Tuesday, September 14, 2010
WHY CERTIFICATION OF LOOSE DIAMOND MATTERS?
While buying diamonds, certification is a prerequisite and the name of the laboratory that examined your precious stone is extremely important. Although these stones look the same on the surface they may not be of the same quality. The certification is a written proof of the quality and attributes of the diamond. Without certification, there is no assurance that the diamond you are buying is of the quality you’re paying for.
From the prospect of investment also the diamond certification is very important. Your diamond will be easier to sell if it is properly certified. Uncertified diamonds can be certified by sending them to an independent gemological laboratory for examination. In case you loose your “diamond report” you can always get a copy of your certification from the gemological laboratory where you had it examined. It is the pedigree that goes with the diamond and becomes a valuable document in case of loss because it will ensure that your insurance company will replace your stone with another certified stone of same quality. Certificates are not appraisals since they do not contain any information regarding the value or price of a diamond.
One of the important advantages of getting your diamond certified is that you will know the precise grading of yours stone’s precious 4Cs i.e. carat, weight, cut, color and clarity. Your diamond certification also arms you with the information you need to assess your precious stone’s fair market value. Another thing your certificate empowers you to do is to make an intelligent comparison with other diamonds – in the same jewelry store or in another. Thus it is always in the favor of the buyer to get their diamonds certified.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Diamonds for Mom
So if you have decided on buying diamond or diamond related stuff for your mom, you can consider diamond jewelry or even loose diamonds.
Loose Diamond
Diamond Stud Earring
Solitaire Diamonds Pendant
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Diamonds for Men
Men’s Diamond Engagement Ring
Diamond shapes for Men
Preferred Diamond Color
Diamonds have to be carefully looked after. And mens jewelry is meant to be tough in terms of quality. Hence men generally fear to have diamonds in their jewelry. But this stone can be best option for men who love to accessorize.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Diamonds for the April Born
This ultimate stone symbolizes everlasting and eternal love. It is also responsible of building up trust and faith in relationships and acts as a promise between the two people for commitment and endless relationship.
A diamond brings in beauty, wealth and prosperity to the wearer. Some of the healing properties of the stone include poison remedies, cure for brain diseases and strengthen memory. It detects and indicates presence of poison by displaying moisture or dampness on its surface.
A diamond also acts as enhancement for strengths of other gemstones. They improve the positive effects of gemstones like emerald, amethyst etc and take them to a higher level.
Being the April birthstone, diamonds exhibit much positive energy hence making them more significant than other gemstones.
Diamond Inclusions
The various types of diamond inclusions are:
Mineral and Crystal Inclusion: Diamonds may have smaller crystals inside them. These crystals can be smaller diamonds or some other mineral. They are trapped inside the stone during its formation. Although they are referred to as inclusions, sometimes they can actually make the diamond look more appealing.
Pinpoint Inclusion: They are minute crystals inside the stone which degrade its clarity. They are so small that they need to be viewed under magnification. When several pinpoints gather at the same area of the stone, it appears to be more distracting and hence makes the diamond look dull.
Cloud Inclusion: When several tiny crystals or pinpoint inclusions are grouped together, it emits cloudy and hazy appearance hence developing a cloud in the stone.
Needle Inclusion: Long and thin crystals are termed as needles in diamond inclusions. They are similar to pinpoint inclusions except for their shape.
Feather Inclusion: These are inclusions which actually look like feathers or fractures. Although small feathers are harmless but if they reach the diamond surface then they can probably result in its breakage.
Knot Inclusion: When an included crystal extends to the diamond’s surface, it is termed as a knot. They are a higher risk to the stone as they make the diamond less durable.
Cavity Inclusion: It is large opening in the stone and is also called as a crack which is relatively bigger in size.
Cleavage Inclusion: It is quite similar to cavity inclusion but appears to be a straight crack without any kind of feathering. This can be quite hazardous for the stone since if hit at the right place, the diamond can split down.
Girdle Fringes, Bearding Inclusion: They are hair-like lines which usually develop during the cutting process of the stone. They appear around the girdle and extend from the surface towards its internal part.
Grain Lines Inclusion: They are also called as grain lines and are formed during the formation of the diamond. These lines are formed due to irregular crystallization.
