Tanzanite - One of the world's rarest and most valuable gemstones!
Alexandrite - One of the world's rarest changing color gemstone!
Beautiful. Rare. Cherished. Each diamond is unique and is a miracle of time, place and change! Just to keep it simple it is a crystallized form of carbon and it was formed on an average 3 billions years ago, thousand of feet underneath the ground in the crust of earth.
The word Diamond is derived from the Greek word "Adamas" which means invincible or unconquerable and it was discovered first time in India around 500 BC.
Throughout different time periods and cultures Diamond have created unique myths and legends and there are a lot of superstitions about it. Honest to be there are so many myths, legends and superstitions that i can write a blog just about them but i will mention few.
As we all know it our modern days Diamond is associated with love as most of the engagement rings have it. Long time ago it was believed that diamonds were the magical ingredients on the tips of Cupid’s arrows, making anyone struck by them fall in love. And since i mention engagement ring have you ever wonder why traditionally are located on the left hand? I bet you did not! It is because of an old diamond myth... in old times it was thought that there was a vein that led directly from fourth finger to the heart.
Generally Diamond myths, legends and superstition tend to deal with one of three topics: health, knowledge, and love.
Unfortunately these topics that i mention were in the ancient times as today Diamonds trend to be more a symbol of wealth. And when we talk wealth we talk money. Just to have an idea in 1866 Diamonds were discovered near Orange River in South Africa and this lead to the famous Kimberly Mine know as well as the Big Hole... just here between 1871 and 1908 more then 14.5 million carat of diamonds were mined. If you will have to bag 14.5 million carats of diamonds it will weight more then 3 tones!
I bet you did not know that Australia is the largest producer of diamonds. However only 5% are gem quality and the rest of 95% are used in various industries know as "industrial diamonds". These diamonds are widely used for cutting glass, making surgical tools, lasers etc. But Australia is not just about opals and pearls they are know as well for the quality color diamonds. Many people don't know but diamonds can come in every single color of rainbow and the top photo from the begging of the blog is one example. It is a photo of the famous Pink Star sold this year in April for more then 71 million USA Dollars in Hong Kong.
But what makes Diamonds so expensive and why is so much difference between them you might ask your self. Well GIA (Gemological Institute of America) created the first, and now globally accepted standard for describing diamonds: COLOR, CLARITY, CUT and CARAT WEIGHT. GIA is like the "Supreme Court"! Today, the 4Cs of Diamond Quality is the universal method for assessing the quality of any diamond, anywhere in the world and i will explain each of them.
DIAMOND COLOR
When we are talking about the color of a diamond we are not talking about how colorful a Diamond is, we are talking about the absence of color which means how white a Diamond is. For a better understanding please see the photo below:
The lesser the color the more value it has so the color grade of a Diamond measure its whiteness. To grade the color of a diamond the gemologist have to use the Diamond unmounted or to unmounted from its settings. The Diamond grader have a pre-graded comparison master set. The stone which has the closest resemblance to the color is then assigned that particular grade. As you can see the color grades are from D to Z so its an alphabetical grade with D as the top of the Diamond Color.
Just in case you are going shopping for a diamond and you are told the color of the Diamond remember that the closer that grade is to the begging of the alphabet the better color quality is.
DIAMOND CLARITY
Clarity of the Diamonds refer to how clean a Diamond is from their unique birthmarks. These birthmarks are a by-product of its formation and are referred to as the characteristic of a Diamond and this because Diamonds form under tremendous heat and pressure, it is extremely rare to find a Diamond that lacks any characteristics. For a better understanding please see the photos below:
The internal characteristics are known as inclusions which means something that was included in the stone whilst and was form in nature millions of years ago. There are six categories:
Flawless (FL) - No inclusions and no blemishes visible under 10x magnification
Internally Flawless (IF) - No inclusions visible under 10x magnification
Very, Very Slightly Included (VVS1 and VVS2) - Inclusions so slight they are difficult for a skilled grader to see under 10x magnification
Very Slightly Included (VS1 and VS2) - Inclusions are observed with effort under 10x magnification, but can be characterized as minor
Slightly Included (SI1 and SI2) - Inclusions are noticeable under 10x magnification
Included (I1, I2, and I3) - Inclusions are obvious under 10x magnification which may affect transparency and brilliance
Now again if you go shopping for a Diamond the jewelers will try of course to sell you VVS and VS clarity Diamonds but remember one thing... no human eye in this world will be able to tell you the difference to which Diamond is better so you can easily choose and SI1.
