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Interesting Facts About Diamonds
by Jackie Bridgford
http://www.ablediamonds.com
Diamonds are flash, fire and sparkle, the stone of romance,
the classic promise of forever. They've been lauded in song
and movies. Diamond, after all, are a girl's best friend.
Diamonds are forever. A diamond speaks volumes. It can tell
her you'd marry her all over again. A diamond on the third
finger of the left hand is the classic 'I'm taken'.
Fancy diamonds range in color from pale yellow to black,
with an endless variation of shadings between. While the
source of the color may be the same as the 'inclusions' that
detract from the value of clear diamonds, in fancies the
color is more than a tinge that discolors the purity of the
stone. In this case, the coloring is intense and
unmistakable under any light.
Diamonds and chocolate substitutes? The origin of the word
carat, the unit of measurement for diamonds and other gems,
is the same as the origin for the word 'carob', the seeds
from which a popular chocolate substitute is made. In the
earliest days of gem selling, carob seeds were used to
weight the other side of a pair of balance scales to
determine the weight of a gem stone.
Despite that fact, it's interesting to note that some of
most well-known diamonds in the world are actually fancies.
These include the Hope Diamond, which weighs in at 45.52
carats, and is a deep, opaque blue. Others are the Dresden
diamond, 40.70 carats, which is an intense apple green in
color. The Tiffany diamond, on display at Tiffany's Fifth
Avenue in New York City, is a canary yellow diamond that
weighs 287.42 carats.
As important as size is, it is only one of the four C's that
determine the value of a particular diamond. The traditional
'four C's' are Carat, Color, Clarity and Cut, and each
contributes to the final value placed on an individual
diamond.
The ideal Color for most diamonds is none. The closer a
diamond comes to completely transparent and colorless, the
more valuable it is. This is because the impurities that
give the diamond its color change the way that light
refracts when it hits the stone. The most brilliant fire is
found in pure 'white' diamonds.
There is one exception to that rule - fancy diamonds. Those
diamonds that are clearly red, blue, green or yellow are
extremely rare, and that rarity makes them extremely
valuable. Canary diamonds, for instance, are an intense
yellow, and are valued for their sparkle and fire. Pink
diamonds, mined in only one place in the world, are
exceedingly rare, and priced accordingly. A 3/4 carat fancy
intense pink diamond can easily cost $30,000 - without the
setting.
The third C, Clarity is a measure of the transparency of a
diamond. Most stones contain tiny imperfections either
internally or on the surface. Most of these are so minute
that even experienced jewelers may have trouble finding
them. The highest clarity grade is Flawless - a stone that
shows no internal or external blemishes or flaws at 10x
magnification. From there, stones are graded according to
number, size and position of inclusions or blemishes, but
it's only the lowest few grades that have imperfections that
visibly affect the beauty of the diamond.
One of most unique types of diamond is found only in a small
mine in China. Chameleon diamonds range in color from olive
green to pale yellow green. As one might guess from their
name, chameleon diamonds actually change color under certain
circumstances. When subjected to eithr heat or lighting
changes, chameleons either lighten to a brighter yellow, or
darken to a more intense green temporarily.
Finally, diamonds are as unique as fingerprints. When you
invest in a diamond, the diamond's certificate will serve as
a unique identifying document that describes your diamond in
detail. Insist on receiving it, and keep it in a safe place
in case you ever need it for identification purposes.
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