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By Diamond Specialist, March 5, 2012 6:39 am

Many people equate the term carat with the size of a diamond, and as carat size increases, so will the carat weight. But the operative word there is weight. Carat refers to the weight of a diamond and is equal to roughly 200 milligrams which is less than a 1/4 of an ounce. A carat can also be broken up into 100 points. So 3/4 of a carat is also 75 points.

The heavier in carat weight a diamond is, the rarer it becomes. Prices of diamond increase exponentially with the weight of the diamond, so a one-carat diamond will cost much more than two 1/2-carat diamonds, given that other qualities, such as color and clarity, are equal.

The cutting of a diamond can impact the size of it, so depending on how their cut, two one-carat diamonds can look unequal. If a stone is cut flatter, then it will appear bigger, while a deeper cut stone will be smaller, but may have more brilliance and scintillation. You may be tempted to purchase a stone that’s cut flatter so that you can have the appearance of a larger, or heavier stone. But a diamond that’s cut too flat will have too little brilliance and can look cloudy. Carat weight is important, but there’s no point to sacrificing other qualities that make a diamond special so you can say you have a two-carat stone. A beautiful one-carat diamond, with outstanding brilliance and scintillation is going to be the better choice, from both a personal standpoint and an investment standpoint.

A smaller diamond can always be enhanced with baguettes, trillians or smaller same-shape stones on either size. As we stated earlier, two smaller stones won’t cost as much as an equally-weighted single stone, so you can increase the importance of the ring you’re buying without doubling your cost.

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By Diamond Specialist, March 2, 2012 6:45 am

Caring for a diamond takes more than
occasional cleanings. Diamonds are forever,
but they can be damaged if you are not
careful. By learning how to properly care for
your diamond, you will ensure that your
diamond is indeed forever.

First, you should take your diamond jewelry
to a jeweler once a year. Have him check the
mountings and prongs that hold your
diamond in place. Have him make any
needed repairs. This will prevent your
diamond from falling out of its setting and
becoming lost.

Diamond jewelry that is not being worn, or
diamonds that are loose should be stored in
a fabric lined jewel case, or in a jewelry box
where it can be kept separate from other
jewelry. Each piece should have its own
compartment. This will keep diamonds from
becoming scratched, and it will also keep
your diamond from scratching other jewelry
as well.

Remove your diamond jewelry when doing
physical work. Diamonds can be chipped
and scratched easily. Also avoid allowing
your diamond to come into contact with
bleach or other household cleansers ?this
can damage or change the color of the
settings and mountings, and it may even
irreversibly change the color of the
diamond!

201

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By Diamond Specialist, February 28, 2012 6:22 am

Diamonds are measured in Carat Weight.
One carat weighs 200 milligrams. If a
diamond is referred to as four grains, this
also means that it is a one carat diamond.
The word Carat comes from the word carob.
A carob is a bean that grows on a tree in the
Mediterranean. In times past, if a diamond
weighed the same as a carob bean, it was
one carob, or one carat.

However, in the far east, where Carob trees
do not grow, rice was used to measure the
weight of a diamond. If a diamond weighed
as much as four grains of rice, it was four
grains ?or one carat as we know it to be
now. The majority of diamond purchases
are for diamonds that are 1/3 of a carat.

Beware when shopping for diamonds that
are already set or mounted. If more than one
diamond is used in the piece, the tag on the
jewelry will give the CTW or Carat Total
Weight ?it does not tell you the carat weight
of each stone in the piece. You need to ask
the jeweler for the total carat weight of the
largest diamond in the piece to truly
understand what you are buying.

204

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By Diamond Specialist, February 25, 2012 6:21 am

You’ve been told that having a certificate or
a diamond grading report is important, and
as a responsible consumer, you get one ?
unfortunately, you probably won’t understand
a word of what is on that diamond grading
report, unless you are a jeweler.

On the color grading scale, D, E, and F
mean that the diamond has no color. G, H,
and I means that it has very little color. J, K,
and L means that the diamond has a slight
yellow color. P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and X
means that the diamond is a darker shade
of yellow. Z means that the diamond has a
fancy color ?other than white or yellow.
On the color grading scale, D is the most
valuable, and X is the least valuable ?
however diamonds that get a Z rating are
the rarest and most expensive diamonds
in the world.

There are many aspects to a grading report.
Figuring it all out can be very confusing. You
should talk to a jeweler you trust, and have
them explain everything on the diamond
grading report to you.

