonds can have the same carat weight, color and clarity and look very different.

Buy with your eyes not with your ears. Don’t buy from a commissioned salesperson. Do not succumb to pressure; you are in charge.

At Shane Co. you have the buying advantage of selecting one of thousands of loose diamonds and one of a thousand finely tailored rings to create a wholly unique engagement and wedding set for the one you love.

The Shane Co. website has an outstanding Jewelry Education section that will tell you everything you need to know to make a confident and informed diamond purchase. Click on www.ShaneCo.com to go there now.