The 4 C's of Bling: Cut

The Cut is the most fundamental attribute to consider when it comes to judging a diamond. However, it is also often on of the most complex and confusing terms. The diamonds cut grade is and objective measure of a diamonds light performance or its brilliance and overall sparkle. For this very reason, cut also plays and important part in determining the price of the stone.

In order to undersatnd diamond cut it is necessary to know the anatomy of a diamond as well as how different proportions affect the movement of light through a stone. Based on these considerations, diamond cut is graded by a certification body. Certification bodies like GIA employ a five point scale ranging from excellent and very good to good, fair and poor.

The science behind a diamond's brilliance depends on its great ability to bend, slow and direct light as it passes through. The cut of the diamond is what determines how well the diamond is able to re-direct the light back through the surface of the diamond.

What Cut Grade is Right For Me?

1) Excellent:  Diamonds Classified as Excellent or Ideal offer the most sparkle, disperson and fire and are considered to be of the highest quality. Light movement through an ideal cut diamond bounces almost fully back out the top of the stone and brings its brilliance into view.







2) Very Good:  Diamonds classified as Very Good or Fine offer slightly less brilliance and scintillation than the excellent cut. However, as the difference between the two is almost negligible in some cases, very good cuts offer better value for money than excellent cut diamonds.





3) Good Cut:  Diamonds classified as Good usually allow some light to escape during the reflective process, although once again, the difference between this and very good cut diamonds is small. Therefore, these make an affordable option.







4) Fair Cut or Shallow Cut: Light moving through a shallow cut diamond is lost out of the bottom of the stone and the lack of light play makes shallow cut diamonds appear lifeless.

5) Poor Cut or Deep Cut: Light moving through a Deep cut diamond escapes out from the side, darkening all or most portions of the stone.

The poor sparkle performance of Diamonds classified as Fair or Poor cut may be noticeable to the untrained eye and are less costly for this reason. It is also advisable to not consider Fair and Poor cut while buying since they do not make a great investment.

Other Factors affecting Cut:

Symmetry: When the facets of a diamond are well balanced and aligned, the stone has symmetry, which is critical to creating optimal brilliance and scintillation. Errors in symmetry include facets that are not properly aligned, improperly shaped facets or an off-centre table.

Polish: After a Diamond is cut, each facet must be polised. The process can leave surface scratches or marks, which are like streaks left behind. If a diamond has no scratches or very minor ones, the polish is of a high degree. Scratches, lines , burn marks created by excessive heat or rough girdles could downgrade the polish rating of a diamond and if significant, could affect the overall cut grading.

To learn more, visit the column regularly. The next part would have necessary information about several fancy diamond shapes.

                 At J D Diamond Jewellery, we apply the same high quality standards to all of our diamonds. We have an exceptional collection of traditional round diamonds and we also offer the finest non-round or fancy-shaped diamonds. All of our certified diamonds are graded by the GIA or IGI to have FL to SI-2 clarity, D to H color and Ideal, Very Good or Good cut.

The 4C's of Bling: Carat

Carat is specifically a measure of a diamonds' weight and by itself may not accurately reflect a diamonds size. We tend to evaluate diamond size by viewing it from the top because that is how diamonds are presented to us when set into jewellery.

To understand diamond size, carat weight should be considered in conjunction with two other criteria:

1. The diameter of the diamond in mm.
   It is important to measure the distance across the top of the diamond as this is how we view a stone when set into jewellery.
2. The diamonds' cut grade.
   A diamond cut grade should also be considered because when a diamond is cut in perfect proportions, the maximum amount of light is returned out of the top of the diamond. Thus, in a diamond with an excellent cut, the light reflected out of the top makes it appear larger than a poorly cut diamond of same carat weight.

It is therefore possible to have a diamond of a lower carat weight but higher cut grade that appears larger than a diamond with a larger carat weight but poor cut.

 The picture illustrates how diamonds of different carat weights look when set in jewellery. Note that a 2 carat diamond does not appear to be twice the size of a 1 carat diamond when viewed from the top.

What Carat Weight Is Right For Me?

To choose the best carat weight of diamond, consider the size of a finger, the size of the setting and the budget.

• If a large carat weight is important to you, yet you're working within a strict budget, consider a diamond with a good cut, SI-1/SI-2 clarity and G-J colour Grade.
• Diamonds prices jump at the full and the half carat weights. Diamonds just below these weights cost significantly less and because carat weight is distributed across the entirety of the diamond, small size differences are almost impossible to detect.
• Keep in mind that more slender the finger, the larger the diamond will appear. A 1.5 carat diamond looks much larger on a size 6 finger than a size 10.

To learn more, visit the column regularly. The next part of the "The 4 C's of Bling" would hold necessary information about Cut of a diamond. Stay tuned.

       At J D Diamond Jewellery, we apply the same high quality standards to all of our diamonds. We have an exceptional collection of traditional round diamonds and we also offer the finest non-round or fancy shaped diamonds. All of our certified diamonds are graded by GIA or IGI to have FL to SI-2 clarity, D to I colour and Ideal, Very Good or Good cut.

