The word Diamond comes from the Greek 'Adamas' meaning
unconquerable, suggesting the eternity of love.
They are expensive because on average 250 tons of material
has to be mined in order to produce a 1 carat polished stone of gem quality
and only about 50% of all the Diamonds mined are of gem quality.
When purchasing Diamonds you should be aware of the 4 C's
that combine to give a particular stone it's value. The better the colour or
clarity the more expensive the stone, thus, Diamonds of the same size can vary
dramatically in price. Also, some cuts are rarer than others which can affect
price. The 4 C's are......
Carat
weight
The word carat
originated from a natural unit of weight: the seeds of the Carob tree.
One carat =0.2 grams
One carat is divided
into 100 "points" therefore a Diamond described as 25 points is
equal to one quarter of a carat or 0.25 carats.
Clarity
Almost all Diamonds
contain non crystallized carbon or small non Diamond crystals. These are
called inclusions. The fewer the inclusions the rarer the Diamond.
The terms that most
Jewellers use to describe the clarity of a stone are generally as follows:
| FL |
Loupe clean. Flawless. |
| IF |
Internally flawless. Minor surface blemishes. |
| VVS1/VVS2 |
Very very slight inclusions. |
| VS1/VS2 |
Very slight inclusions. |
| SI1/SI2 |
Slight inclusions. |
| P1/P2/P3 |
Inclusions visible to the naked eye |
Colour
Colour
grades range from D (Best) through to O (Worst).