Diamond inclusions are usually not visible to the naked eye. They can be viewed on magnification of 10X. Hence finding these inclusions and differentiating them with the naked eye is nearly impossible.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Diamond Enhancement
The technique may be applied on natural as well as synthetic diamonds. The color and clarity of the diamond can be enhanced using several techniques.
Diamond Clarity Enhancement
Fracture Filling: Fractures or cracks in a diamond make it appear cloudy and whitish. These fractures are filled with a glass-like substance which appears similar to the diamond. The cracks although don’t vanish but become invisible to the naked eye. If the fracture exists in the internal part of the diamond, then drilling might be required before filling it up, else fractures on the surface do not require any kind of drilling.
Diamond Color Enhancement
Coatings: In this technique the diamond is coated with a substance which hides its original color or any kind of yellow traces. This coating is not permanent and wears off with regular use of the stone.
Diamond Enhancement Facts
- Another term which is used for the same purpose is Diamond Treatment. Although Enhancement sounds like a positive phrase, it is no different than Treatment.
- Along with the dazzle and shine, this technique also increases the price of the stone.
- Since the value and cost of the stone increases with enhancements, any type of treatments done with the stone should be informed to the buyer along with some a written proof.
- A qualified gemologist can identify whether the stone had been treated and if yes, to what extent.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Identify Fake or Real Diamond
Cubic Zirconia, Moissanite, Russian Diamonds, Diamond Nexus, Gemisis Diamond and White Sapphire belong to the category of Fake diamonds and have their unique features. Some techniques that are used to identify fake diamonds may work for just few of them and not all. For example, the cubic zirconia stone is heavier in weight than real diamond by approximately 50% provided both the stones are of same size and shape. Hence CZ can be differentiated from real diamond based on the weight factor.
Transparency Test
Another identification technique is the Transparency test. In this, the stone is placed up-side down on a paper with written characters. If the characters seem to be readable then you can be sure that the diamond is false, since written material cannot be read through a real one.
Fog Test
Blow some air on the stone from your mouth to fog it. If the fog stays on the stone, it means the stone is not real diamond. Heat gets dispersed quickly on real diamonds resulting in absorbing the fog within no time.
Ultraviolet test
When a real diamond is held under ultraviolet light, it emits blue colored light. The same goes for it when held under black color. The disadvantage of this technique is that along with fake diamonds, high quality diamonds also do not emit the intended blue colored light.
Reflection Test
A real diamond always reflects shades of the color grey and white and does not emit rainbow reflections. These rainbow reflections can be seen from fake diamonds or real but low quality diamonds.
Sparkles
Genuine diamond sparkles from all sides, no matter which angle it is view from, whereas in fake diamonds the sparkle is seen from the top only and looks dull from side angles.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Diamond Blemishes and Their Types
Friday, March 19, 2010
Princess Cut Diamond – The Unique Shape
This shape is simply a square shaped diamond with sharp corners and high amount of brilliance. This brilliance is the result of extra faceting and an attempt to create something similar to an upside down triangular pyramid. The princess cut diamond has wide pavilion facets at the culet and narrowed ones towards the girdle. It was created in the 1960s and became popular in the 1970s. It is also recognized as square modified brilliant since it consists of the sparkle of the round brilliant cut and the shape of a square. However the princess cut has a lower amount of brilliance as compared to the round shape in order to gain its square shape.
The setting of the jewelry should be such that the corners of the diamond are protected from any kind of damage. Minimum of four prong setting is required to hold this diamond safely. The sharp corners can get chipped or scratched with a slight hit or smack. To avoid this, many jewelers or manufacturers “chamfer” the corners such that the shape doesn’t change or create “clipped corners”.
The price of princess cut diamond is lower than that of round brilliant ones. Reason behind this being that in princess cut moreover the original rough diamond is retained since this cut doesn’t need to be smoothed to gain attractiveness unlike the round shape.
While choosing a princess cut diamond, the color and clarity features have to be taken care of. The ideal color for this cut would be above I whereas if you are looking out for an affordable diamond color, then H or I would be the ideal choice. For a decent clarity, VS2 or SI1 can be chosen comfortably.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Pink Diamonds – A Rare Diamond
These diamonds are produced at Argyle mine which is located in Western Australia and produces around 95% share of world’s pink diamonds.
