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NICKEL CLAD DIAMOND

COPPER CLAD DIAMOND

NATURAL INDUSTRIAL DIAMOND

Diamonds As An Investment

Diamonds As An Investment:
Customers when deciding to purchase diamond jewelery will often ask whether it is a good investment. In actual fact, jewelery should never be purchased for investment reasons, only for its beauty. The appeal of diamonds lies in their dazzling beauty and endurance, and their ability to provide a lasting memento of a special occasion.

Although diamond jewelery is usually bought for emotional reasons, the value of the diamond content will appreciate in time. Unlike some other commodities, the prices of diamonds have remained stable over the years. As the cost of living rises, so does the average price of diamonds. Diamonds will purchase the same now as they did last year, five years ago, or twenty years ago. Diamonds have lasting value.

Caring For your Diamonds

Caring For your Diamonds:

Diamonds need caring to keep them looking at their brilliant best. They should be cleaned at least once a month to keep away the "dullness" that can be caused by skin oils, soap, cosmetics and even cooking grease. The only substance that does not stick to a diamond is water. A clean diamond will reflect better light.

There are several ways of keeping diamond jewelery clean.

The detergent bath is performed with a small bowl of warm suds using any mild liquid detergent. Immerse jewelery pieces in the suds and brush gently with a tooth brush. Rinse under warm running water and pat dry with a soft, lint-free cloth.

The quick dip method uses one of the liquid jewelery care products available. Follow the instructions on the kit.

The latest jewelery-cleaning device is the sonic jewelery cleaner. It is electronically operated and comes with its own solution and directions.

Some extra helpful hints to keep diamond jewelery looking at its best.

• It is better not to wear diamond jewelery when doing rough work or the dishes. Despite the durability of a diamond, it can be chipped by a hard blow along its grain.

• Take care when doing the housework, not to let diamond jewelery come into contact with chlorine bleach, as it won't harm the diamond but can pit or discolour the mounting.

• When placing diamond jewelery in a jewelery case, be sure to wrap them individually as they can easily scratch each other as well as other gem jewelery. Be sure to take all types of precious mounted jewelery to a jeweler at least once a year to check for loose settings and signs of wear.

Valuing Diamonds

Valuing Diamonds:
The quality and value of diamonds are measured by four characteristics known as the 4C's. The 4C's relate to a diamond's cut, colour, clarity and carat weight. The quality of a diamond is measured by its cut, colour and clarity. The carat weight measures the size of the diamond. Of all the 4C's, cut is the characteristic directly influenced by man; colour, clarity and carat weight are all dictated by nature.

Cut:

A diamond in its natural, uncut state is described as a "rough diamond". Its natural appearance so resembles a glass pebble that most people would pass it by without a second glance. It is the skill of the diamond cutter that unlocks the brilliance for which diamonds are renowned.

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. Such a stone cannot demand as high a price as a well-cut diamond.

It is important to distinguish between cut and shape. Some of the more popular shapes of diamonds include Round Brilliant, Oval, Marquise, Pear, Heart and Emerald. Within each of these shapes, however, it is the cut that determines the quality of the stone. For example, most diamonds are cut with 58 facets, regardless of their shape.

Colour:

A diamond's colour is one of the most important factors in determining its value. The nearer a white diamond is to being absolutely colourless, the more rare and valuable it is. The graduations in colour are so subtle that intricate international grading scales have been devised.

Diamonds are graded into categories defined by letters. The colour range from exceptional whites (categories D, E and F) to tinted colours (categories M to Z). The best way to pinpoint a diamond's true colour is to place it next to another diamond that has previously been graded.

There are also fancy coloured diamonds and these are graded according to their intensity of colour, not lack of it. There are a variety of reasons for diamonds to be coloured. The most common causes, or suggested causes, for the colours yellow, green, blue, brown and pink are described below.

Yellow:

When nitrogen combines with the diamond crystals during the formation stage it causes a surplus electron in the bonding. This surplus electron absorbs blue light, thus giving off a yellow colour. Yellow diamonds also occur when aggregates of three nitrogens combine and cause surplus bond.

Blue:

The elements of boron may also be substituted within a diamond during its formation. Boron absorbs red light, hence in the absence of nitrogen, diamonds containing boron are blue in colour. An example of a diamond containing boron is the famous Blue Hope diamond. Diamonds containing boron also exhibit unusual electrical properties and are semi-conductive in nature. Hydrogen is another impurity that, in high quantities, can cause Grey or blue colouring in diamonds. However, these diamonds are not semi-conducting.

