Colored Diamonds

Fancy colored diamonds are all the rage these days. Gemologists have developed new ways to create versions that are affordable for the average person - by treating less desirable diamonds. These less desirable diamonds are treated with irradiation followed by intense heat. This turns brown and yellowish diamonds into beautifully colored diamonds that you can afford. This produces stunning greens, blues, yellows, reds, purples and other colors. These colors are considered permanent, but there is a possibility they could change during repairs if a high heat is used.

Treatments like irradiation make it possible for more people to own these vividly colored diamonds. Most natural colored diamonds are rare and also extremely expensive. When shopping for colored diamonds you need to assume that any affordable fancy color diamond has been treated. Ask about the stones origin and request to view a lab certificate to verify authenticity.

Synthetic colored diamonds are another option if owning a colored diamond is something you desire but cannot quite afford. They are real diamonds, but they are created in a lab.

Natural fancy color diamonds get their coloring from different trace elements present in the stones, such as nitrogen, which produces a yellow diamond. Diamonds can be colored by exposure to radiation during its creation. An example of a diamond affected by radiation is a Green diamond.

Another way that a natural colored diamond gets color is by its inclusions. Regarded as flaws and undesirable in a colorless diamond, inclusions give unique tones and brilliant flashes of color in a fancy color diamond. Remember that Natural fancy colored diamonds are very expensive, any colored diamond labeled to be sold as natural should be accompanied by a certificate from a respected grading lab.

A "fancy" diamond is a natural diamond that has color. These colors vary from red, green, purple, violet, orange, blue and pink – and most shades between. Fancy color shades vary from faint to intense.

The most famous diamonds in the world are Color diamonds. The Tiffany Diamond, which is yellow and the Hope Diamond which is blue are colored diamonds. Color diamonds have an amazing financial track record. The value has never decreased on wholesale level in more than 30 years. Blue and pink diamonds have doubled every 5 years of a strong economy. In the 1970’s you could have bought a very high quality blue diamond for about 50K and today the very same stone would be worth between 2 and 3 million.

Choosing The Cut of A Diamond

There are many different cuts of diamonds to choose from. The cut essentially refers to the shape that the diamond is cut into – unless you are in the diamond or jewelry business, but this shape has a great impact on the much the diamond sparkles.

The most popular cuts are heart, marquise, oval, pear, princess, round, trillion, and emerald cuts. The shape has an impact on how much the diamond sparkles, but the actual cutting itself – when the diamond cutter actually cuts the diamond into a particular shape – also matters a great deal. If the diamond is poorly cut, it will lose its sparkle.

However, in the diamond industry, the cut of a diamond doesn’t refer to its shape at all. Instead, this is a reference to the stone’s depth, width, brilliance, durability, clarity, and other aspects of the diamond. Common cutting problems include a missing or off center culet, misalignment, a diamond that is too thick or too thin, cracks, or broken culets.

When shopping for a diamond, you should of course choose the shape that you like the best, but then look at several different diamonds of that shape to find the one with the best cut – the one that sparkles the most, in all types of lighting.

Can Men Wear Diamond Jewelry?

Wearing diamond jewelry—especially for men—connotes not only power, but also strength, prominence and status in life. Ever since the beginning of time, jewelry has always signified power. Back then it was the kings who wear most of the jewels in the royal family. In 1200s Europe, royalties—especially the king—wear diamonds set. As a matter of fact, King Louis IX of France even enacted a law that no one can wear a ring with diamonds but only the king.

In these days of equality, men also wear wedding rings to signify his eternal love for his wife. One of the latest trends in a man’s wedding ring today is with inlaid gemstones like diamonds. It has become acceptable for the modern society that men wear diamonds for their wedding ring depending on their personal taste and preference.

Aside from emphasizing a man’s taste and preference, choosing a diamond ring for a wedding ring should also include the following considerations:

- the type of work. If you are into sports and into works that require excessive manual labor and movement, you might think twice before getting a man diamond ring because it increases the possibility of losing or damaging your gemstone. But if you are not into sporting activities or hard manual labor, man diamond ring can be a perfect option for you.

- the type of personality and lifestyle. Since every man is different, personalities and lifestyles should be greatly considered.

- consider comfort. Think of the shape of the ring and the ring width before buying it.

- the type of metal. The metals that can be used to make men’s wedding rings include gold, titanium, platinum and silver.

- the type of gem. Although diamond in the best option for a man, you can also use sapphires in all colors and rubies.

