Diamonds (A Few Helpful Tips For Anyone Buying Diamonds)
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DIAMONDS ARE THE ONLY TRULY PURE GEMSTONE - DIAMONDS ARE PRIMARILY CARBON.

(Carbon is the element that forms the building blocks of life).

IN CASE YOU DO NOT KNOW YOUR 4C's....HERE THEY ARE :

* 4 C's OF BUYING DIAMONDS *

CUT * Cut does NOT mean shape. It refers to all the angles / proportions a skilled craftsman has created in transforming the 'rough diamond' into a polished finished diamond. Cut is especially important because it has the most effect on brilliance. Poorly-cut diamonds will be dull even with excellent color & clarity. When you buy from reputable diamond houses that only carry the higher cut qualities, you typically won't have to worry about picking a poorly-cut diamond.

COLOR *  Diamonds with little color are very rare & highly valued. A " COLORLESS " diamond will always demand the higher price. Colors of diamonds are graded on alphabetical scale ranging from D to Y. This scale measures the color saturation, ranging from absolutely colorless to deep yellow (or
yellow-brown). D is bright white ( not a hint any other color). Y is deep yellow or yellow-brown. The letters in-between D and Y indicate the color, depending on the amount of yellow. The letter Z in the color grade of a diamond indicates that it is a fancy, or deep-colored diamond. Also important is the fact that you don't have to pick a colorless diamond to pick a great stone.

CLARITY * Diamonds have tiny imperfections within the stone, referred to as flaws. Clarity is graded by the size, quantity, location and type of flaws. The FLAWS are natural identifying characteristics such as minerals or fractures, appearing while diamonds are formed in the earth. The less these
occur, the better the clarity. The cut, or facet of the diamond, is the manner in which the diamond is cut. The most preferred cut is the brilliant cut, a facet specially designed to bring out the most "fire" in the stone. Sometimes, this cut cannot be given, either because of flaws or cleavage. Other cuts are not as valuable as the brilliant cut. Much pre-planning must be taken before cutting diamonds & slight errors in the faceting can immensely decrease the value.

Carat (Ct) * is often confused with size of the diamond, but CARAT is actually a measure of the weight of the diamond. The price of a diamond is closely tied to the carat weight. When diamonds are mined the larger diamonds are discovered less often than small ones & therefore (as diamonds
get larger) the value can increase greatly.

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SIMILAR GEMSTONES - there are many gems that actually resemble diamonds. But
only a few have the luster & fire similar to diamond. All of those gems, though, are ' much SOFTER ' than diamonds. Many " synthetic materials " are also made to resemble diamonds (some of
those are YAG, strontium titanate, cubic zirconia, synthetic rutile, synthetic spinel etc).

But diamonds are easily distinguished from all the similar gems by the
immense " Hardness " of genuine diamonds.

Zircon is the ONLY natural gem that comes close in fire & luster to diamonds
but Zircon is softer & has a strong double refraction.

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Clarity is graded on the size & noticeability of the flaws & inclusions of
diamonds.

Letters are assigned to a stone to label the quality of its clarity.

" FI  Flawless "  - contains no flaws or inclusions at all.

" IF Internally Flawless " - contains no flaws or inclusions at a
magnification of 10x.

" VVS1 Very, very small inclusions " - contains very tiny flaws or
inclusions visible at 10x magnification.

" VVS2 Very, very small inclusions " - contains tiny flaws or inclusions
visible at 10x magnification.

" VS1 Very small inclusions" - contains small flaws or inclusions visible
at 10x magnification.

" VS2 Very small inclusions " - contains flaws or inclusions visible at 10x
magnification.

" SI1 Small inclusions " - contains larger flaws or inclusions visible at
10x magnification.

" SI2 Small inclusions " - contains larger flaws or inclusions easily
visible at 10x magnification.

"  I1 Inclusions " - contains inclusions visible to the naked eye.

" I2 Inclusions " - contains large inclusions visible to naked eye

" I3 Inclusions " - contains very large inclusions visible to naked eye

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Important Note To Anyone Buying Diamonds :: less than 1% of ALL Diamonds
found have no inclusions & can ACTUALLY be considered (or called) " Flawless
" (FL) or " Internally Flawless " (IF). VVS diamonds are also extremely rare
& if you are planning on buying this level of diamonds get ready to spend a
true fortune (if you can even find them).

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SOME VARIOUS DIAMOND VARIETIES :

* Bort diamonds are dark colored, imperfectly crystallized, opaque diamonds
(& the term may also refer to a fragment of a gem quality diamond). * Fancy
diamonds are deep red, green, blue, or purple etc diamonds * * Canary
Diamonds are diamonds with a deep yellow
color.
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MORE TIPS

* Know the differences between "Fine Jewelry" and "Costume Jewelry" (if you
don't know this, then you're already in trouble).

* Know what the Mohs scale is (and study it well, as it will help you with
all gemstones).

* Buy yourself a GOOD Diamond Tester (Invest in a GOOD tester, there are
many various style & types that you can carry in your bag or briefcase).

* Because many Diamonds are eventually set into Precious metals...know your
Precious Metals (platinum, gold. etc).

* Buy yourself a GOOD weight scale (you can easily then weigh any of your
jewelry items which includes jewelry set in metals, loose stones, etc).

* Know about DeBeers.

* Study about the various global cities where most diamonds are actually cut
(TelAviv, etc).

* Study about the diamond mines of South Africa (and who owns them), and
understand what the workers experience.

* Learn about other areas of the world where diamonds are mined.

* Know about all the Assayer markings/stampings on Precious Metals.

* Study the more antique fine jewelry items where metals might not be marked
( this is where your scales & testers will really come in handy).

* Study the old (and the new, modern-day) techniques of diamond-cutting.

* Know about the old rose-cuts if you prefer the very older diamonds & other
gems.

(added note: please pardon any errors in spelling here, we have never
claimed to be experts at anything, thanks)