Green:

A vacancy in the regular lattice of atoms within a diamond results in a green colouring. Carbon atoms being knocked out of their regular position by other particles cause vacancies. The depth of colour usually extends about 2mm below the diamond's surface. At extremely high temperatures the vacancies can become mobile and can combine with nitrogen to form other colours such as mauve, orange, blue or gold.

Brown:

It has been suggested that dislocations in the regular lattice of atoms, caused by severe forces deep in the earth, may be responsible for the brown colouring of champagne and cognac diamonds. The dislocated bonds may affect the light wavelength, thus producing a diamond which is coloured, but which contains no impurities.

Pink:

It has also been suggested that combination's of dislocations, vacancies, and non-nitrogen impurities cause the much sought-after colouration in pink diamonds. However these theories are still being developed.

Clarity:

During the formation of a diamond it is possible for minute particles of non-crystallized carbon or non-diamond crystals to be caught within the diamond. These imperfections are called inclusions and provide each individual diamond with unique characteristics.

Inclusions may not always be visible to the naked eye, however they do interfere with the passage of light through the diamond. Therefore the fewer inclusions a diamond has, the more valuable it is.

Like colour, clarity is also categorized using international grading scales. The categories of clarity are based upon the number, size and position of the inclusions within the diamond. Gradings range from flawless, and internally flawless, through very small and small inclusions, to imperfect. The clarity gradings are described as follows:

FL	Flawless	No internal or external blemishes when examined under a 10x microscope.Diamonds in this category cannot contain internal graining that is reflective whitish, coloured,or which significantly affects transparency.
IF	Internally Flawless	No internal inclusions but minor surface blemishes which cannot be removed with polishing. That is, characteristics such as surface grain lines, natural and extra facets on the crown. Blemishes that can be removed by minor repolishing separate the internally flawless from the flawless grade.
VVS1 VVS2	Very, Very Slightly Included	Minute inclusions, such as reflective internal graining, difficultto locate using a 10x microscope
VS1 VS2	Very Slightly Included	Small inclusions, such as small included crystals which are visible using a 10x microscope.
SI1 SI2	Slightly Included	Inclusions that can be seen easily under a 10x microscope,and may also be seen with the naked eye using a white background. Inclusions in these diamonds cannot be seen through the crown of the diamond.
I1	Imperfect 1	Inclusions can be seen with the naked eye, and are quite obvious under a 10x microscope.
I2	Imperfect 2	Inclusions can be seen with the naked eye, and may interfere with transparency and brilliance.
I3	Imperfect 3	Dark inclusions which are very noticeable to the naked eye, and which interfere with transparency. Diamonds in this category may contain cleavages that are likely to become worse with wear.

Carat:

A carat is the unit of measure used to determine the weight of a diamond. The term "carat" is derived from the original method of using carob tree seeds to weigh diamonds. One seed from this tree was equivalent to one carat.

The actual weight of one carat is now established at 0.2 grams. To assist in accurately describing the weight of diamonds each carat is divided into 100 points. Diamonds of less than one carat in weight are known as "pointers". For example, a 0.15 carat diamond would be called a "15 pointer".

Diamonds are usually weighed prior to setting for more accurate measurements. Diamonds are priced per carat, according to their size and quality. Although the carat weight of a diamond is indicative of its size, it is not necessarily indicative of a diamond's quality. Therefore, where two diamonds have the same carat weight, the one of better quality will command a higher price per carat.

Mining And Cutting

Mining And Cutting:

MINING DIAMONDS

Of all the diamonds mined in the world each year, less than half are gem quality; the rest fall into two other main categories known as near-gem quality and industrial quality diamonds.

Gem quality diamonds display a high standard of excellence in quality and are used in jewelery. The clarity of these diamonds ranges from flawless through to visible inclusions.

Near-gem quality diamonds represent those stones of a quality between gem and industrial, that in fact can be used as either depending on the individual stone. These stones have clarity grades ranging from visible inclusions through to industrial.

Industrial quality diamonds are low quality or badly included stones and are suitable only for industrial use; for example, they are used in dentist's drills and earth moving equipment.

Diamond Mining
Diamonds are recovered by way of pipe or alluvial mining.

