“The girls’s best friends are diamonds,” the famous song says. And each friend needs to know what is called to the core. Diamonds are no exception. How to understand the world of jewelry terms and choose the right stone? What to look for when making such a significant purchase? Let's try to figure it out.
Why diamonds are valued
Everyone knows that a diamond is a faceted diamond. And the fact that nature creates not so many of these stones is also a known fact. And even the fact that diamond is the hardest of the known minerals is also not news. So what is the most important characteristic of diamonds?
And what attracts jewelers in a diamond? The only answer is brilliance. The name of the stone itself is translated from French as "brilliant." When light is reflected in a diamond, it shimmers with all the colors of the rainbow. Diamonds best reflect artificial lighting. It is in the light of lamps that the brightness and playfulness of a stone are manifested in all its glory. By the way, this is one of the reasons why wearing jewelry with diamonds until 5 pm is considered not quite decent.
Profitable investment
Now the fashion for wearing diamonds “everywhere and always” has passed. Buying a diamond ring is seen more as an investment than defining status in society. Compared to other gemstones, diamonds do not “age” over time. They are afraid of a direct hit with a hammer or stone. All other external factors are insignificant for them. And from the point of view of investing, it is necessary to study how and how diamonds differ from each other. And which characteristic of diamonds is preferable in different cases.
4C rating
There are not many diamond-mining countries in the world. And they are located in different parts of the world. But there are many more buyers. And everyone wants to purchase, if not the most beautiful, then the most “right” stone. The world practice of evaluating diamonds has developed for a long time and is based on the fact that the characteristics of diamonds are described by four indicators: mass, color, clarity (transparency) and cut. Until the stone has been cut, it is just a diamond. No play of light and jewelry significance. Only correctly and professionally faceted stone can refract light and sparkle. And called a diamond. Actually, the 4C system got its name from the first letters of the words of the English language, which characterize the classiness of the stone: carat (mass), color (color), clarity (purity), cut (cut).
Diamond weight
Weight, as with all gems, is measured in carats. 1 carat is 0.2 grams. That’s how much 1 grain of a carat tree weighed, which since ancient times has been used as a reference measure of weight for jewelry. Modern carats are divided into 100 parts. Because weight (and size) allows you to assign a diamond to one of the groups: small (up to 0.29 carats), medium (from 0.3 to 0.99 carats) and large, or tapeworm (more than 1 carat).
A diamond whose weight exceeds 6 carats is destined to be sold only at a private auction. Of course, other characteristics are still important here, but just one weight is enough to make the cost of such a giant sky-high. Therefore, those who want to buy a large diamond prefer to do it behind the scenes.
Small stones are judged by diameter, not weight. But for large and medium-sized stones, it is a mistake to believe that the larger - the heavier the diamond. The characteristic of the stone sometimes allows you to make a unique cut, which with a large diameter will give a relatively small weight.
The defectiveness of diamonds
Of course, you always want to buy all the best. But in life, we are guided by the rule: to choose the optimal price-quality ratio. And diamonds are no exception. There are very few absolutely pure stones in nature. And, accordingly, they are very expensive.
Most often, diamonds interspersed with carbon and foreign crystals are found in nature. Very rarely, specimens with internal cracks come across. On the one hand, it is impossible to examine this with the naked eye. But on the other hand, when you purchase a diamond that does not shimmer in the light (or is very dim), and even more so when you make an investment in stones, you want the characteristics of diamonds to be worthy.
There are several standards by which diamond quality is evaluated. For example, the purity of a diamond. The scale according to which all stones are divided into categories depending on the quantity and quality of inclusions, according to the Russian standard, consists of 12 groups, where the 1st group is the cleanest diamonds and the 12th is “dirty”. In fact, only from the 9th group can one consider blotches without a microscope. And before that, a minimum of ten times magnification under a microscope is necessary to detect stone defects.
This is probably why the American purity of the diamond, the scale of which has 9 groups, does not consider the cleanest stones and stones with barely distinguishable inclusions in different ways. They belong to the same category.
Clarity of diamonds on different scales| TU (small stones) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| TU (medium and large stones) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7a | 8 | 9 | 10 | eleven | 12 |
| Gia | IF WS1 WS2 | VS1 | VS2 | SI1 | SI2 | SI3 | I1 | I2 | I3 |
Diamonds assigned to the 7th and further groups are considered technical and are not used in jewelry. Hardness of diamonds is more valued in industry than refractive characteristics.
Diamond color
Of course, the most popular are white diamonds. But just like absolutely pure stones, there are few of them. Most often in jewelry we are offered diamonds of a yellowish tint. But it is impossible to determine this by eye - human vision does not perceive such a subtle difference.
