Natural Diamonds vs Man Made Diamonds

Natural Earth Mined Diamonds vs Man Made Diamonds

The following 12 points places you in good stead when choosing to buy a diamond. It essentially alerts you to the differences between real natural earth mined diamonds and fake man made, lab grown synthetic crystals. Invest in real, not fake, invest in natural not unnatural, invest in quality not quantity, invest in diamond not CZ. Your beloved deserves real and not synthetic, deserves genuine not fake, deserve truth  not lies, and since diamonds lasts forever, hopefully so will your relationship. 

1)  Natural Earth Mined Diamonds are real diamonds, whereas, Made made diamonds are fake synthetic crystals.

2) Natural Earth Mined Diamonds are gifts from nature served-up from the Earths mantle, whereas Man Made Diamonds are created in a lab from Zirconium oxide powder.

3) The Earth's core forms organic diamonds which takes billions of years to form, whereas Labs grow fake Diamonds in a time of 1 and 6 weeks depending on the process used.

4) Natural Earth Mined Diamonds are the only gem stones that should be referred to a diamonds, whereas Man Made Diamonds should be referred to as engineered stones or cultured stones or just crystals.

5) Nature gifts us diamonds through kimberlite pipes or black magnetite and hematite. Lab created diamonds, are produced from zirconium oxide powder or graphite.

6) The conditions in which diamonds naturally develop when they are formed in the mantle is absolutely perfect, whereas Made made fake diamonds require a  highly controlled laboratory environments with technological processes that closely simulate the conditions where natural diamonds grow.

7) Natural Earth Mined Diamonds are the hardest of substances and ideal for hard wearing jewelry, whereas Man Made Diamond  is a carborundum quality substance  ideal for making industrial abrasives.

8) Natural Earth Mined Diamonds are normally bigger and more often than not gem quality, whereas synthetically grown diamonds are grown to between 1 and 1.5 ct and more often than not abrasives material quality.

9) Gemstone quality Natural Earth Mined Diamonds form through natural processes, whereas gemstones quality Synthetic diamonds are grown by one of two processes, HPHT (High Pressure and High Temperature) or CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition).

10) Natural Earth Mined Diamonds are graded by Gemology Institutes and are accompanied by certificates of authenticity, of late CVD Lab-Grown Diamonds are available with GIA Natural Diamond Certificates. This is equivalent selling a fake Rolex watch accompanied by genuine Rolex certificate of authenticity or certifying a corpse with proof of life. It's an unheard of paradox.

11) Natural Earth Mined diamonds are harder than synthetic lab diamonds. Diamonds measure 10 on the Mohr scale, whereas Lab diamonds measure 8.5 on the Mohr scale. That makes Lab diamonds as hard as Ruby and Emerald and Natural Earth Mined diamonds remains the king of hardness.

12) Natural Earth mined diamonds are known real or true diamonds,  whereas lab diamonds are known as faux diamonds, fake diamonds,  cubic zirconia , simulants, man made diamonds, synthetic diamonds,  unnatural diamonds, laboratory-grown diamonds, none of which deserves to be called diamonds.

The IGL (International Gemological Laboratory), GIA (Gemological Institute Of America), AGS ((American Gem Society), EGL (European Gemological Laboratory) and the IGI (International Gemological Institute) are professional institutions run by qualified gemologists, geoscientists and  mineralogists, all of whom abhor lab diamonds. So take their advice and steer clear of Zirconium powder which is more commonly used to make dentures and ceramic knives,  moulds for molten metals, crucibles, and other refractory material.

Diamond mines

DIAMOND MINES 

It is estimated that the world's ten largest diamond mines contains in excess of a hundred billion carats of recoverable diamonds. Hundreds of billions of carats that's worth Hundreds of Trillions of Dollars seems impressive, but the Popigai impact crater in  northern Siberia Russia contains "Trillions of Carats" of diamonds.  

What's even more astounding is that half of the world's biggest diamond mines are also located in Russia,  the largest being the Yubileyny diamond mine  situated in Sakha province in Yakutia. 

The second largest being the Udachny diamond mine , also situated in the Yakutia region of Russia.  The third biggest diamond mine in the world is the Mir diamond mine situated in the Yakutia region of Russia as well. This makes Yakutia and Siberia the most densely diamond encrusted region in the entire world. 

