Jewelry Focus: February 2010

Friday, February 26, 2010

About Diamond Weights

Diamonds are measured in Carat Weight. One carat weighs 2 hundred mg. If a diamond is known as 4 grains, this also implies that it's an one carat diamond. The word Carat comes from the word carob. A carob is a bean that grows on a tree in the Mediterranean. In times gone, if a diamond weighed the same as a carob bean, it was one carob, or one carat. in the East, where Carob trees don't grow, rice was employed to determine the weight of a diamond. If a diamond weighed as much as 4 grains of rice, it was 4 grains or one carat as we all know it to be now.

The bulk of diamond purchases are for diamonds that are 0.33 of a carat. Beware when purchasing diamonds that are set or mounted. If more than one diamond is employed in the piece, the tag on the jewellery will give the CTW or Carat Total Weight it doesn't tell you the carat weight of each stone in the piece. You must ask the jeweler for the total carat weight of the biggest diamond in the piece to actually understand what you are purchasing.

Clearness Of Diamonds

Clearness is a crucial facet of a diamond, and it is very important to understand how to grade the lucidity of a diamond before you purchase one. It is essentially quite simple to discover how to grade the lucidity of a diamond. There are 2 things that you need to understand : Diamonds with visible inclusions and marks, and those that are "eye clean" implying there are no inclusions or blots that may be seen with the eye.

From there, the lucidity of a diamond is further broken down into subcategories. Many folk by mistake think that diamond clearness appertains to how clear it is. This isn't so. Lucidity really alludes to the internal and external defects of the diamond. The best diamonds, naturally get a grade of FL or IF Pristine or Internally Immaculate suggesting it is ideal. A grade of I-1, I-2 or I-3 implies the diamond is imperfect, with a grade of I-3 being the worst. Other grades are VVS1 and VVS2, that means the diamond is exceedingly a touch imperfect ; VS1 and VS2, meaning the diamond is really a little imperfect ; SI-1 and SI-2, meaning the diamond is a touch imperfect.

Artificial Diamonds notes

Artificial Diamonds the 1st manmade diamonds were produced by General Electrical in 1954. A manmade diamond is essentially a rock which has the sturdiness, refractive index and toughness of a natural diamond but it is created by man. A manmade diamond shouldn't be confused with stimulant diamonds , for example glass, cubic zirconia, or moissanite. Though the technology for man-made diamonds came into play in 1954, no artificial diamonds were ever seen on the market till the 1990's.

This was thanks to the fact that it took many years for General Electrical to supply a manmade diamond that would match up to the quality of a natural diamond and when they worked out the way to do it, they revealed that it cost more to produce an artificial diamond than it did to mine and cut natural diamonds. Ultimately , a tiny company by the name of Gemesis Establishment worked out a technique to produce man-made diamonds that were of the same quality as natural diamonds, at a less expensive cost. Today, Gemesis produces man-made white diamonds, and coloured diamonds too. These diamonds sell for approximately third of the price of a natural diamond, but there's a deficit of them, and they're tough to find. In reality, it appears that manmade diamonds are rarer than natural diamonds.

How Diamonds Are Cut

In their most natural form, diamonds are well quite foul. They have no luster or shine, and actually, look like little more than damaged glass. A diamond must be cut, and then polished before it actually becomes a thing of beauty. Diamonds are cut with saws, into round shapes. From the arched shape, other shapes could be cut , for example heart shapes but the shape is less crucial than the standard of the cutting that's being done. If the diamond is poorly cut, it'll lose light, and it won't flicker and shine very well.

Each aspect of the diamond must be fastidiously cut into the geometrical shapes that permit the diamond to glint and shine, then the whole diamond is cut into a particular shape , for example an emerald cut or a princess cut diamond. Once the cut is done, the diamond is put into a dop, which seems like a cup with another diamond only a diamond is powerful enough to buff the edges of another diamond. Once the diamond has been cut and formed, and had the perimeters smoothed in the dop, it is polished on a scaif or a diamond polishing wheel.