The diamond jewelry for man

Today, important and prominent men around the world like the pope, rulers of different nations and business tycoons wear rings to connote power. Graduates of military academies and heads of different national and international organizations wear diamond jewelry such as rings as a sign of being a ruler as well.

Despite the fact that some people—especially men—the idea of wearing diamond jewelry such as a ring, more and more of them recognize the fact that wearing a band encrusted with gem as costly as diamond can put them in a prestigious disposition and company like musicians and sports superstars who are popular for their diamond bling-bling.

Having man diamond jewelry such as a ring doesn’t have to be as flashy as those worn by celebrities. In fact, man diamond jewelry such as rings can be composed of a single stone set in a strong and masculine setting. Or it can be silver, platinum, or gold band that has inlaid diamonds. 

If you’re thinking of getting a man diamond jewelry such as ring for your self, it’s not necessary to you push your budget to the limits. What you can do is to explore the variety of designs available in the market today.

Buying Diamonds Online

With all of the potential for scams concerning diamonds, buying diamonds online almost seems unthinkable! However, you actually can purchase diamonds online, without any problems – as long as you are careful.

First, think about your reasons for wanting to purchase the diamond online, as opposed to making a purchase from a local jewelry store. The most common reason is price. Due to low overhead costs, online jewelers and wholesalers are able to offer lower prices. However, you must be careful – sometimes a price that is too low is a sure indication of a scam.

One of the best things about purchasing online is the unlimited selection. When shopping offline, you are limited to the selection in the stores in your general area. Online, there are no limits. But again, you must use a great deal of care and consideration before handing your money over to someone that you cannot see and have never met!

Before shopping, learn as much as you can about diamonds – especially cut, color, clarity and carat weights. When you are knowledgeable about diamonds, it will be harder for a con artist to rip you off. Once you know more about diamonds, you will be ready to start shopping.

Take your time. Don’t purchase the first diamond that you see that interests you. Instead, look for similar diamonds for sale. Do some comparison shopping to find the lowest prices. Once you have found the lowest price, start doing your investigation. You know about diamonds, you’ve found a diamond that you love, and you’ve found the lowest price – but you are still quite a ways away from actually purchasing that diamond!

Ask about the seller’s credentials, such as professional jewelry associations that they belong to. View and print the seller’s return, refund, and upgrade policies. Also inquire about additional services, such as settings and mountings, sizing, and free shipping. Do a search for customer reviews on this particular company around the Internet. Also check with the BBB Online to see if there have been any complaints.

Ask for a diamond grading report from an independent laboratory such as GIA, HRD, EGL or AGS. You should see this before making a purchase. Finally, use a reputable escrow service for high dollar diamonds – preferably one that will have the diamond appraised while it is in their possession. The seller sends the diamond to the escrow service, and you send the money to pay for the diamond to the escrow service. The escrow service has the diamond appraised, sends the diamond to you, and sends the money to the seller. This is the surest way to protect yourself…again, make sure that you use a reputable escrow service!

Antique Cut Diamond Jewelry

There is a hushed but discernible stirring in the industry that is the talk among jewelers. Somehow, there is a quiet demand for antique, old European diamond jewelry from buyers, including from young people.

Modern-day cutters are now beginning to cut diamonds in the old world style to keep up with the demand. What could perhaps be the reason for such a craving? What is so special with these diamonds cut the old style?

Old European and Old Mine cuts

The old diamond cut style was worked out in such a way that the light would fall directly on the stone through the crown table (the topmost facet). The entering light would then hit the culet (the bottom facet) and goes out of the stone in a shower of rainbow colors.

Another charming characteristic is that they look their best by candle light. Once hit by the soft glow of the candle light, the stone would exude its own special kind of romantic light it is known for.

Most of these diamonds could be part of family heirlooms handed down through generations among the women in the family. Some modern-day cut diamonds are actually re-cut from old sets of antique jewelry.

History

In the mid 1800s, diamonds are only for the royalty, the upper level clergy, some very rich merchants and titled personages. In the Victorian times, diamonds can be worn by anyone who can afford them.

Most of these old cut diamonds, although slightly tinted, are almost extremely pure (super eye clean) and VVS and VS in clarity.

Before the 1900s, all diamonds were cut by hand. Most of them are small and have a relatively high table (top most facet) and deep pavilion (side facets) and quite top-heavy.

Characteristics

The earlier Old Mine cut appear smaller than the Old European cut (which came later) because they are squares and with rounded corners. (They resemble a bit like the modern-day Asscher or Princess cuts.)

