Diamonds for Less is a short but necessary education in purchasing diamonds for jewelry or for profit.
In my former life I was a diamond expert working for many years managing one of the biggest jewelry store chains in the country. I have included 5 topics which I hope will be quite helpful in determining what type of diamonds you will be investing in.
The Importance of Cut and Proportion
Cut does not mean shape. However cut affects brilliance. You want your diamond to be cut as close to ideal as possible. Not too deep or too shallow. It's all about light reflection folks!
Body Color
From colorless to warm yellow, a great thing to remember when buying diamonds is that the more rare the more expensive. For example: the whiter the stone the more expensive because colorless stones are harder to find in nature. The color scale goes from D being the most colorless to usually P, in most jewelry stores, being the most yellow. A good color to buy is in the top of the near colorless range, say G or H. To the naked eye most people can't see the difference between these color stones and colorless, but you will save a heck of a lot of money by getting your Diamonds for Less!
Clarity
Clarity refers to how clear the diamond is or how free it is of inclusions. Some people call these flaws however being natural technically all diamonds have some type of inclusion. This is what makes them unique! After all you have beauty marks on your body don't you? How would you feel if someone called these unique markings on you, flaws?! A good rule of thumb here is the less you can see with the naked eye the better. Remember though, the less inclusions the more rare or expensive the diamond. You want your Diamonds for Less don't you? This scale goes from Fl (flawless) to I3 (inclusion 3). Your safe within the SI (small inclusion) to VS2 (very small inclusion 2). Again a clean stone to the naked eye and saving you thousands more than buying cleaner stones that will only cost you for the reckoning.
Weight
1 carat = 1/5th of a gram. It may be easier to talk in points. 1 carat = 100 points, so 1/4 of a carat is 25 points and so on. Obviously the heavier the stone the more rare and more expensive it will be. Be careful with your ego on this one. You have to determine what is more important for you, size or quality! Always remember, Diamonds for Less is the goal.
Diamond Grading Reports
These are reports that give the specifics on your stone. Measurements, cut, color, carat weight etc. Think of it this way. You have a drivers license or passport that describes your specifics correct? This document however does not describe your sense of humor or your individual personality right? Are you catching my drift? These documents are only as important as you make them. Once you educate yourself a little about diamonds, you will see that the diamond itself will talk to you not the piece of paper that describes it. If you must have a certification, Go with GIA. They are the most widely used company in the world for diamond certification.
I hope this article has helped inform you in the basics of buying diamonds for jewelry or for profit.
Source : Popular Forum
4 comments:
Recently, a pink coloured diamond weighing 0.70ct was submitted to DCLA laboratory for certification and colour authentication. The colour was described as 3 PP on a diamond report issued by another Australian-based laboratory.
After routine examination however, DCLA discovered that when the diamond is viewed under high magnification with reflected diffused light, a patchy iridescent coating is visible on the surface. This coating is also easily visible on the pavilion facets of the diamond when viewed through the table. However, when the diamond is observed under magnification with regular diffused light, the pink coloration appears evenly distributed, particularly when viewed face up.
The pink colour is the result of a coating rather than from natural lattice defects in natural pink diamonds. Surface coating is the process of adding a thin layer of coloured foreign material to all or part of a gemstone's surface, with the intent of either masking the underlying body colour or enhancing a desirable colour. Most often, this coating is applied to the pavilion and/or girdle of the diamond; the way that light refracts as it passes through a diamond creates the illusion of uniform colour distribution.
The durability of diamond coatings vary considerably, depending on materials used and methods of coating applied. Most recent advances in technology employ a very thin optical or chemical film which is more durable than older methods, but still readily worn away by heat, scratching, abrasion, polishing, and just everyday wear.
Coating is a deceptive practice; we do not know the number of coated pink diamonds which have entered the marketplace, but the DCLA has seen a number of treated stones of late. Of particular concern is when such treated diamonds are accompanied by seemingly legitimate reports or paperwork.
DCLA screens every diamond submitted to the laboratory for all known treatments, and will not issue a diamond certificate for treated or synthetic diamonds.
nice view from cohen...ya most of time colouring is carried on diamonds and it has slowly become a practice..
Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia (DCLA) Transparency Grading System
After analysing thousands of diamonds, DCLA has developed a new Transparency grading system, independent of other quality grades listed on the traditional diamond certificate.
Transparency is the degree to which a material transmits light, directly relevant to the cloudiness or haziness of the material.
Diamonds of any clarity, fluorescence and cut can in fact have Very Good or Excellent Transparency, making them attractive stones. Diamonds of any clarity, fluorescence and cut can also have Good or Medium Transparency - light return can be interrupted by multiple features of a given diamond.
The DCLA Transparency Grading System will now take all of these features into account to provide an even more comprehensive assessment of a diamond.
DCLA Transparency Scale:Excellent - Completely transparent, no light interruption, no haze or cloud
Very Good - Transparent, minimal light interruption, very light haze or cloud, difficult to detect
Good - Transparent, slight visible haze or cloud, detectable
Medium - Semi-Transparent, marked light interruption, moderate haze or cloud, easy to detect
Poor - Semi-Transparent, very little light passes through, heavy haze or cloud
Effective September 15 2008, all DCLA Diamond Certificates will include the diamond transparency.
In addition, the DCLA has also split the traditional Finish grade on our Diamond Certificate into the dual features of Polish and Symmetry. This will provide a fuller, more detailed expression of the overall diamond make to both consumers and the trade.
Growing Incidence of Undisclosed Treated Diamonds in Australia
DCLA has seen an alarming increase in the number of treated diamonds being submitted as natural diamonds to the laboratory for certification.
It should first be said that diamond treatments are neither good, nor intrinsically bad in and of themselves. There is nothing wrong with buying a treated diamond, provided that the treatment is fully disclosed and that you pay the appropriate price for the diamond. Because of their lower cost and value, treated diamonds can allow a person to buy a diamond that appears to be of a higher quality than it truly is.
However, too often the presence of such diamond treatments is concealed. Whether this deception is by intent or negligence, such concealment is tantamount to fraud.
Not only does artificially treating a diamond significantly reduce its value, but most diamond treatments are unstable and reversible. For this reason, all internationally accepted rules for diamond grading forbid the certification of treated diamonds. An extremely disturbing discovery just recently in the DCLA Laboratory was that of a coated diamond accompanied by a certificate from a supposedly legitimate Australian ‘laboratory’.
Members of the diamond industry have a responsibility to consumers to convey accurate and transparent information, and each individual that handles a diamond as it moves down the diamond pipeline from the mines should be held accountable for making known any treatments that a diamond has undergone.
It is deceptive and unfair to fail to disclose treatment of a diamond when it has a significant effect on a diamond’s value. In its pursuit of consumer protection, DCLA is offering a ‘Diamond Amnesty’ for diamond owners Australia-wide – any diamond brought in with its matching diamond grading certificate will be verified for grading accuracy and tested to ensure that it is natural and free of treatments. This service will be provided free of charge.
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