The 4 C's of Bling : Colour

Colour is a result of the composition of the diamond, usually referring to the presence or absence of shade in it and it never changes over time.
Because a colourless diamond allows more light to pass through it, these emit more sparkle. The formation process of a diamond ensures that only a few, rare diamonds are truly colourless. Colour manifests itself in a diamond as a pale yellow. The less colour a diamond has, the higher its colour grade and thus, its value. 

What Colour Is Right For Me?

To grade whiteness or colourlessness, most jewellers refer to GIA's professional colour scale that begins with the highest rating of D for colourless, and travels down the alphabet to grade stones with traces of very faint light yellowish or brownish colour. The colour sclae continues all the way to Z

Diamonds graded D to F are naturally the most valuable and desirable because of their rarity. Such diamonds are a treat to the eyes. But you can still obtain very attractive diamonds that are graded slightly less than colourless.

• For the purist, look for a colourless diamond with a grade of D-F for a diamond with no discernible colour.
• For an excellent value in a diamond with little or no noticeable colour to the unaided eye, look for a near-colourless grade of G-I

It is important to keep in mind that, while most people strive to buy the most colourless diamond they can afford, there are many who actually prefer the warmer glow of lower-colour diamonds.

What is Flourescence?

Flourescence is an effect that is seen in some diamonds when they are exposed to long-wave ultraviolet light such as the lighting frequently seen in dance clubs. Under most lighting conditions, however, this fluorescence is not detectable to the eye. While most gemologists prefer diamonds without this effect, some people enjoy it. It's really just a matter of aesthetics.

To learn more, visit the column regularly. The next part of " The 4 C's of Bling" would hold necessary information about Cut. Stay tuned. 

                 At J D Diamond Jewellery, we apply the same high quality standards to all of our diamonds. We have an exceptional collection of traditional round diamonds and we also offer the finest non-round or fancy-shaped diamonds. All of our certified diamonds are graded by the GIA or IGI to have FL to SI-2 clarity, D to H color and Ideal, Very Good or Good cut.

The 4 C's of Bling : Clarity

Every diamond is a miracle of time and place and chance. Just like snowflakes, no two are exactly alike. So, when you start looking for a diamond, you want to have all of the necessary information that is available to you, because the more you know, the better prepared you are to make decisions regarding your purchase.

      The creation of the Diamond 4 C's meant two very important things:

1.     Diamond quality could be communicated in a universal language and 

2.     Diamond customers could now know exactly what they were about to purchase. 

Clarity is only a measure of the number and size of the tiny imperfections that occur in almost all diamonds. It is the easiest to understand of all the 4 C’s in spite of all that’s made of it.

       It simply refers to the tiny, natural imperfections referred to as either blemishes or inclusions which occur in all but the finest diamonds. Diamonds with the least and smallest imperfections receive the highest clarity grades. Since these imperfections tend to be microscopic, they do not generally affect a diamond's beauty in any discernible way.

CLARITY BUYING TIPS

What most people are buying?

•    If you cannot tolerate imperfections, choose a VVS-2 or better diamond. About 10% of all diamonds sold fall into this category.
•    The most popular clarity is the VS-1/VS-2 diamond. These appear flawless to the naked eye and are a fraction of the price of a truly flawless diamond. Almost half of all diamonds purchased fall into this range.
•    The next most popular range is SI-1, where the inclusions are usually not significant enough to impact the appearance of the diamond. Often, customers will opt for this clarity range in exchange for a higher cut or colour grade. This combination often results in a beautiful, lively diamond with imperfections detectable only upon close inspection.
•    In diamonds under 1 carat, the same can be said for an SI-2 grade. In diamonds over 1 carat (where clarity is more important, and SI-2 inclusions are often easier to detect), an SI-2 is often half the price of a VS-1 diamond. About one third of diamonds sold fall into the SI range.
•    The larger the diamond, the easier imperfections are to detect; therefore Clarity becomes more important. For diamonds over 2 carats, a clarity grade of VS-2 or higher is the safest bet for avoiding any signs of visible inclusions.

    To learn more, visit the column regularly. The next part of " The 4 C's of Bling" would hold necessary information about Colour and Carat. Stay tuned.

                     At J D Diamond Jewellery, we apply the same high quality standards to all of our diamonds. We have an exceptional collection of traditional round diamonds and we also offer the finest non-round or fancy-shaped diamonds. All of our certified diamonds are graded by the GIA or IGI to have FL to SI-2 clarity, D to H color and Ideal, Very Good or Good cut.

