My Pink Diamonds

 Taylor-Burton Diamond 

As a status symbol big diamonds have no equal.  It shows that you have the ability to spend an extravagant amount of money on jewelry.  When not being displayed these beautiful gems are hidden away in secure locations and rarely see the light of day.  When was the last time you have seen the Esther Williams famous Champagne diamond ring or the Taylor Burton pear shaped diamond?

 Esthers Diamond 

Finding a good jeweler is the first step you need to take when purchasing any jewelry item.  It is also necessary to do some research on the grading system of diamonds.  Many good article are available on the internet to assist you in understanding the 4 C’s of diamond grading.  After you have learned the fundamentals your jeweler can clarify your understanding.

The American Gem Society (AGS), the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), and the International Gemological Institute (IGI) are the three most widely known and respected diamond grading laboratories in the world and each of them has developed a very similar nomenclature for identifying the 4 C’s of diamonds.  The 4 C’s stand for Carat, Color, Clarity, Cut and I like to add shape to the 4 C’s list.

The first of the 4 C’s is the Carat.  A carat is 0.2 grams or 200 milligrams and is always referenced within 2 decimal points. For example the the Golden Jubilee is considered the largest faceted diamond in the world and weighs in at 545.67 carts.  The Taylor-Burton diamond is 69.42 carats.  This is a highly accurate grading scale used to determine the weight or size of a diamond but it does not apply a value to the diamond.

Color Grading

 D to Z 

The next thing you need to look at when purchasing a diamond is the color of the diamond.  A white diamond is not white but clear in color.  Different colors in diamonds are produced because of impurities trapped in the diamond during the formation process.  Since nature rarely create anything pure many diamond will have show some color to the naked eye.  Color range from totally colorless (D) to a pale color (Z).  Diamonds of a higher grade than (Z) fall into the fancy color diamond range.  A diamond with a color range greater that (K) usually have a descriptive phrase such as grade (M) Faint Brown.

 White Diamond 

White diamonds are usually more expensive because of their rarity, D through F, but some diamonds in the fancy color range can command a very high per-caret price.  Pink diamonds have sold for up to $1,000,000 a carat.  The largest Fancy Vivid Pink diamond is the The Steinmetz Pink Diamond and is 59.60 carats in weight.

Clarity Grading is the third factor in determining the quality of a diamond.  This grading requires education and years of practice for a gemologists to master.  The number and nature of the defects in a diamond is taken into account when applying the clarity grading code.  Basically the diamond is looked at with the naked eye and under a 10X magnification lens.

Internally Flawless (I.F) when it presents no internal defects under 10x magnification.

Very slightly included (V.V.S.1 to V.V.S.2) when it presents defects that are very difficult to locate under 10x magnification.

Slightly Included (S.I.1 to S.I.2) when it presents defects that are easy to locate under 10x magnification.

Imperfect (P.1 to I.1) when it presents defects that are hard to locate with the naked eye.

Imperfect (P.2 to I.2) when it presents defects that are easy to locate with the naked eye.

Imperfect (P.3 to I.3) when it presents defects that are very easy to locate with the naked eye.

Next is the cut of the diamond and the cut has nothing to do with the shape of the diamond.  The proportions and symmetry of the diamond cut determines the light dispersion, brilliance or life of the diamond.  If the diamond’s reflective qualities are below standard then the appearance of the diamond will be adversely affected.  Many of the diamond cut over a couple hundred years ago were cut to maximize the carat weight with little regard to the diamond’s reflective qualities.  Many of the older stones have been recut to increase its brilliance.  A good cut give the diamond it brilliance or the ability to handle light in a pleasing fashion.  The brightness will seem to come from the very heart of a diamond.

 American Star 

In 2001 the EightStar company of California wanted to prove that optical perfection of the round brilliant diamonds could be obtained by using an exclusive light-tracking instrument called a FireScope which allows a diamond cutter to align facets so precisely that the flow of light into and out of a diamonds can be completely controlled.  The American Star as slowly cut from 14.89 to 13.42 carats over a six-week period.  Cutting the diamond for maximum light output and not size increased the beauty of the American Star and many of the older diamonds have gone through a recut.

There are several standard categories for the shape of the diamond but there are many variations on each standard categories.  Basic categories include Round, Emerald, Pear, Heart, Marquise, Oval, and Princess cuts.

The final shape of the raw diamond us usually determined by the imperfections found in the diamond.  Many imperfectsions can be remove or hidden by and experienced jeweler in mounting the diamond in the final jewelry piece and by the proper cut of the diamond.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the American Gem Society (AGS), and the International Gemological Institute (IGI) are the three most widely known and respected diamond grading laboratories in the world.  Each of the grading laboratories have developed a very similar nomenclature for identifying the 4 C’s of diamonds.

 D to Z 

Color grading scales used by the internationally recognized laboratories (GIA & IGI for example), ranges from totally colorless (D) to pale yellow or brown color (Z).  Brown diamonds darker than K color are usually described using their letter grade, and a descriptive phrase, for example M Faint Brown.  Diamonds with more depth of color than Z color fall into the fancy color diamond range.

The coloration of diamonds can be caused by several factors.  Impurities trapped in the diamond during its formation, the crystal lattice structure of the diamond, and the exposure to radiation can all lead to the wide verity of colors available in diamonds.