The Popigai Impact Crater

The trillions of carats diamonds of Popigai  are  mostly small polycrystalline stones which are unlikely to be  gem quality diamonds. Reason being, when the 8 kilometer diameter asteroid slammed into the ground,  with tremendous force, heat and pressure, the conditions needed to form diamond were present for a mere instant of time which actually converted the flakes of graphite graphite-garnet gneiss into diamond.  

Most of these diamonds are roughly 2.0 millimeters and under in size, more suitable for producing diamond abrasives than jewelry. That being said, Russia is also at the forefront of  "Russian Lab Created Diamonds" and other 'Diamond Simulants" that  imitates the appearance of a mined diamond, without the unique chemical characteristic and physical properties of the natural diamonds.. 

SOUTHERN AFRICA

The Orapa Diamond mine in Botswana on the other  hand holds the record for being the  largest diamond producing mine globally.  It is one of four mines owned by Debswana that is currently the world's leading producer of gem quality diamonds and responsible for about 30% of world output by value from its four mines. 

The Canadian owned Lucara Diamond mine also in Botswana produced the Lesidi la Rona which is a 1,109 carat diamond  and is the largest diamond found since 1905 which was sold for $53 million. 

The 1,109 carat Lesidi la Rona diamond 

About 711 kilometers south of Botswana lies the town of Kimberley  which is probably the world's most famous diamond producing area. The 'Eureka Diamond' was discovered on the banks of the Orange River near Hopetown, Kimberley in the Northern Cape.

This 428.50 carats 'De Beers Diamond',  was unearthed in Kimberley South Africa, as well as 'The Tiffany Yellow Diamond', which is without a doubt one of the largest fancy yellow diamonds ever discovered. Then there was also the flawless, 70-carat, step cut, champagne-coloured diamond, also found was found in the Kimberley Mine named 'The Kimberley'.

The Premier Diamond Mine  owned by Petra Diamonds situated in the small town of Cullinan near Pretoria, in Gauteng Province, South Africa, unearthed 'The Cullinan Diamond' which  is the largest gem quality diamond ever found.   'The Premier Rose'  comes from the same mine, and is one of the largest D-colour flawless diamonds in the world, weighing in at 137.02 carats. The magnificent 'Centenary Diamond'  was also found  at the Premier Mine.

Some 520 kiometers east, of Kimerley lies the Letseng Diamond mine in Lesotho that produced the 603-carat diamond named the 'Lesotho Promise'. It's production comes from two kimberlite pipes that produces the highest percentage of large diamonds, above 10 carats  of any known kimberlite mine, besides its average  carat output is nearly 20 times the industry production. 

In two years it produced over 330 carats of flawless white diamond. It can therefore be said that the Letseng mine which is majority owned by London based Gem Diamonds Ltd. is one of the richest diamond mines in the world. By implication Southern Africa have the largest diamonds, the most famous diamonds , and the most prized diamonds  in the world which even exceeds the large diamonds previously mined in India, and those of Russia. 

The 603-carat 'Lesotho Promise' diamond 

INDIA

India is no longer a source for rough diamonds because most of its diamond mines have been depleted decades ago and its production usurped by its colonial masters. Case in point, the famous Tavernier Blue diamond, was originally mined in India. 

This 116 carat Blue Indian rough was the head stone of  a Hindu God statue in Tamil Nadu as long ago as 1666.  It was subsequently stolen,  which was later sold by Jean-Baptiste Tavernier to  Louis XIV of France during 1668 for the equivalent value of 172,000 ounces of pure gold, and a letter of ennoblement. A few years later Louis XIV had his court jeweler Jean Pitau recut the stone and had it set as a hatpin. This new stone was known as the 68 carat "French Blue".  

In 1792 his great-grandson Louis XV had the "French Blue" recut for use as "The Medal of The Order of the Golden Fleece" but is was stolen and re-emerged in London some 30 years later as the Hope Diamond. A Chromolithograph shows that the 116 carat Blue Indian rough was cut to become the Brunswick, Hope and Pirie. 

Then there is the 'Koh-I-Noor Diamond' of India mined  during the middle ages. Legend  relates that the diamond is 5000 years old and was referred to in Sanskrit writings as the Syamantaka jewel.  The Koh-I-Noor was initially set in the famous Peacock Throne manufactured for Shah Jehan, but after the fall of the Persian empire found its way back to India. 