How Diamonds Are Mined

We barely think about the way in which the diamonds we wear came to us. Natural diamonds, versus man-made diamonds or fake diamonds, are mined from the earth. There are presently 2 systems of mining diamonds : Pipe Mining and Alluvial Mining.

When pipe mining is utilized, the diamonds are removed from the earth thru volcanic pipes. These aren't synthetic pipes. These are natural pipes in the ground. Shanks are put into the ground next to the pipes, and tunnels are driven into the deepest parts of the pipe. The diamonds aren't fixed at the mine. Instead, big rocks that are full of diamonds are brought out of the mine and moved to a screening plant for separation. The Alluvial mining methodology is done in riverbeds and on beaches. Walls are built to restrain the water and the sand on the bank or beach is moved with a bulldozer till the level of earth that diamonds can be discovered in is reached. Again, the diamonds aren't sorted here.

Instead, the sand that contains the diamonds is bulldozed into wagons, and taken to screening plants.

Diamond Grading Reports

You have been told that having a certificate or a diamond grading report is important, and as a responsible buyer, you get one sadly, you almost certainly won't be able to understand a note of what is on that diamond grading report, unless you're a jeweller.

On the color grading scale, D, E, and F mean the diamond has no color. G, H, and I implies that it has little color. J, K, and L means the diamond has a slight yellow color. P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and X implies that the diamond is a darker shade of yellow. Z means the diamond has a complicated color aside from white or yellow. On the color grading scale, D is the most valuable, and X is the least valuable however diamonds that get a Z rating are the most rare and most expensive diamonds in the world. There are several aspects to a grading report.

Figuring it all out can be exceedingly mystifying. You must talk to a jeweller you trust, and have them explain everything on the diamond grading report to you.

How To Find Jewelry Wholesale Sources

If you are in the jewelry business or thinking about getting into the jewelry business, you need to find jewelry wholesale sources. Finding these sources isn't as difficult as you might think – they are everywhere, and if you have access to the Internet, you literally have the world of jewelry wholesale at your fingertips.

There are many wholesale company directories available online, but you really don't have to purchase these to find the jewelry wholesale companies. Instead, use the search engine and type "jewelry wholesale companies" or "jewelry wholesale suppliers" into the search box. This is the easiest, and cheapest way to find jewelry wholesale sources.

Start making a list of sources. You can do this on notepad or in a spreadsheet. Keep up with which company has the best prices on certain items, shipping costs, contact information, and any other information you may need in the course of doing business.

Don't forget the online auctions, and remember that eBay isn't the only online auction either! Keep your eyes open for great deals on jewelry, and make bulk purchases when you can.

What Are Grimy Diamonds?

A filthy diamond is one of 2 things : a coarse diamond, or a diamond that has not been cleaned in a while. Coarse diamonds are uncut and unpolished therefore, they're dirty. But that kind of soiled diamond will shortly be cut and polished and sitting in a lovely jewel box in a display case. Then somebody will purchase it, and before long, it will turn into a mucky diamond once again.

Diamonds become grimy. When you scrub your hands with a diamond ring on, soap scum clings to it. When you put available lotion, it is getting grease on it. Shower with your diamond earrings or necklace, and again, you get soap scum. In one short day, your new diamond may be dirty! Purchase an ultrasonic jewellery cleaner the same day that you buy your diamond jewellery, and use it every day, without fail. The lucidity of the diamond changes when the diamond is soiled it loses its glint. By taking one minute each day to wash your diamond jewellery, you can avoid this, and your diamonds will never be soiled.

Are Diamonds Truly Rare?

When you walk into a jewellery store and see all the diamonds in all the varied settings that are for sale, it is tricky to notice that diamonds are indeed rare. The majority do not even stop to think about how that diamond came to be sitting in that jeweler's case.

There is quite a lot of work that's done before a diamond is prepared to sell to the general public. For each 1,000,000 diamonds that are mined, only 1 will be found that may be a quality one caret diamond. To find a 2 caret diamond, about 5,000,000 diamonds must be mined. More than 200 tons of ore must be mined to find one little diamond, and even then, more than eighty percent of the diamonds that are mined are only good for economic use , for example diamond drill bits.

Jewelry Focus