 Yellow Diamonds 

Yellow diamonds are colored because of the impurities that are trapped inside diamonds when they are created.  If a few of the millions of carbon atoms have been replaced by nitrogen atoms, then structure of the diamond will not be significantly altered but the clarity will be changed.  The amount of color displayed is dependent on the amount of nitrogen involved.

When we see color it is because the object we are looking at reflected a specific wavelength of the light spectrum.  A good example of this is a yellow flower.  The flower absorbs all of the light except the yellow light, which is reflected by the yellow flower.

 Blue Heart Diamond 

In the case of a blue colored diamond some of the nitrogen has been replaced by Boron.  Boron will reflect the blue wavelength of the light spectrum.  The higher the concentration of boron the more color will be showed.  At a level of one or a few boron atoms for every million-carbon atom, an attractive blue color results.

 Graff Pink Supreme Diamond 

The pink diamonds comes in shades ranging from a pastel rose, such as the Pink Orchid to intense purple-reds of the Moussaieff Red, and the price is determined by the intensity of the color.  Pink diamonds have sold for up to $1,000,000 a carat.  Unlike the Type I diamonds that derived their color from impurities embedded in the diamond, Pink diamonds are considered a Type II and get their color from a process known as Plastic Deformation.

Type II diamonds have very few if any nitrogen impurities in them.  They get their coloration due to structural anomalies caused by Plastic Deformation during the crystal growth.  The intense pressure changes the lattice structure of diamonds and has led to the formation of Pink, and Red colored diamonds.

 Green Diamond 

A natural diamond coming into contact with a radioactive source at some point during its lifetime causes some diamonds to develop a green coloration.  The time required may be as much as a million years or longer.  Green diamonds of this nature are very unique.

The most common form of irradiation diamonds comes from alpha particles found in uranium compounds or from percolating groundwater.  Green spots on the surface of the diamonds or a thin green film may develop on the skin of the diamond after long exposure to these particles.  Many times this green coloration will be removed during the cutting or faceting process.

Bombardment by beta and gamma rays will color the diamond to a greater depth and in some rare case turn the entire stone green.  Heating to temperature to just below 600 degrees Celsius can sometimes also cause a diamond to develop a green ting.  Higher temperature may turn the stone to a less desirable yellow or brown color.

 Black Diamond 

Black diamonds are found only in Brazil and the Central African Republic.  Approximately 600 tons of conventional diamonds have been mined, traded, polished since 1900. But not a single black diamond has been discovered in the world’s mining fields.  The geological settings where diamonds are found or mined are virtually identical with the one exception, the Black Diamond.

Black diamonds have been found to contain trace elements of nitrogen and hydrogen.  The study published in 2006 analyzed the hydrogen in black diamond samples using infrared-detection instruments and found that the quantity indicated that the mineral formed in a supernova explosion prior to the formation of the Solar System.  These diamonds were formed by carbon-rich cosmic dust in an environment near carbon stars. The diamonds were incorporated into solid bodies that subsequently fell to Earth as meteorites.

 Graff Pink Supreme Diamond 

The Argyle Diamond Mine is located in a remote corner of North West Australia and it produces over 90 percent of the world supply of pink diamonds and yet less that 1/10 of 1 percent is classified as Pink in color.

The pink diamonds comes in shades ranging from a pastel rose, such as the Pink Orchid to intense purple-reds of the Moussaieff Red, and the price is determined by the intensity of the color.  Pink diamonds have sold for up to $1,000,000 a carat.  Unlike the Type I diamonds that derived their color from impurities imbedded in the diamond, Pink diamonds are considered a Type II and get their color from a process known as Plastic Deformation.

 Heart Pink Enhanced Diamond 

Type II diamonds have very few if any nitrogen impurities in them.  They get their coloration due to structural anomalies caused by Plastic Deformation during the crystal growth.  The intense pressure changes the lattice structure of diamonds and has led to the formation of Pink, Red, and Brown colored diamonds.

Only 1 out of the top 66 largest diamonds in the world is pink.  When Ben Affleck gave Jennifer Lopez a pink diamond solitaire engagement ring, traffic to web sites that had pink diamonds increased from 300 to 400 percent.  Although not normally large in size they have become very popular and over the years many have become world famous.

 Pink Panther 

Probably the most famous pink diamond in the world was the Pink Panther Diamond that was made famous by the 1964 file release of The Pink Panther.  Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau was on the trail of the jewel thief also known as The Pink Panther.

 Darya-I-Nur 

Darya-I-Nur diamond is believed to be the largest pink diamond in the world.  The stone is estimated to weigh somewhere between 175 and 195 carats, and it is a light pink color.  Its exact weight isn’t known because its been mounted in its brooch setting for over 130 years.  This stone is one of the most celebrated diamonds in the Iranian Crown Jewels and it is also one of the oldest stones known to man.

 Steinmetz Pink 

The Steinmetz Pink Diamond is classified as a vivid pink and is 59.60 carats in weight.  This diamond was discovered in South Africa and is the largest Fancy Vivid Pink diamond in the world.  This fantastic diamond was first shown to the public in 2003 in Monaco.  A team of eight jewelers took 20 months to create this Internally Flawless diamond.  They created over 50 models before cutting on the real diamond began.

With the new techniques in creating laboratory diamonds it will only be a matter of time before quality pink diamonds are available to the general public at an affordable price.