When the Britsh clashed with the Sihks, the Dutch East Indian Company claimed the diamond as a partial indemnity, and then presented it to Queen Victoria in 1850. Today the Koh-i-Noor diamond is in Britain illegally and is owned by the  British royal family as part of the Crown Jewels.

Then there is also the Mogul-cut rose, 300 Carats 'Orloff Diamond' with  exceptionally  pure clarity,  slightly bluish green  also mined in India which subsequently found its way into the Diamond Treasury of Russia in Moscow. 

Then there is the 140.50 Carats 'Regent Diamond' also discovered in India in 1698 with an uncontested reputation for the the most beautiful diamond in the world. It was acquired by Thomas Pitt, Governor of Madras, who sent it to England to have it cut to end up in The French Crown, of Louis Xv then in a sword then back to a crown for Charles X. Its current resting place id the Louvre in Paris.

In South Africa, diamonds was the fiefdom of Jews, the likes of Diamond baron Harry Frederick Oppenheimer and Ernest Oppenheimer  AKA Anglo American.  Initially Cecil John Rhodes protégé of the Jewish Rothschilds bought up claims of small mining operations with Rothchild money.  

Jewish brothers Harry and Barnett Isaacs (changes their names to Harry and Barney Barnato), bought worked-out diamond mines and mined the abandoned blue ground heaps. They later sold their mining company, the 'Barnato Diamond Mining Company' to Cecil Rhodes and together formed 'De Beers Consolidated'.

Later the Antwerp diamond Bourse, had become the most important diamond-trading center in the world and served for a very long time. Between 80 to 90% of the world’s uncut diamonds, and as much as half of all polished diamonds pass through Antwerp. At one time there were as many as 700 Jewish diamond-cutters in Antwerp, predominantly from the Hasidic community. 

So, with the Israeli connection with the Diamond Cartel in Palestine  and its Jewish Antwerp connections De Beers controlled diamonds and diamond-mining in South Africa for more than a 150 years. 

But all good things come to and end. When the Jain community of Palanpur in Gujarat began to migrate to Antwerp, they brought cheap labour and excellent diamond cutters and polishers skills from Surat - (The new diamond capital of the world). 

Essentially they “cut and polished diamonds in rupees and sold them in dollars” to the point that Indians now have come to control almost three-quarters of Antwerp's diamond industry. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 diamonds are polished in India, and have superceded Antwerp and Israel as the key diamond cutting centres of the world.

1 ct diamond ring

1 ct diamond ring

As a teenager, I loved  photography and over time I acquired some really decent photographic equipment. As you all know, other than natural earth mined diamonds, nothing last forever, so when digital photography with its fancy TFT screens, CCD chips, CF and CD cards hit the markets, the analogue photographic equipment just had to go.  I then started the incline toward digital. So in a nutshell, I had a good understanding of depth of field, aperture correction, shutter compensation and lenses etc, basically photography in general. Meanwhile, I've been a photo journalist for some time, but that was a really long time ago. 

My wife is a professional wedding photographer who has been plying her trade for more than 35  years.  As an electronics engineer, I really don't consider myself as a photographer, since I don't earn a living from photography like my wife does. I refer to myself as a "happy snapper" and most weekends I assist my wife as a backup wedding photographer, shooting cutaways.  So, what does photography got to do with diamonds you may ask. When Photographing Weddings you do get to see a whole lot of diamonds.

After having said all that, I must admit that between my wife and I, we've never ever seen 1kg of diamonds in toto.  We've done more than 1000 weddings and if we could hypothetically, collect all the natural earth mined diamonds perching on the rings of the brides and the occasional natural diamond embedded in the  rings of the grooms we've ever photographed, it would certainly weight less than a a litre of water, neither would all those little stones fill a litre bottle. 

I have yet to attend or photograph a wedding with a natural earth mined solitaire diamond bigger than 2.1ct because we've done one with a 2ct princess cut diamond ring. We've even done a wedding with a 5 ct ring but it wasn't a solitaire but rather a quad princess-cut diamond double frame bridal set. like the one below. Now that's a sparkly worth taking a photo of. Anyway weddings with diamond rings above 5 ct are rear but they do occur.

