Billions Of Years Ago… Everything About Diamonds

A diamond is a crystallized form of carbon, one of the main elements on Earth. Diamonds were formed under high temperature and pressure, deep inside the Earth, some of them 3.5 billion years ago. Their birthplace reaches as deep as 200 km, but millions of years ago diamonds were brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions. Diamond mining is concentrated in several geographic areas. Currently, the most famous mining centres are located in Africa, the Asian part of Russia, in the northern part of Europe, North and South America and Australia. History of the raw diamond production spans at about last 135 years. Although the alluvial deposits have been known since ancient times, the production of diamonds from primary deposits (kimberlitic and lamprotic rocks) started only in 1870 and since then, having fluctuated strongly in the process, reached a value of 4.5 billion carats.

The systematics of diamond crystals classification, used when sorting and assessing rough diamonds, includes more than 2,500 positions determining the crystal size, shape, colour and purity with regard to the location of the inclusions.

The quality and characteristics of the diamonds are well described by the “4C” rule. Individuals interested in purchasing a diamond should be using the rule as a guidance. The “4C” stands for” Carat, Clarity, Colour and Cut.

Carat

Carat (ct) is a measure of the weight of a diamond (and other precious stones). One carat equals 200 milligrams. The size and weight of the diamond is not always reflected in its price.

A much more important in this regard is clarity.

Clarity

It is the major determinant valuing a diamond. It describes the quantity, size, colour and layout of the inclusions, which any stone most likely possesses. Contamination may be external (blemishes) or internal (inclusions). Many of them can be seen only through a strong magnifying loupe. The rarest and most expensive diamonds are designated “flawless”, which proves them free from any imperfection.

Colour

The ideal diamonds are completely transparent. Those are found very rarely. In most cases, there is a natural colour - yellow, brown or gray with varying degrees of intensity. A special class are fancy-coloured diamonds - blue, pink or orange. The differences in the typical colours of diamonds are very subtle, and therefore the degree of drabness is determined in special lighting conditions when compared to the benchmarks.

Cut

“Diamond cut” term refers to the way it’s been cut and polished. Thanks to the cut, the stone obtains specific brilliance – the reflection and dispersion of the light. Cut diamond is commonly called a brilliant. In fact, a brilliant cut is just one of many cuts that can be given to a diamond. It has a form of a conical part of a ball and contains no less than 57 facets (external surfaces).

Buying and choosing the right brilliant is undoubtedly laborious and time consuming. The rule of "4C" can be used as a compass in a vast field of knowledge about diamonds.