They are available in different shades of the color pink: Brownish pink, Purplish Pink, Pink Champagne, Orange Pink and many more. Like other colored diamonds and gemstones, the color quality of pink diamonds is judged based upon the color intensity and consistency across the diamond. More intense and consistent it is, more costly will the diamond be. But it should also be noted that even lighter shades of pink diamonds are costly because of their rarity.
Engagement rings with pink diamonds have become highly popular since Jenifer Lopez was given a pink diamond engagement ring. Moreover, these diamonds have been the favorite of many celebrities and trend setters because they bring a unique factor into the jewelry.
They are available in various styles and settings. But if the desired design is not available with the retailer, then they would always welcome a pink colored loose diamond and a setting to create a custom jewelry with this rare diamond. They are moreover appreciated when set into white gold or platinum metal, since these metals enhance their beauty.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Fancy Color Diamond Grading
Diamonds being very precious and expensive, certain factors should be taken care of before buying them. As known to all, the Four Cs are the most important characteristics to be considered for judging the quality of a diamond. But these factors differ slightly for fancy colored ones.
Diamond Color Grading
Diamond Cut Grading
Diamond Clarity Grading
Diamond Carat
Diamond Certification
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
American Gem Society (AGS) Laboratories
AGSL is known for grading the diamond cut including the Ideal Cut. It is also known for grading the fancy cut diamonds like Emerald, Oval and Princess cut. According to this laboratory, the most important among the four Cs of a diamond is the Cut, because this feature determines the amount of refraction or reflection of light.
The AGS Laboratories offer various reports depending on the type of diamond information required. The most preferred among them is the Diamond Quality Document (DQD) which includes the complete analysis of the four Cs of the diamond: Color Grade, Cut Grade, Carat weight and Clarity grade.
Image Source: http://www.agslab.com/product_diamond_quality_document.php
AGS Diamond Grading System
Grading is allotted in numerical form from the range of zero to ten. For Diamond Cut, zero means the best cut (Ideal cut) and ten indicates the lowest one. In the Verbal form, cut can be classified as AGS Ideal or Excellent or from Very Good, Good to Fair or Poor. The same numerical form goes for the Clarity feature of a diamond. The verbal descriptor for indicating the clarity of the diamond is same as that of GIA (Gemological Institute of America). For Diamond Color, zero indicates colorless and ten indicates light yellow or light brown.
AGSL provides easy-to-read grading scale hence making it easy for the consumers to evaluate and verify the quality of the diamond they have purchased.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Heart Diamonds – The Fancy Cut Diamond
Although they are hard to find, because of their increasing popularity, retailers and manufacturers are giving them more importance and trying to bring them in large numbers.
This fancy-cut diamond reveals the bow-tie shadow effect although high quality stones exhibit this effect minimally. They typically contain 59 facets.
When fixed in prong setting they look more marvelous than in any other jewelry setting, since the beauty of the shape gets noticed easily with this setting. Usually five prongs would be required to hold the stone. Two prongs will hold the lobes, another two to hold the sides and a V-shaped prong holding its pointed tip.
They are moreover popular with solitaire rings and solitaire pendants. They also look stunning in stud earrings and as diamond ring side stones too. Check out some of the different types of jewelry adorned with a heart shaped diamond:
Solitaire Ring:
Image Source: http://ringoblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/heart-solitaire-ring.jpg
Solitaire Pendant:
Image Source: http://www.overstockjeweler.com/images/I/overstockjeweler_1943_52309453.gif
Side stone Ring:
Image Source: http://www.ritani.com/productimages/1237819700_1RZ1235AAHP.jpg
Stud Earring:
Image Source: http://www.rothemcollection.com/pc/catalog/heart_diamond_earrings_w2_870_general.jpg
Identifying the right heart-shaped diamond:
The brilliance of these diamonds differs on their depth. Deeper the diamond, the more brilliance it has. Diamond with more depth although sparkles with brilliance, but may look smaller than its ideal size. Flatter diamonds have lesser brilliance and radiance. Hence heart shaped diamonds should be chosen carefully.
