April Birthstone: Diamond

Diamond: The Birthstone for April and originally the chosen gem for the 75th wedding anniversary.  In modern times diamonds are associated with the 60th anniversary. 60 years of marriage is an incredible, rare achievement and spending a lifetime together should be admired and celebrated in every way. An eternity ring is a popular choice, diamond pendants or a pair of earrings.

The word diamond comes from the Greek “adamas”, meaning “unconquerable”. An appropriate name for the hardest material occurring in nature. Although it must also be added they are not indestructible, after all without breaking a diamond, we would not have the different shapes of stones we have available on the market today. Diamond is graded as 10, the very hardest of all gems on Mohs Hardness Scale. In fact, diamond is around 4 times harder than Sapphire at number 9.

Natural diamonds are millions of years old but have been treasured and coveted for only a few thousand years. Until diamonds were discovered in Brazil in 1725, its only known source was India, where diamonds were already highly esteemed as talismans by the year 800 B.C. 

Original cutting of diamonds involved merely removing just the flawed portions of the rough stones, keeping weight loss of the rough to a minimum. The use of diamond powder led to the development of the new polishing techniques that became the origins of modern-day polishing. In the mid-17th Century, following the Rose Cut and other improvements, the Mazarin Cut was developed. This was the forerunner of the modern Brilliant Cut.

Although the modern Brilliant Cut may result in a loss of 50% or more from the original rough weight, it is crucial in bringing out the spectacular brilliance of a diamond.

There are 4 main quality factors that diamonds are evaluated for in modern times, these are Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat weight. These quality factors when assessed cumulatively ultimately give a diamond its value. But it should be noted each quality factor has a top, mid and lower range but ultimately, it all comes down to the personal preference of the buyer to decide what is the most desirable factor for them.

Alternatively deciding if a balanced assessment of all the factors and their appeal makes the ideal purchase by the individual. The more consumers learn about diamonds, such as asking questions to retailers, studying from books, internet, or other sources of information; the more informed the purchase should become. This will allow buyers to understand why a particular diamond would cost ‘X’ amount more than a diamond that is exactly the same size. The old adage of size isn’t everything is well applied to this scenario, or not all diamonds are the same!

Because Diamond is such a huge subject, we will not go into any further detail here, but needless to say please refer to our other information sections on this subject or pop into store and ask one of our Diamond Specialists to go through the quality factors with you, if you’re interested in learning more about your future diamond purchases.