5ct quad princess-cut diamond double frame bridal set

Natural earth mined diamonds larger than 1 ct have a much higher value than smaller stones because they are found less frequently in nature. Meaning that the average wedding ring / engagement of the average couple, sports a single diamond of under half a carat which is physically about 4mm in diameter. In fact, most solitaire natural earth mined diamonds on most wedding / engagement rings range between .2ct and .5ct and are typically, 2mm to 4mm in diameter. (Diamond mm to ct Conversion Table) It takes 5 x 1ct natural earth mined diamonds to weigh 1 gram, so we are really talking negligible weight. There is a tendency in the jewelry market to make rings appear larger by clustering 7 x .20ct stones to form a halo ring. Or to use several smaller chips peppered on a 6mm setting and pass it off as a 1 ct ring. Tough the total diamond weight would equate to 1ct, its value is a far cry from a 1ct solitaire natural earth mined diamond. 

1 gr = 5.00ct
2 gr = 10.00ct
3 gr = 20.00ct
4 gm = 25.00ct
5 gm = 30.00ct

Anyway, can you just image the value? Pessimistically speaking, if we had to value said diamonds at $200 per carat (.2 g) then 5000 carats which would equate to 1 kilo which would be worth a $1,000,000. But, like I said pessimistically, because the grades of some diamonds are far greater than others. To mention an incident, a few years back, I'd  been to a jewelry auction where a single stone, 10ct diamond was sold off for as much as $125 0000; and according to some pundits, this was a real bargain.  Comparatively speaking, what this means is that the contents of the "1 liter bottle", with its tiny pebbles are almost worthless, because it represents the "chaff of the wheat" after the diamond sifting and sorting processes.

Chips, Mackle & Melee Diamonds - "offal" the entrails of the diamond trade

So if you were to buy a natural earth mined diamond, settle on a 1 carat for anything less is considered,  chips, mackle, melee diamonds, which are the names given to diamonds between .001 carats to 0.18 carats in weight. In one word, its  "offal", the entrails of the diamond trade that nobody really wants.

Natural earth mined diamond are real diamonds as opposed to the synthetic stuff they're selling at all jewelry stores and online. Stay away from lab diamonds, made made diamonds and cubic zirconia because  they have even less value than "offal."

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5 movies about diamonds

5 Movies about Diamonds

Throughout the entire world, Diamonds are sought after for their allure, their brilliance, their value, their fascination and the temptation they present. The temptation I refer to, is to steal them, purely because they cost way too much to buy and a handful of diamonds can equate to hundreds of millions of dollars.  As such several movies have been produced highlighting how people are tempted by the value of Diamonds. The following movies are not necessarily in any particular order but depicts the extremes some people would resort to, to get their hands on those valuable and sparkly gems. 

Admittedly most of these films are fictional  but there is a few of them based on true events, for example the  'Antwerp Diamond Center heist'. The snatch-and-grab at the jewelry shop in the 'Carlton Hotel, Cannes, France' and the diamond heists at the 'Millennium Dome, London, England' worth $700 million and the 'Diamond exhibit Heists at the Museon', a science museum in The Hague, Netherlands are all actual events upon which Holywood movies are based.

1) 'Flawless' is a unique property of the most expensive diamonds and is also the name of a movie. This British fictional crime movie by the name 'Flawless' is about, a soon to be retired janitor (Michael Caine) who convinces a frustrated diamantaire (Demi Moore) to help him steal a batch of diamonds from their employer, the London Diamond Corp. 'Flawless' has a timid plot but over all its a a rare gem.

2) 'Blood diamond' is a movie set during the civil war in Sierra Leone in 1990s. It depicts a story of human suffering and violence and how the guerrilla insurgency rape women, exploit  and enslave children to pan for diamonds. The main plot revolves around a pink diamond the size of a bird's egg, that draws the attention of a South African mercenary played by Leonardo DiCaprio who has been smuggling diamonds across the borders embeded in the flesh of live sheep. While the sub plot is about a journalist intent on fingering the white-collar criminals in the diamond trade.

3) The 'Pink Panther' is a movie about a fictional pink diamond with an internal flaw shaped like a leaping panther. The movie stars police inspector Peter Sellers and David Niven and his nephew Robert Wagner as  thieves. Both thieves  intending to steal the diamond, the nephew attempting to setup his uncle for the theft. However there is a real pink panther diamond better known as the 59.60 carats oval pink star that sold on auction in Geneva for a whopping $83 million.