Pipe Mining
Pipe mining refers to the extraction of diamonds from volcanic pipes. Typically, a very large area has to be covered. An average of 250 tonnes of ore must be mined in order to produce a one-carat gem quality polished diamond.

In most countries, a diamond pipe mine is composed of kimberlite, or blue ground. Initially kimberlite is dug from the surface of the pipes in rough opencast mining. Once the surface deposits have been exhausted, shafts are sunk into the ground at the edge of the pipes, and tunnels are driven into the deeper parts of the pipes. After the diamond-bearing rock is brought to the surface, it is then transported to a screening plant where the diamonds are separated from the host rock.

Alluvial Mining
This process involves the extraction of diamonds from riverbeds or ocean beaches. Millions of years ago, at the time the diamond pipes were formed, some diamonds were weathered out of the pipes and carried great distances along rivers and even into oceans.

In order to extract these diamonds from beaches, a wall is built to hold back the surf. Up to 25 metres of sand is bulldozed aside to reach the diamond-bearing level. Once reached, the diamond-bearing earth is removed and transported to screening plants.

Diamond Cutting and Polishing
The history of diamond cutting and polishing has its origins in India, where it was discovered a long time ago by Indian lapidaries that a diamond could be made to glisten simply by grinding another diamond against it.

Nowadays the diamond and its powder play an important role in the cutting and polishing of diamonds. Over time modern machinery has replaced traditional diamond cutting tools.

Diamond cutting and polishing requires anywhere from several hours to several months to complete. During this process, a diamond will lose on average half of its original weight.

Diamond Cutting
As every diamond is different, a stone must first be carefully examined by the cutter and then marked for cutting. Of all the cuts, the most popular is the round brilliant because of its ability to give a stone the greatest possible brilliance and fire with the most minimal amount of weight loss. The following cutting and polishing procedures uses the round brilliant cut as an example.

The rough diamond is divided into two parts by sawing or cleaving. Most stones are sawn across the "grain" (visible evidence of the diamond's crystal structure) by a paper-thin metal disc coated with diamond dust revolving at high speed or by laser. The stones that are marked for cleaving are split along the grain by a single blow from a steel blade.

After cleaving or sawing, the corners of the diamond are rounded off by a process known as bruting or girdling (only round brilliant cuts require this step). The stone is cemented into a "lathe", a holder that fits on a turning shaft. Another diamond is cemented to the end of a long rod held under the bruter's arm. As the lathe rotates, the two diamonds are brought together and gridded to shape. Diamond dust is produced from this action and is used in further sawing and faceting.

The brilliant now has a girdle-a sort of rim at the widest part by which it is usually set. The size or position of the girdle should not change throughout the rest of the diamond cutting process.

Diamond Polishing
The polishing of the diamond begins; one by one, facets will be ground on to the stone. A facet is the tiny plane or surface that traps the light and makes a diamond sparkle. Most diamond cuts have 58 facets.

The facets are applied to the diamond on a "turntable", made of porous iron, which has been coated with diamond dust and oil. The diamond is set into a holder and held against the turntable as it revolves at a very high speed.

A diamond has been cut well when its facets are clean, sharp, and symmetrical, and the proportions above and below the girdle are correct. A diamond is correctly proportioned when one-third of the total weight of the gem is above the girdle and two thirds below. A well-cut diamond will be fiery, brilliant and beautiful.

Mines Locations

Mines Locations:

DIAMOND MINE LOCATIONS IN AUSTRALIA

Today, diamonds are mined in at least 20 countries around the world; the majority of diamonds are found in Australia, Zaire, Botswana, Russia and South Africa.

The Argyle Diamond Mine, the world's largest diamond-producing mine, is located in the Kimberley Region of north Western Australia.

Green Diamonds

Green Diamonds:
Fancy green diamonds are also available. Usually, penetration of the colour is not very deep and is often removed during the fashioning of the stone.

A limited quantity of fancy green diamonds is recovered from the Argyle mine.

Blue Diamonds

Blue Diamonds:
Fancy blue diamonds are available in a wide range of shades, from the blue of the sky to a more "steely" colour than sapphire.

Limited quantities of fancy blue diamonds are recovered from the Argyle mine.

Yellow Diamonds

Yellow Diamonds:
Fancy yellow diamonds come in a broad range of shades ranging from light yellow to a rich canary colour.



A limited quantity of fancy yellow diamonds is recovered from the Argyle mine.