A diamond jewelry is one of the precious pieces to own that can go beyond lifetime. It is one of the possessions that can be passed on to our children from one to generation to another. “A diamond is forever” the famous slogan used by De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., owner of diamond workings in South Africa because it is a valuable investment considerably perfect for wedding and engagement rings which signifies an everlasting relationship.
Diamond is a gem collectible in different jewelry forms such as diamond earrings, diamond bracelets, diamond necklaces and diamond pendants. Its elegance and exquisiteness is characteristically evaluated according to its four major features known as the 4Cs. It is important to understand these major characteristics when choosing your diamond because even the slightest change in a diamond’s grading can significantly alter its value.
The 4 major characteristics for a high grade diamond are:
- Carat. The quality of the stone and the carat weight determine the diamond’s value. An outstandingly high grade diamond can be sold for as much as $20,000 per carat whereas a lower-quality one sells for just $1000 per carat.
- Clarity. The clearer the stone the more brilliant. It should be free from blemishes that impede its ability to refract and reflect light.
- Cut. The most significant among the 4Cs is the diamond cut. A perfect cut brings out the main attributes of a diamond namely, brilliance (refers to the amount of light it reflects) , sparkle (how much it shimmers when moved around in the light), and fire ( the way how the stone shows off the light disperses different colors of the spectrum). An important point to remember is when light enters the diamond, it is refracted and rebounds in a rainbow of colors. The most popular cut is the round brilliant diamond with 57 facets.
- Color. The colorless or known as the traditional white diamonds are the most popular among its category. There are also other fancy color diamonds which are graded differently from the colorless diamonds. Fancy colored diamonds derive their value by color intensity that is the more intense the color appears the more valuable it is. Fancy diamond hues come in yellow, pink, red, orange, green, blue, and purple. The blue walnut-sized Hope Diamond, the red Hancock and the Dresden green are most famous and expensive fancy color diamonds.
Diamonds also come in different shapes such as the classic round, emerald and asscher cuts or other shapes like marquise, oval, radiant, pear or heart referred to as fancy shapes wherein the quality level of its cut is determined according to its shape.
In order to keep a diamond in top condition, it must be kept clean and safely keep it in moisture free jewelry box when not being worn.
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