Both of these old cut diamonds have very thin girdles (the edge around the body of the diamond). It is quite common that these antique gems have some chips in them. (Sometimes, they are polished away or hidden under the stone’s metal clasp.)

In the 1800s, tint was not considered so much of a deterrent to price or its beauty as it is now. Both the Old Mine cut and the Old European cut diamonds are also famous for masking their true colors.

Rose cut

Diamonds in Rose cuts were one of the most popular and the first to have faceted cutting style. It has a flat bottom and all the facets are on top, making it dome-shaped.

The facets come to the center forming a point. The facets are planned to give the appearance of the opening of a rose bud.

Old or modern cut?

The surge of demand for these old style cuts in diamonds may have been an offshoot to the movement of going romantic the old world way. Or it could be a rebound from all things too modern, especially in jewelry which is supposed to reflect timelessness.

Whatever it is, it is not fair to judge old-style diamond jewelry by modern day standards. These old relics have their own history which might be more colorful than one could ever have.

Bonded Diamonds

Before you start shopping for diamonds, consider dealing with a bonded jeweler. Bonded jewelers sell bonded diamonds, and there are very few bonded jewelers in the world. In fact, out of all of the jeweler’s in the world, only about 5% of them are bonded. Buying a bonded diamond will cost more than buying a non-bonded diamond, but when you look at what you get with the bonded option, you will see that it is well worth the extra expense.

First, bonded diamonds have a buy back policy for the life of the diamond. No matter how long you have had the diamond, you can take it back to the bonded jeweler and sell it back to him or her, for a 100% refund. If a jeweler does not offer a 100% buy back guarantee, for the life of the diamond, then you should take a closer look at the diamond to see what is wrong with it.

Bonded diamonds also have a breakage policy. If the stone breaks or chips, the bonded jeweler will replace it with a new one – one time. No jeweler would ever offer such a policy on any stone that was not 100% natural, so just the offer of such a policy should give you piece of mind concerning the quality of the diamond. Bonded diamonds are natural and untreated.

Bonded diamonds increase in value, with a fixed appreciation rate that is designed to keep up with inflation. This means that a diamond that is worth a certain amount of money today will be worth more in the future, as the price of diamonds continues to rise. This generally does not apply to buy backs, however. It typically applies to trade-ins.

Alternately, by purchasing a bonded diamond, you are protected against the possibility of a market crash. If a market crash occurs, the value of diamonds will drop. However, the bonded jeweler guarantees to refund you the difference between what the diamond is now worth and what you paid for it before the market crash.

It may be difficult to find a bonded jeweler in your area, but if you can, this is who you want to deal with, as opposed to dealing with an un-bonded jeweler. Specifically tell the jeweler that you are only interested in bonded diamonds.  You can find a bonded jeweler in your area by using various online resources, or by calling the local jewelry stores.

Are Diamonds Really Rare?

When you walk into a jewelry store and see all the diamonds in all of the various settings that are for sale, it is difficult to realize that diamonds are indeed rare. Most people don’t even stop to consider how that diamond came to be sitting in that jeweler’s case! There is quite a bit of work that is done before a diamond is ready to sell to the general public!

For every one million diamonds that are mined, only one will be found that is a quality one caret diamond. In order to find a two caret diamond, about five million diamonds must be mined. More than two hundred tons of ore must be mined to find one small diamond, and even then, more than 80% of the diamonds that are mined are only good for industrial use, such as diamond drill bits.

So, the next time you visit your local jewelry store, ask to see the one carat diamonds. You should look at this diamond with new appreciation – knowing that it truly is one in a million!

All About the Clarity of Diamonds

Clarity is an important aspect of a diamond, and it is important to know how to grade the clarity of a diamond before you buy one. It is actually quite easy to learn how to grade the clarity of a diamond. There are basically two things that you must understand: Diamonds with visual inclusions and blemishes, and those that are ‘eye clean’ meaning that there are no inclusions or blemishes that can be seen with the naked eye. From there, the clarity of a diamond is further broken down into subcategories.

Many people mistakenly think that diamond clarity refers to how clear it is. This isn’t so. Clarity actually refers to the internal and external imperfections of the diamond. The best diamonds, of course get a grade of FL or IF – Flawless or Internally Flawless – meaning that it is perfect. A grade of I-1, I-2 or I-3 means that the diamond is imperfect, with a grade of I-3 being the worst.

Other grades are VVS1 and VVS2, which means that the diamond is very, very slightly imperfect; VS1 and VS2, meaning the diamond is very slightly imperfect; SI-1 and SI-2, which means that the diamond is slightly imperfect.