4) 'Diamonds are Forever' stars Sean Connery as investigator extraordinaire MI6 agent tracking the mysterious activities in the world diamond market by impersonating a diamond smuggler. The movie was first flighted in 1971. In the movie, it turns out Charles Gray is stockpiling South African diamonds  in order to depress prices by dumping the gems in his space-based laser satellite weapon, intent on auctioning off nuclear supremacy to the highest bidder. Several smugglers who pass on the diamonds from one to the other are killed in the process but professional smuggler Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) Tiffany.



5) 'Diamond Cartel' is the newest upcoming action movie about diamonds, directed by Salamat Mukhammed-Ali and written by Magamet Bachaev. However this movie was made in 2011-2013 but recut and redubbed by US based Cleopatra Entertainment, for the english market in 2017,  Movie stars Armand Assante, Peter O'Toole, Bolo Yeung and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, etc. Assante makes a deal with Hong Kong triad crime boss to purchase the "Star of East Diamond". but before the deal is made, his former lover and her new man robs him. They are hunted down my  Assante 's henchmen  and the couple have to fight for their lives.

Kimberlite

Kimberlite

The Mir Russian diamond mine is the most expensive hole in the world and it is owned by the state-controlled company Alrosa. Mir mine also known as Mirny, is approximately 525 meters deep with a diameter of 1.2 kilometers.  It's been dubbed 'Diamond City' and is valued at a cool £13 Billion. From the image below, it looks like the mining town was  struck by a giant meteorite. That being said,  the crater contains approximately 300,000 cubic meters of acidic water, which roughly equates in volume to 120 Olympic-size swimming pools. 

The Big Hole

This huge open mine is man made  and produces about a quarter of the world's diamond output. Its vast riches helped transform the USSR under Joseph Stalin, from a war torn impoverished nation into a post-World War2 superpower. But open mining ceased in and around 2004, when a series of underground tunnels and shafts where excavated that produced more than six million carats of rough diamonds.

Kimberlite is diamond bearing blue rock pushed to the earths surface by volcanic magma.
The open mine is almost as large as the town of Mirny, Sakha Republic, Yakutia, Siberia 

Be that as it may, just last week mine workers recorded dangerously high levels of underground water in these very shafts, resulting in the installation of extra pumps to pump it out. However, on Friday morning whilst more than 150 people were working these underground shafts, torrents of water flooded the mine shafts and tunnels, which may have burst through from the water filler crater. 

EMERCOM (Ministry of the Russian Federation for Affairs for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters) sent in squad of rescue divers to search for the missing workers. At least 142 of the 151 were safely brought to the surface but 9 miners are still missing, presumed dead. Meanwhile Alrosa made a net profit of 22.7 billion rubles, equating to $376.37 million in the first quarter of 2017 and produced some 3.19 million carats of diamonds in the previous year.

The Mir open pit diamond mine is situated in Sakha Republic, Yakutia, Siberia some 4,200 kilometres east of Moscow. It's an area that exhibits some of the harshest weather conditions in the world, with Winters that  can extend to seven months, and flaunt temperatures that often drop as low as -40 degrees Celsius. There are harsh conditions in mining in general. Lives are lost, for the sake of gold and diamonds. People are killed for diamonds. Conflict diamonds fund conflict in war-torn areas.  The illicit diamond trade promotes poverty because more than a million diamond diggers in Africa earn less than a dollar a day. Besides diamond mining causes environmental devastation. 

The blue rock is Kimberlite,  a word that originated from the name Kimberley, 
as in the Kimberley Diamond mine in South Africa.  
The green acidic water is the same as that found in the Big Hole Kimberley.

Mining Accidents

The last major mining accident in 2016 cause by methane explosions that ripped through Severnaya coal mine in Russia resulted in the death of 36 people miners, and 6 years earlier a similar explosion claimed the lives of 91 miners. recently four workers were trapped and have died  in the Tau Lekoa gold mine in Orkney, north-west South Africa, as the result of a seismic activity. In the Chilean Mine Rescue, thirty-three men, were trapped in a copper/gold mine 700 meters underground, some 5 kilometers from the mine's entrance and was fortunately rescued 69 days later. Last year 40 zama zamas died in an explosion in a decommissioned Harmony Gold mine ("zama grave yard") in Welkom in the Free State. But the biggest methane threat is in Yamal Peninsula Russia where sinkholes and craters are regularly forming due to methane eruptions as permafrost melts.