The Hope Diamond

         A name that is inseparably linked to the history of the diamond in modern times is Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. A 17th century French trader - intrepid as he was curious - was the first European who succeeded in obtaining the official permission to visit the Indian diamond fields. In his diary, Tavernier wrote that one day in 1645 he was standing on a hill in India looking at the Coulour mines near the city of Golconda (now Hyderabad) which was so famous for its precious stones that its name became synonymous with wealth. From a prominent position, Tavernier, who was not prone to exaggeration, was able to see nearly sixty thousand workers of all ages who dug for diamonds under the whips of their overseers in the hot sun. Taverniers' travel logs contain extensive description of individual large diamonds and he plays a central role in the intriguing tale of the Hope Diamond, perhaps the best known diamond in the world.

        During his Travels in India, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier is supposed to have stolen a remarkable blue diamond, which was an eye in a statue of a Hindu God Rama. The God is said to have placed a curse on the stone, which soon had a effect, as evident from the events that followed.

• Shortly after selling the blue stone the Kind Louis XIV, Tavernier died in poverty and tragic circumstances.
• The king only wore the cursed 'blue crown jewel' once and then died of smallpox. The blue stone was then stolen from the royal treasure a short time later.
• It appeared again in London in 1830. The banker Henry Hope (hence, the current name of the diamond) bought it for an enormously high sum. He was then forced to sell it as a result of bankruptcy and died a couple of years later.
• It passed on to an Eastern European Prince, who gave it as a gift to his favourite dancer. Only a few hours after making this gift, the prince fell into a jealous rage and shot her.
• A Greek diamond trader bough the Hope diamond and sold it again. A short time after that, he drove his car over a cliff, killing himself, his wife and children. 
• The man who purchased the Hope diamond was the Turkush sultan Abdul-Hamid II. He only had it a few months before he was deposed by an officers putsch. 
• An American media magnate Edward McLean bough the diamond in 1922. One year later, he took his last trip on board the Titanic.
• McLeans' daughter subsequently in the possession of the diamond, finally died of an overdose of sleeping pills.

Hope Diamond on display at Smithsonian

      

       The last owner of the Hope diamond was the American jeweller Harry Winston. In view of the fate of previous owners, he decided to make the diamond available to the public and presented it to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington as a gift, where the 45.52 carat diamond can still be seen today. Of course such stories may not be completely true, but they do greatly enhance the mysterious allure and romanticism of diamonds. These tales of adventure have also contributed towards making diamonds the most well researched and the most desired mineral on the planet. 

     When thieves staged a 50 Million dollar diamond heist at Brussels Airport, it made international headlines, not just because of the enormous value of the stolen gems , but also because of our love affair with it. Jeff Post, Curator of the national gems and mineral collection for the Smithsonian says, "You mention the word 'Diamond' and it takes on a whole new level of interest. That's why we have the Hope Diamond in front of our exhibition hall. It's like going to he Louvre and making sure you go see the Mona Lisa first."

        There are a lot of superlatives about diamonds that separate them from basically everything of this planet- the hardest substance, the best conductor of heat and well, they're obviously a special kind of a substance. But I personally believe the real  miracle about every diamond is that it had to be this crystal that was almost perfectly formed hundreds of miles below the Earth surface and survived essentially a violent rapid volcanic eruption to bring it to the Earths' surface and the found or mined. Combine that chaotic trip through the depths of the Earth with the facet that most diamonds are billions of years old and the cultural value of the diamond begins to make sense.

        People have always recognized diamonds as something of great value, worth more per volume than almost anything else. And because diamonds used to be much rarer than they are now, they were owned almost exclusively by the wealthy and powerful, who passed them on from generation to generation. And most people will always want that romanticism of knowing the gem of their finger came from the Earth. The origin of natural diamonds lend the diamond both their value and their lure. It gives diamonds a certain cache, a prestige we cant really fight.

Jewellery: The Visual Medium

   

      For all the time that we spend on our appearance, the importance of jewellery is often underestimated, and the crucial role it plays in society is usually overlooked. In actuality, personal ornaments act beyond a simple aesthetic function; instead they tie together individuals and societies. It is also an important part of our communication repertoire, acting as a visual mechanism to convey information important to social relationships. Research by anthropologists and archeologists has shed light upon intricate relationship between jewellery and society in the present and past.

    A piece of jewellery can mean just something material for some people; but for majority of us, jewellery is something that we worked hard on getting and it marks a specific time in our life. This is also the reason why a ring is given by a man to a woman when he wants to marry her; it’s also the reason why two people are bound together by similar rings on their wedding day. Our brave soldiers wear a necklace that signifies what they fight for and what they do for our country. For some, it may be something only material, but there’s nothing more special than jewellery that tells and epic story.

   One of the key reasons jewellery forms a fundamental part of society is the role such adornments play as an alternative communication medium alongside language and writing. In many societies, personal ornaments act as an individual, social or ethnic marker, conveying information about the status of the individual visually. From their jewellery, an individuals’ life story can be read. In the Kenyan Masai, the division in subsistence strategy between the agricultural and pastoral groups is reflected in the different ornaments that each group wears.

   It acts as a window to our part giving us a glimpse of the minds of our earliest societies, the time people were wearing jewellery, they were also communicating with speech.