In nature there are diamonds of different colors - from white to black. Until recently, the concept of "black diamond" was not used at all, and such stones were not used in jewelry. They were literally considered garbage. But fancy yellow and blue diamonds are a completely different matter. Being interestingly framed, they can become a real decoration of the collection.
In general, the concept of diamond color is very complex. The Russian standard uses such terms as “subtle”, “bloom”, “barely noticeable”, etc. That is, the assessment of the color of the stone can be very subjective. Nevertheless, this characteristic of diamonds (a table that will help to understand the ratio of different standards should be in every store) plays an important role in determining the price. Up to the eighth group of color, diamonds are considered white with various shades. Starting from the 8th - the color is defined as yellow. But here there are 3 subgroups.
Cut
Cutting a diamond is a very complicated business. The quality of cuts can be described by three characteristics: symmetry, proportionality and polishing. It is on these parameters, according to the American standard, you can evaluate any diamond. In the Russian system for cutting quality, a stone can be attributed to one of the groups from A to G. Diamonds, the cut of which do not fit into the parameters set for these groups, are not subject to TU assessment.
In addition to the quality of the cut, there is also a shape. This is something that can be estimated according to the simplest principle: like - not like. The round shape of stone cutting is considered classical (it is sometimes called Russian). Oval, marquise, emerald, drop - all these are options for cutting diamonds.
How to choose a diamond
The price of a diamond is the sum of the ratio of all four quality indicators. To ask for a diamond marked 1/1 in the store (the first group of class in color and purity) means to prove yourself not just an ignoramus, but also a bombastic snob. Even to demand that the characteristic of diamonds 2/2 was also indecent. Most often, diamonds with color parameters of 3-5 and purity of 3-6 come on sale.
From the point of view of investment, when choosing a diamond, it is better to yield in color than in purity. Because various inclusions change the refractive abilities of a stone, which means that a diamond does not play in the light. In addition, many defects can cause the diamond to split if dropped. Here it will be not just insulting.
When choosing diamonds, pay attention to how the stone is hidden in the frame. The more the frame or its elements hide the brink of a diamond, the more likely it is that a low-quality stone is used in the product.
Each diamond has a tag. All parameters are indicated on it: shape, number of faces, mass, color, purity, cut group. It looks like this: 1 Cr57 - 0.43 - 4 / 3A. The first digit indicates the number of diamonds in the product.
Diamonds of different purity
As already noted, diamonds of different quality go on sale. The most common are 3/5, 4/5, 6/6. What are the characteristics of diamonds 3/5, and how do they fundamentally differ from 2/2, for example? First things first.
High class diamonds
In the nature of these stones (with a characteristic of 2/2) as little as absolutely pure. But by the standards in diamonds of the 2nd purity group, several bright points are acceptable. A few are no more than two. And to see them from the side of the site with the naked eye is impossible. If the store has a stone marked 2/2, you need to check its certificate, and you need a certificate from GIA (American Institute of Gemology).
The most popular diamonds are round, with color and purity 4. The gemological characteristic of 4/4 diamonds allows us to consider these stones as a reliable investment. The price for them never falls and gives a steady increase. In addition, it is these indicators of imperfection and color that are not in doubt.
So what is a diamond of purity 4? Such a diamond may have 2 minor inclusions in the central part or 2-4 small defects in the remaining parts. And to consider all this is possible only with a multiple increase.
By the way, diamonds with defects of 5 may already be much cheaper than representatives of the 4th group. This is due to the fact that on small (up to 0.29 carats) stones, defects of the 5th category can already be seen without a microscope. But on large interspersed stones it is still not visible with the naked eye. Characteristics of diamonds 4/5 mean that in the middle of the stone there is a small "cloud", a crack or 5-6 tiny dashes. If the inclusions are on other surfaces of the stone, then a small crack is allowed.
Large stone of medium quality
If a mid-range buyer needs the largest of the diamonds, then you need to pay attention to the 6th grade of purity. The larger the stone, the more dispersed it is. Again, they can only be seen with a multiple increase. But the cost of such diamonds is much less than their cleaner "counterparts". Characteristic of 6/6 diamonds: 8 bright points or a small dissemination of graphite are dispersed throughout the area; up to 5 dark points are permissible.
There is an opinion that the size of the stone on the bride’s finger determines the degree of love of the groom in her. Since under natural lighting the defects of the stones of the 6th group are indistinguishable, you need to choose a ring with just such a stone - large and beautiful.
The characteristic of diamonds (the table clearly illustrates this) significantly affects their value. The table shows the price in dollars of medium and large diamonds.
Before you get a tiny but pure diamond, think about it: maybe you should lower the quality criteria, but increase the size.