185

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By Diamond Specialist, February 22, 2012 6:17 am

Amethyst is a violet or purple variety of quartz often used as an ornament or jewelry. The name comes from the Greek A (not) and methuskein (“to intoxicate”), a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication.
Amethyst was used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians and was largely employed in antiquity for intaglios. Beads of amethyst are found in Anglo-Saxon graves in England.
Amethyst has been in use for thousands of years in magic, healing and psychic empowerment. Its violet color makes this one of the most sought after variety of quartz. It has a large number of qualities and uses that have been given it over the years and it is said to be a stone that radiates energy which has often been referred to as the purple ray.
It is referred to as a Spiritual Stone because its color violet is same as that of the crown chakra. Amethysts also are believed to calm emotions and reduce stress. It’s an amulet for travelers, and helps whoever holds the stone to have a more optimistic outlook and perspective. Placing it under your pillow is supposed to help induce sleep and prophetic dreams.
Some people use amethyst balls not so much for divination, but to channel knowledge and healing from the universe. It’s also used for healing in a variety of ways. If you merely hold it in your hand or keep it in your pocket, you can channel the healing powers of amethysts. Although a healing crystal doesn’t necessarily need to be amethyst, it’s one that’s often used for spiritual as well as physical healing.

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By Diamond Specialist, February 19, 2012 6:29 am

There’s no more fascinating subject in history than the doomed French Queen Marie Antoinette. Much maligned by history (she never said “Let them eat cake,” in response to the people’s need for bread), she was an unwilling part of the one of the greatest revolutions in history. And met an untimely end at the guillotine in 1793. While she loved jewelry, and possessed many magnificent jewels, she often preferred simple muslin gowns and very little jewelry. Many of the portraits of her by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun show her dressed just like that.

Two large, pear-shaped diamond earrings, weighing 14.25 and 20.34 carats respectively, are part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection. The diamonds once were supposedly set in earrings that belonged to Marie Antoinette and some sources say they were her favorite pieces of jewelry and she wore them constantly. They were taken from her during an attempt to flee France as the Revolution dawned and the position of the Royals became dangerous.

The diamonds were later acquired by the Grand Duchess Tatiana Yousupoff of Russia. When jeweler Pierre Cartier puchased the diamond earrings in 1928, their authenticity was attested to in an affidavit by Russian Princess Zenaide Yousupoff and her son, Prince Felix Yousupoff, stating that they originally belonged to Queen Marie-Antoinette and have never been reset in the one hundred years that they were in the family. Marjorie Merriweather Post acquired the earrings from Pierre Cartier in October 1928. Harry Winston reset the large diamonds in platinum replicas of the original silver settings in 1959. Cartier, Inc. designed the triangular tops. In November 1964, Mrs. Post’s daughter, Mrs. Eleanor Barzin, donated the earrings, along with the original setting to the Smithsonian Institution. The diamonds are originally from India or Brazil, the only significant sources of diamonds in the eighteenth century.

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By Diamond Specialist, February 16, 2012 6:36 am

There were a few benefits to marrying the Emperor Napoleon, if you loved jewelry, that is! The Marie-Louise diadem, now part of the Smithsonian Collection, was a wedding gift from Napoleon I to his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise in 1810. The diadem was originally part of a set that also included a necklace, comb, belt buckle, and earrings, all made of emeralds and diamonds set in silver and gold. They were all made by French Jeweler Etienne Nitot et Fils of Paris.

In the original diadem, there were 22 large and 57 small emeralds, along with 1002 brilliant-cut and 66 rose-cut diamonds. The central emerald weighed 12 carats. After the fall of the Emperor, Marie-Louise fled to Vienna and took her personal jewelry with her, including the diadem and other pieces that were made as part of a set, including a necklace, a pair of earrings and a comb.

Empress Marie-Louise left the diadem to her Hapsburg aunt, Archduchess Elise. Archduke Karl Stefan Hapsburg of Sweden, a descendent of the Archduchess sold the set to Van Cleef & Arpels in 1953. Between May 1954 and June 1956, the emeralds were removed and sold individually in pieces of jewelry as emeralds “from the historic Napoleon Tiara.”

Between 1956 and 1962, Van Cleef & Arpels mounted turquoise cabochons into the diadem. In 1962, the diadem was displayed in the Louvre in Paris with the necklace, earrings, and comb in an exhibit about Empress Marie-Louise. In 1971, Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post cereal fortune, purchased the diadem for the Smithsonian Institution. There are 1,006 mine-cut diamonds weighing a total of 700 carats and 79 Persian turquoise stones weighing a total of 540 carats. In one respect, it’s a shame that the original piece was dismantled to sell off the emeralds. Yet the diadem, reset with the turquoise cabochons is equally beautiful and made even more distinctive with the use of the less valuable turquoise.