Blood Diamonds

Be that as it may, Diamonds are shiny, yet soaked with the invisible blood and the misery of the poor, purely so that the rich can bask in their glory from the proceeds of their diamond, platinum and gold mines. So, seriously, why would you want to invest in  diamond earrings, diamond studded watches, diamond rings and diamond broaches anyway?

12 Reasons Why You Should Never Buy Diamonds

12 Reasons Why You Should Never Buy Diamonds

The Truth About Diamonds. 

This blog is about Genuine Natural Diamonds, and about investing in real  diamonds as apposed to imitation "diamonds" like Cubic Zirconia, Moissanite, Synthetic  Diamonds, Lab diamonds and other worthless man-made make-believe "gems". If truth be told, Diamonds also have no real value, neither do they have any resale nor any investment value. A diamond is just a piece of rock like any other, and even though it has slightly different properties like harness and denseness, it is still but a stone. Having said that, it's only through the constant hype generated by the diamond trade  that these bits of rock are given assumed values and "unwarranted" prestige. 

In a nutshell we've all been psychologically and subliminally conditioned to want a diamond or to hanker after diamonds. That's especially true for our wives, daughters and or girlfriends and other women folk in general. Intrinsically it is their collective "wants" that's driving the diamond trade because the majority of them have been mesmerized and mentally hypnotized by slogans like 'Diamonds are a girls best friend' and 'Diamonds are Forever'. Not to mention being transfixed by the glittering diamond engagement rings, eternity rings, halo rings, solitaire diamond rings, broaches and earrings, etc, on displays in so  many jewelry stores.

Some seventy years ago, diamond monopoly giant De Beers Diamond Cartel commissioned an advertising agency to come up with such slogans, with the objective to create a demand for diamonds that's invariably just useless chunks of coal. Ostensibly a Diamond is nothing more than a meager lump of coal that performed well under pressure. Be that as it may, Be Beers advertising campaign promoted the idea of making a diamond ring the token of an engagement proposal. This idea further presented diamonds as rare and valuable, and the quintessential sign of high esteem. But diamonds are really not really rear, they are found virtually throughout the world wherever there are Kimberlite pipes - the diamond-bearing rock remnants of extinct volcanoes. 

It is estimated that the measurable diamond reserves contained in ten of the world's largest diamond mines equate to more than one billion carats of recoverable diamonds. By implication, that amounts to a one carat diamond for every seventh  person globally. How common is that?  Anyway, five of these ten diamond mines are situated in Russia and two situated in Botswana. The Jwaneng diamond mine in southern Botswana is considered the richest diamond mine in the world. The current global diamond yield is about 133 million carats annually, though Botswana and Russia account for half of this diamond production.  

According to a recent survey by the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Popogai Impact Crater contains 'trillions of carats of diamonds' and if Russia should decide mine this crater, the reserves would be sufficient to meet the entire planet’s demand for industrial-grade diamonds for the next three thousand years. That's roughly 285 carats of diamond for every single human being currently on the planet today.

Diamonds are Priced Well Above Their Value

This gives you some idea how common diamonds really are. De Beers has been mining and marketing rough diamonds since 1888 and is currently the world's leading diamond company, unrivaled in both expertise and exploration. Over the years De Beers Diamond Cartel systematically kept diamond prices at a level to outwit their competition. Their global  diamond monopoly was established by buying up each and every diamond not already under their control, stockpiling  them and restricting  the diamond supply to global markets so that they could keep prices steadily high. The only "value add" De Beers brought to the table was to mine, cut and polish these rough stones. Then add-on huge profit margins. 

So in essence when you buy diamonds, you are in fact paying De Beers for mining, processing, cutting and polishing and stockpiling theses "gems". This includes the cost of dynamite and other explosives, earth moving equipment, miners, pneumatic drills and rock crushing equipment, trucks and other large machinery. Purportedly diamond values are marked-up through creating fictitious market perceptions by carefully restricting supply thereby creating a demand.

After individual  manufacturing jewelers set these "scarce" diamonds into ring, earrings or some other jewelry items, you are additionally paying the price tag they expect for their craftsmanship. And when the final  jewelry products are displayed in jewelry stores, you are additionally paying for their rental space, their advertising, their staff's salaries, the velvet-lined boxes and "valuation certificates" that doesn't display actual value but rather insurance replacement value.  Mind you, when you do claim, they insist on replacing the lost/stolen item rather than issue a pay-out because they can get it much cheaper from their suppliers, beside you also liable for a hefty excess payment. Was it even worth it. Diamonds are no longer a status symbol we've entered the era of synthetic diamonds and cheap rhinestones and reflective plastics that exudes a diamante crystal effect. 