Also, while purchasing heart shaped diamonds, one must be sure that the top lobes of the stone are even.
The two halves should be well-defined and should look symmetrical at least for a naked eye.
The color of the diamond should be given special attention while choosing such diamonds. If it has low-quality color, then it may be noticeable from the corners of the cut.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Ideal Cut Diamonds
The different types of diamonds are:
Shallow Cut
Ideal Cut
Deep Cut
Among them, Ideal cut diamonds are mostly preferred since light reflects from the top of the stone hence creating maximum brilliance among all the types. Also, irrespective of the direction from where the light has entered into the stone, all the light gets reflected increasing the diamond’s brilliancy and radiating exquisite light. In shallow cut ones, the light refracts away from the bottom hence resulting the diamond to loose its brilliance and making the stone appear glassy and opaque whereas in deep cut diamonds refraction of light takes place from the sides making it dull and lifeless.
This categorization depends on the proportion in which the diamonds are cut. An Ideal Cut Diamond has the proportion as shown below:
These measurements differ for different gemological laboratories.
Different grading laboratories have assigned different names to the diamonds with Ideal cut like Superb Ideal Cut, American Ideal Cut and even Excellent Cut. GIA (Gemological Institute of America) refers to it as Excellent Cut diamonds.
Since producing such diamonds requires exact and precise measures, they usually cost more than other diamond cuts.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Diamonique Diamonds - The Cultured Diamond
This stone belongs to the category of Cubic Zirconia (CZ). It is considered as a cheaper substitute for real diamonds since they can be bought for a few dollars as compared to real diamonds costing thousands of dollars. Like the real ones, Diamonique diamonds also come in different cuts and shapes including round, cushion, radiant etc.
Real diamonds are considered as the hardest gemstone and measure 10 on Moh’s scale. (Moh’s scale is used for measurement of hardness of a gemstone.) Similarly, Diamonique diamond measure 8.5 which are similar to natural sapphire and ruby gemstones and are marginally less hard as compared to real diamonds. Hence hardness is one of the positive traits of Diamonique diamonds.
Weight of Diamonique diamonds is more than that of real ones. So when real and these diamonds of same size/carat are weighed, the real diamonds will be lighter hence distinguishing them from each other.
Image Source: http://images-p.qvc.com/is/image/j/23/j14192301
Diamonique diamonds are also available in an extensive range of fancy colors hence giving buyers a wider option of such diamonds.
To determine the quality of these diamonds, QVC provides detailed information about its 6Cs. In addition to the 4Cs –Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat, QVC considers Cost and Confidence of the diamond. Cost indicates that the stone is available at a fraction of cost than the real one and Confidence assures that the fact that it is a simulated diamond cannot be determined by untrained eye since it is set in precious metal.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Diamond Fluorescence - Identify the right diamond
Along with the 4C’s of a diamond, its fluorescence is considered as one of the factors used to determine its quality. Diamond Fluorescence can be graded from none, faint, negligible, moderate to strong or very strong. Usually moderate or strong fluorescence affects a diamond's appearance resulting in low clarity or slight haziness, hence making the diamond cost cheaper than lower fluorescent diamonds.
Image Courtesy: http://www.blueminer.com/images/diamond-fluorescence.jpg
Arguments have continued among gemologists about how fluorescence affects the quality of the stone. Some gemologists say that this factor should not be considered while purchasing the stone as it least affects its appearance. Additionally, according to some gemologists, higher fluorescence results in enhanced beauty of the diamond while some believe vice-versa. Hence this factor is considered as a negative trait by some of the gemologists and consumers while a positive one by the rest.
The colors produced by the fluorescence of the diamond are usually blue, white or yellow. The color which is seen more often is blue. The least noticed colors are yellow and white. These specifics are true for colorless diamonds. Colored ones emit different shades/colors depending on their original color. For example, Pink colored diamonds emit bright orange color when subjected to UV light.
Even though a strong fluorescence may make a diamond look more sparkling and brilliant depending on its color and clarity, while buying a loose diamond or diamond jewelry, it is usually advised to go for none or faintly fluorescent diamond to be on a safer side.