DIAMOND CUT
A diamond’s cut is crucial to the stone’s final beauty and value and cut grade is really about how well a diamond’s facets interact with light or how the Diamond will reflect the light. That sparkle that we see in Diamond, that blink blink as some are saying its all about the cut so cut is one of the most important C's. You can see in the photo below how the stone it will reflect the light regarding the way it is cut.
So if the cut is too deep or to shallow the Diamond will loose a lot from it's beauty and personality. Keep in mind that an ideal Diamond’s Cut unleashes its light! Just to have an idea about how many factors are talking in consideration please see the photo below:
This is what is called A Diamond Anatomy Diagram. To have an excellent grade cut the Diamond should have even pattern of bright and dark areas. I know most of the people when the heard about the cut are thinking about the shape (round, heart, oval, marquise, pear, emerald, princess, radiant, asscher, cushion) but a Diamond’s cut grade is really about how well a diamond’s facets interact with light!
DIAMOND CARAT WEIGHT
The Diamond carat weight measure the diamond apparent size. Each carat have 100 points. For a better understanding please see the photo below:
Just in case if you ever wonder how much is a carat weight then you should know that is a fifth of a gram or 0.20 grams. As i mention each carat is 100 points so 0.25ct will be a quarter of a carat, 0.50ct will be half of carat and so on. The more carat weight a Diamond have the more expensive it will be because larger diamonds are more rare to find. But two diamonds of equal carat weight can have very different prices because all the other 3 C's that i mention above: Color, Clarity, Carat Weight so bigger doesn't means necessary better!
If you really like the post and find it interesting please let me know so i will add in the future two more blogs about Diamonds. One about the Diamond myths, legends and superstition and the other one about the controversial De Beers and what they did to control the market...
Note: All the photos that i used i have for a very long time as i used to write lectures and seminars for different cruise ships that i have been working on so i really don't know anymore what is their source.
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And with this blog i have created as well my own tag - #georgemales as i will start soon a new series of blogs where i will keep track of my evolution here on Steemit!
As well looks like i have created a new tag - #gemology where i hope more and more blogs will be added!
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Nice, by the way I just donated 10k DOGE in your wallet for your efforts. Not much dollar-wise, around $10 I believe given today's BTC price but I know you like 'em DogeCoins :D.
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Wow!!!Thanks a lot... you really made my day. Yes i do like a lot Dogecoin and every single donation is very important to me!!!
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Awesome blog bro', neatly and educational, the way I like it. And by the looks of the votes, the way most of steemit readers like it :D The only thing I knew about diamonds was that they are the hardest mineral you can find according to the Mohs Hardness Scale - of course I'm talking here about industrial diamonds and general (basic) geology not gemology by any means :P Also interesting myths and please do expand on the legends revolving diamonds. Also it would be interesting another blog about the diamond market. Keep it up ;)
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Thanks a lot for your comment. As time will allow me i will add more blogs regarding this niche with a lot of interesting information!😉
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My interest in diamonds are purely from a mineralogic and geological perspective.
But i always appreciate a well written and good post, so you kept me reading to the very end, even if i knew most of it already.
As long as this are things i dont deal with every day, it is still good to get a reminder.
And for my part, i also appreciate the link to the Tanzanite and Alexandrite articles that i always have found to be fascinating minerals, and that i now look forward to read about.
So thank you and keep up this good work.
And i hope you have a great day when you read this. :)
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Thanks a lot for the nice words and i really appreciate your comment.
I notice your passion when i visit your profile and i really liked a lot as well one of your blogs. I will add as well more blogs in this niche as time will allow me and i hope you will find them as well very interesting.
I hope you are having an amazing day and always Steem On!
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Thank you.
And if you remember, i would be happy if you let me know about it when you write new posts about minerals.
I can never get enough information about that. :)
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Nothing screams bling bling like some nice blood diamonds.
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I totally understand what you are trying to say and that's the reason why at the end of this blog i mention that in the future i will write as well about the controversial De Beers and what they did to control the market, how they did changed governments to add their circle of influence in Africa and how all this was done with the cost of a lot of human life's!
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Awesome post georgemales! It's cool to see an educational posts about diamonds organized so well.
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Thanks a lot for the kind words and for the comment! I am really glad you find it an educational blog and i hope more people will do the same!
I will try in the future as time will allow me to add more on the same niche...
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Geology and Earth Sciences are cool topics. I'm sure I'll make one some day.
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The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @georgemales to be original material and upvoted it!
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