WHAT EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DIAMONDS

DIAMONDS ARE A GIRLS BEST FRIEND

But the most fascinating fact about Diamonds is, that virtually each and every Diamond  is at least a billion or more years old some as old as 3.3 billion years.  According to gemmological scientists, the world's oldest known Diamonds found  in Western Australia are 4.25 billion years old.  Diamonds started to form inside the Earth's mantle more than 3 billion years ago due to extreme heat and pressure. In this environment, the carbon atoms inside a Diamond uniquely bond in pyramid crystalline structures; it is this composition which makes Diamonds so vital for industrial applications. These and other unique properties are what makes Diamonds the most sought after gems in the world so much so that its  demand outweighing its  supply. 

The  hardness Diamond has been superseded by two new materials. The first called OACC  (Ordered Amorphous Carbon Clusters) and the second ADNRs (Aggregated diamond nanorods).

Blue and White Diamond, Wedding and Eternity Rings in White Gold.

Diamonds can roughly be described by four descriptors viz, Carat: which refers to the weight of the diamond. 1 carat equals 200 miligrams. Colour: which refers to how white a gem is and ranges from D to K or even L to M, The best Colour is D which is called Ice White and referred to a River Diamonds.  Cut: refers to to the shape of the Diamond which could be a Princess Cut, Brilliant round cut (RBC), Emerald cut, Marquise, etc... RBC being the most common shape. Clarity: refers to the quantity of carbon particles inside the diamond that will inhibit light reflection. The  code for clarity ranges from F for Flawless, IF for internally flawless, VVS for very very small inclusions, VS for very small inclusion. F to VVS inclusions are not visible to the naked eye and a 10x jewelers loupe is required to see them. I stands for inclusion, and any Diamond with grading I, I2 I3 or any other grading implies inclusions that are visible with the naked eye. But more about this later.

Modern diamond mining started in the 1870s in South Africa, after the Star of  South Africa 
Diamond (83.5 carats) was found on the banks of the Orange River. This started the Diamond
rush by 1888  in Kimberley. Soon prospecting increased and more diamonds were discovered 
in other Southern African locations. The diamond industry has since expanded across 
Southern Africa, making it the primary global location for diamond sources today.

The old adage "Diamonds are Forever", is a truism that few realize. Diamonds have been around virtually forever and will definitely still be around for a long, long time after the demise of you and me. Diamonds therefore makes the best heirlooms, ever appreciating in value. Diamonds are scratch resistance because it's the hardest natural material known making Diamonds the hardest gemstone in the world.  Diamonds can cut glass and even steel which makes them sought after for industrial applications among which are cutting, drilling, grinding and electronic superconductor applications. Diamonds are so hard they are almost indestructible. 

Not every diamond mined will end up on a engagement or wedding ring,  necklace, broach or other jewelry item. Only about 30% of all Diamonds are sold for their gem quality, the remaining 70% of Diamonds are sold for industrial applications.  Regardless of this, Diamonds are very, very expensive because of the exorbitant cost incurred in mining to recover them from the its blue rock (kimberlite). But that's beside the cost of expertise to assess the rough Diamonds prior to cutting and polishing. The value add of cutting and polishing is what brings out the Diamond's magnificence, glitter and luster. Essentially the more perfect the cut the better the light reflection and the greater the luminance. 

The Perfect Diamond is completely transparent without any color, but in reality virtually no gem-sized natural rough diamond is absolutely perfect or transparent, they tend to have inclusions, which actually make each one unique. Inclusions are imperfections and pin pricks of black carbon visible inside Diamonds.  Every Diamond doesn't have the same luminance, brightness and colour, hence they are divided by Colour and Clarity.  In fact  there are thousands of different categories into which Diamonds can be sorted, dependent on size, shape, quality and colour. The majority of natural  Diamonds however fall within a range from colourless and a subtle yellow tint.  As such Diamonds with a less than subtle color difference towards yellow  are normally discounted in price, whereas the colour intense Diamonds known as "fancies" are dramatically more valuable.  "Fancies" range  from black,  to gray, to blue, to orange, to red,  to pink,  to yellow, to purple,  to champagne,  to brown,  to green or to  white. 

Red Diamonds are the rarest but Blue Diamonds are highly prized. The famous 45.52 carat  Hope Diamond is steel Blue with a current estimated value $300 to $350 million US. The 273.85 carat Centenary Diamond is the highest grade White Diamond totally colorless, both  internally and externally flawless. It is also 6 times the carat weight of the Blue Hope Diamond but valued at  $100 million US, a mere third or the Hope Diamond. Pink Diamonds are however the most expensive. 

Diamonds are found in many countries around the world, but the majority (approximately 65%) are found in Africa. The main Diamond producing countries are South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Namibia,  Democratic Republic of Congo,  Australia, Canada and Russia. This gives rise to the Diamond industry which currently produce an estimated $13 billion US worth of rough Diamonds annually with  approximately $8.5 billion US worth originating from Africa.  Globally  Diamond jewelry sales exceed $72 billion US annually and employs approximately ten million people around the world,  ranging the spectrum from mining to retail.  

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