So in your right mind, do you really think that all the attention given to a splinter of rock by so many people, each adding on their middle man fee, on top of it, besides lying to you about what a "magnificent stone" it is.  Having read this, you must admit that as a society we got deceive, tricked, duped, hoodwinked, fooled for a entire century into investing in sparkling pieces of coal but it’s time to end this bullshit. Diamonds are bullshit hence you all need to reject the role diamonds play in marriage proposals. Rather take your hard earned money destined for Be Beers and invest it in stock, bonds, property or fix deposits. Earn yourself dividends rather than loose 50 percent of the value of your money when you walk out of the Jewelry store with an engagement ring.  All I can say is "Don't allow yourself to get suckered by the diamond industry" after having read this.

Diamond scarcity is a bullshit dogma created by the diamond supply companies. Diamonds are fairly common. Source:https://t.co/f4QICH5v7w

— 👹 (@HennessyDad) July 12, 2017

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT WHEN BUYING AN ENGAGEMENT RING

As we all know, Diamonds are a girls best friend hence it is customary for men to buy their girlfriends, sisters and mothers expensive diamond jewelry. However many women tend to or even prefer to buy their own jewelry because of their personal preferences. But when it comes to buying an engagement ring, it's definitely the man's responsibility to buy the ring and above all, get it right.

Jewelry Preference

For any man, shopping for an engagement ring on his own can be a very rewarding experience or it could turn out to be a nightmare if he should get it wrong. You could simply walk into a jewelry store and buy your girlfriend the first ring you like or you could have a ring custom made especially for her. Either way, you need to know the style of jewelry your girlfriend likes and any other jewelry preferences she may have. Should you buy the first ring you like, she may not like it and if you have a ring made to your liking she may not like it either. To circumvent this dilemma, it  requires you to at least know 10 things before you even consider popping the question. 

Does she like dainty jewelry or elaborate jewelry or does the like antique jewelry as opposed to  ultra modern jewelry? Does she prefer  white gold to yellow gold or rose gold is she a platinum girl? Does she prefer  a solitaire ring setting to a halo ring setting or a tension set stone in preference to a tube set ring. Is she into round diamonds or square princess cut or eye shaped marquise cut diamonds or some other shape of stone. Is she into white diamonds or blue diamonds or pink diamonds or any other colour stone. Does she prefer a single stone or a stone  set with accent stones.  Will the size of her complement a 1 carat diamond or are they very dainty so that it would  look oversized on her finger. Perhaps a half carat diamond ring would suit her ring finger better. These are just some of the things you need to know that will make your engagement memorable.


Before you even consider the 4 Cs (cut, color, clarity and carat), at least know what shape stone she loves. Bearing  in mind, shape refers to the actual geometry of the stone, whereas  cut, relates to the angles and the multitude of facets in the stone. View the diamond in natural light shade and not under the bright halogen lights of the display cabinets nor under the flourescent or tungsten lights in the show room. Halogen lights give off blue light and gives the diamond a very slight  blueish tinge whereas tungsten gives it a very slight reddish reflection and florescent light gives it a very slight greenish tinge. Non of these artificial lights gives a true reflection of the diamond. That being said, the whiter a diamond the more it costs. So if your lady is into white diamonds get the whitest reflection you can afford. Before buying a diamond engagement ring know how much you intend to spend but do get the best ring you can without sticking yourself into major debt. And don't be coersed by the counter assistant into buying a ring you didn't intend to buy in the first place.  Also check the what the  store's return policy is because you may want to exchange the stone or the entire ring  if it's not the one she really want.


Choosing a ring with the traditional in a four-prong setting does look nice on a diamond shy of a carat but anything above 1 carat aught to have a six-prong setting because there is less chance of the diamond getting dislodged and loosing it. Yellow gold, white gold, rose gold  or even green gold is just  a few of the metals available for a ring. But the ideal choice ring for a diamond of 1 carat should be platinum because  it's extremely hard and durable. Not only will it compliment the diamond in hardness and durability but it also makes the perfect  hypoallergenic choice should your bride to be have a  sensitive skin.