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By Diamond Specialist, February 13, 2012 6:32 am

The world’s largest cut topaz, called the American Topaz, resides at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. A 172-faceted topaz weighing 22,892.50 carats (5785 kg), it’s the largest cut yellow topaz in the world, and one of the largest faceted gems of any kind in the world. Originating from Minais Gerais, Brazil, it was cut over a period of two years. It was purchased by the Rockhound Hobbyists of America and presented to the Smithsonian Institution in 1988.

As stunning as this cut topaz is, another display at the Smithsonian is equally dazzling and awe-inspiring. That’s a sherry-colored topaz “spray” from the Thomas Range in Utah. This color of topaz can be found in Mexico and Utah, but when it’s exposed to sunlight, will become clear.

Other spectacular displays of natural crystals include a cluster of Stibnite, an ore of antimony, which has a bright metallic luster. This spectacular group of crystals is from Iyo, Japan and look like something from Superman’s home!

Another huge mineral in the exhibit is the Smithsonite, named for James Smithson, who bequeathed the funds to establish the Smithsonian Institution. He first discovered this greenish zinc carbonate mineral from the Kelly Mine in New Mexico.

Some of the other don’t miss items in the Smithsonian’s Gem Collection are the Smithsonian Canary Diamond, a huge canary and diamond ring. The 98.6-carat Bismarck Sapphire is also part of the collection and is one of the world’s largest sapphires. It originally came from Sri Lanka. It’s also fascinating to see some of these gems in their raw uncut state, such as the large corundrum crystal which is the mineral that sapphires are made of, and a very large beryl crystal, from which the emerald and aquamarine family of stones is derived.

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By Diamond Specialist, February 10, 2012 6:40 am

It’s hard to imagine that a mineral with a name as mundane as corundum yields gems as exquisite as the ruby and sapphire, or even that these two stones, so different in color and mystique, are actually the same mineral family.

Lucky you if your birthstone is sapphire (September) or ruby (July). These are among the richest-colored of all gemstones with a romance and history as colorful as they are. Rubies are actually rarer than sapphires, and only red corundums are called rubies. Any other color is a sapphire. When grading colored stones, the density and hue of the color are part of the evaluation, and it’s the richest, deepest colors that are the most prized. In rubies, the most prized variant of color is called pigeon’s blood. Large gem quality rubies can be more valuable than comparably sized diamonds and are certainly rarer. There is a relative abundance of smaller, (1-3 carat,) blue sapphires compared to the scarcity of even small gem quality rubies, making even these smaller stones relatively high in value.

Stones of Burmese origin generally command the highest prices. The vast majority of rubies are “native cut” in the country of origin. High value ruby rough is tightly controlled and rarely makes its way to custom cutters. Occasionally, such native stones are recut to custom proportions, albeit at a loss of weight and diameter. Custom cut and recut stones are usually more per carat.

Sapphires exist in all the shades of blue from the deep blue of evening skies to the bright and deep blue of a clear and beautiful summer sky. Sapphires also come in many other colors, not only in the transparent grayish misty blue of far horizons, but also displaying the bright fireworks of sunset colors – yellow, pink, orange and purple. So sapphires are really and truly heavenly stones, although they are being found in the hard soil of our so-called “blue planet”.

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By Diamond Specialist, February 7, 2012 6:03 am

The very mention of diamond evokes fantasies of fabulous riches and dreams of love and power. Up to the Middle Ages they were so rare and expensive that only royalty could afford diamonds. But in modern times even ordinary people are able to possess a few, thanks to the discovery of numerous diamond deposits elsewhere on the planet plus high, albeit controlled, production.
Diamonds were discovered in India by the 4th century BCE. In addition to the diamond legends, India yielded many legendary diamonds, including the Koh-i-Noor, the Orlov, the Hope, and the Sancy. Today the Majhgawan pipe, a primary source near Panna, is the India’s only producing diamond source.
At one time, India appears to have been the only source of this valuable gem until about the early eighteenth century when diamonds were discovered in Borneo and later elsewhere, such as in South Africa and Russia. Although ancient Sanskrit texts mention several areas where diamonds were found, verifiable historical records are available for only a few deposits. Mining activities in southern India – which in its time was the leading producer of this gem and had yielded some of the most famous stones in history – gradually declined and had become defunct by the time diamonds were discovered elsewhere in the world.
The 1867 discovery of diamonds in the Cape Colony, now a province in South Africa, changed forever the supply and marketing of diamonds. As annual world diamond production increased exponentially, a once extremely rare material became more accessible to Western society with its growing wealth, science learned that diamonds came from volcanoes, and everyone learned of Cecil John Rhodes, Barney Barnato, Kimberley, and De Beers. Today South Africa maintains its position as a major diamond producer. If not for the controlled production and distribution of the South African diamond mines, diamonds could have been easily devalued and lost much the mystique they hold for us today.