If you buying custom designed ring, bear in mind  a ring can take a good six weeks to eight before delivery arrive and if you wish to engrave the inside of the ring, don't forget to request the inscription when you place your order. Before taking delivery of the ring ensure you get the specs in writing. Essentially diamonds one carat or larger should be accompanied by a diamond-grading certificate issued by an independent gemological association of note. It also a good idea to "fingerprint" your ring on the bill of sale. The information should include the stone's 4 Cs, shape, dimensions, and any heat or colour enhancements. 

UNIQUENESS OF DIAMONDS

UNIQUE DIAMONDS

As we all know, people are globally diverse, each born with a unique character, specific idiosyncrasies, a biochemical individuality, each with distinguishable retinas and fingerprints; and so much more.  In a nutshell no two people are alike, not even identical twins with their inherent telepathic language. To take this analogy further, there is absolutely nothing in nature that is ever identical in every respect, not even two snow flakes fluttering down from the sky at the exact moment are remotely identical, even though they appear very much alike. That being said, the same principal applies to Diamonds, because no two Diamonds are alike. 

On a stone-by-stone basis, each and every diamond has a different shape, a different carat, a different fluorescence, a different colour, a different sparkle, a different clarity and will, more than likely end up in a differently cut, that  can range from marquise, to round, to oval, to pear, to emerald, to princess, etc. Not even two round diamonds (RBC) of the same carat and identically cut, are exact replicas of one another because, grinding stones wear off as the diamond is shaped, tolerance of grinding equipment vary over time that affects the outcome. The final product even depends on the mood of the stone cutter at the time of polishing. This very loudly shouts that much like people, "diamonds are not born equal" but are rather unique, unique, unique in every respect. The inclusions inside the diamond are even unique.

Fake "tension set" diamonds

Of all the precious and semi precious stones, diamond are the best known and undoubtedly the  most marketed gemstone globally. Diamonds are extremely light and really small, yet have the greatest value amongst the objects of human property. Hence millions of people invest their hard earned cash in diamonds because it's worth it.  Fake diamonds are not only an  insult to real diamonds, but they are an insult to your loved ones who deserve real diamonds rather than fake, imitation, man made diamonds that practically sell for around 70 % of the real thing with claims hat that shine brighter than diamonds.  So don't be mesmerized by their sparkle, their brilliance and  their clarity because they only shine under the display cabinet lights and there is absolutely nothing unique about man made diamonds, manufactured in a lab under artificial conditions.

Moissanite  is a naturally occurring mineral found in limited quantities in the earth.  Initially it was discovered in a crater, created by a meteorite that fell to Earth. In some sense Moissanite could possibly be ill formed impact diamonds. Be that as it may, Moissanite  is often pasted off as diamond though it only measures 9.5 on the Mohr scale. Fake diamonds are commonly known as diamond simulants, man made diamonds, lab diamonds, simulated diamonds, faux diamonds, and diamond imitations. Popular diamond substitutes are made from  Cubic zirconia, Moissanite, Spinel, Synthetic Rutile,  Synthetic Garnet, common glass.

Fake diamonds have a totally different chemical composition than that of real diamonds and are commonly manufactured from Cubic zirconia. Cubic zirconia is a synthetic substance made from zirconium dioxide powder and is probably the most popular diamond substitute, though not the only. The resultant stones are hard, and measure about 8.0 on the Mohr scale. Cubic zirconia is hard yet not as hard nor as durable as real diamond, that measures 10 on the Mohs scale. 

Spinel is a natural mineral that occurs in black, brown, red, green, blue and white. White spinels are in fact are colorless, hence passed off as diamond -fake diamonds, because it only measures 7 on the Mohs scale. Rutile and Garnet are also  natural minerals that occurs in brown, red, however synthetic Rutile and synthetic garnet can be created colorless, which are also past off as diamond -fake diamond though they measure 7.0 on the Mohr scale. Even cheap common glass is sometimes passed off as diamonds though they don't reflect anywhere close to that of diamond.

This is The cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) synthesized into a
hard material called Cubic Zirconia (CZ) , that is optically flawless and usually
colorless - aka fake diamond.

Regardless of the  fake materials used to make diamonds, they all scratch or chip and and substantially fragile compared to diamond. In a nut shell, if doesn't measure 10 on the Mohr scale it's fake. Diamonds are durable, more durable than any thing else that glitters, sparkles and shine.