Throughout the better than 500 years since Archduke Maximilian of Austria supplied Mary of Burgundy with the first diamond engagement ring, the stone has come to signify purity, faithfulness, love, and splendid. Nonetheless the popular risk for an engagement ring proper now, diamonds are extraordinarily sturdy and intensely unusual. Nonetheless understanding why they’re so worthwhile—and what to seek for for those who’re trying to find one—is important to choosing the stone that’s greatest for you.
“An essential issue to remember when purchasing for a little bit of diamond jewelry is to not rush the tactic,” says Kristina Buckley Kayel of the Pure Diamond Council. “It’s paramount to take your time to evaluation and know exactly what you might be purchasing for and the place it’s coming from. A pure diamond’s character is as explicit and as unusual as that of the person sporting it.”
Meet the Expert
- Kristina Buckley Kayel is the managing director of the Pure Diamond Council’s division in North America.
- Olivia Landau is a fourth period diamond educated and founder and CEO of The Clear Decrease.
Ahead, consultants share each factor it’s advisable find out about pure diamonds, from how they’re formed (and positioned!) to understanding their long-term value—and the way in which to resolve on one that may look as lovely now as it’ll in 50 years.
How Pure Diamonds Are Usual
Pure diamonds found underground are a “crystalline kind of pure carbon that’s formed by the acute heat and pressure of the earth,” says Kayel. The stones are recognized for his or her sturdiness, rarity, and sparkle. “Pure diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring substance, and formed deep contained in the earth 1 to a few billion years up to now,” says Kayel. “Pure diamonds are the oldest issue you will ever contact—to not point out private.”
Colored diamonds may even be formed underground; the hue modifications based on totally different elements present as a result of the carbon crystallized. “All through a diamond’s formation, when carbon atoms bond collectively, coupled with the trapping of non-carbon atoms or if there are modifications in pressure, this may increasingly alter the stone,” says Kayel. “This results in diamonds of virtually every shade inside the rainbow, in every other case typically known as ‘fancy colored’ diamonds.”
Whereas brown and yellow are the most common fancy colors, says Olivia Landau of The Clear Decrease, the stones moreover would possibly come out blue, inexperienced, pink, or crimson. “A pure blue diamond is formed in an area with trace elements harking back to boron,” says Landau. “That’s moreover true for inexperienced diamonds, as they seem to be a outcomes of being formed near a uranium deposit with radiation.”
The Distinctive Attributes of Pure Diamonds
Diamonds are graded based mostly on their cut back, shade, carat weight, and readability—the 4 Cs. The higher a stone scores in each class, the additional worthwhile it is. Nonetheless the an identical imperfections which will make a diamond further financially accessible give it a look all its private. “It’s essential to look previous the 4 Cs and ponder the fifth C: character,” says Kayel. “Ensuing from their rarity and historic and pure formation, every diamond’s character is unique.”
Landau moreover seems to be like for the one-of-a-kind elements in each stone. “Although there may be defects, I take into account that these are actually the pure fingerprints or ‘birthmarks’ of the diamond and should find yourself in just a few of the best stones,” she says. “The inclusions that get caught inside the diamond over the formation course of that takes billions of years give each one their very personal distinctive story, and is what makes them so explicit.”
Why Pure Diamonds Are So Helpful
Pure diamonds are nonetheless extraordinarily unusual—notably relative to lab-grown diamonds, which may be produced in “limitless parts” in just some weeks, say the consultants. “Pure diamonds are a unusual and finite helpful useful resource that take billions of years to create, and since there are not any new diamonds at current being formed, they’re an actual rarity,” says Landau.
Kayal visualizes it this fashion: “The annual restoration of all pure diamonds 1-carat and above can fill just one practice ball,” she says. “Of the diamonds that are being mined proper now, solely about 50 p.c are considered extreme adequate prime quality to be purchased on the diamond market, making them a particularly worthwhile commodity.”
What to Seek for When Looking for a Pure Diamond
When trying to find a diamond, Landau recommends seeking stones with cut back, shade, readability, and carat scores licensed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)—and discovering a jeweler you perception. “No two diamonds are the an identical, and all diamonds are graded by individuals, so it is further of an art work than a science,” she says. Kayel recommends paying shut consideration to the way in which during which a little bit of knickknack is marketed. “Lab-grown diamond’s must be disclosed as such and may’t merely be known as a ‘diamond,’” she says. “The phrase ‘diamond’ alone implies that it’s a pure diamond.”
Ethical Sourcing
As a result of the diamond enterprise has matured, elevated oversight has counteracted the ethical factors that beforehand plagued mining processes. “This can be very unusual to find a diamond that isn’t ethically sourced,” says Landau. The Kimberley Course of, developed by the United Nations and the World Commerce Group, regulates the diamond commerce and authenticates the ethical sourcing of each stone. Better than 80 worldwide areas are part of the tactic, says Kayel, beneath which “all powerful diamond commerce is strictly regulated to ensure it is conflict-free.” The enterprise may be implementing blockchain utilized sciences to help shoppers trace the path of their diamond, from mine to proposal.
Sustainability
Increasingly more daring sustainability initiatives embody firms identical to the De Beers Group and Rio Tinto setting carbon neutrality timelines. “The diamond enterprise actively protects the biodiversity surrounding each mine, masking an area 4 situations larger in dimension than the land they use,” says Kayel.
Heirloom Prime quality
Looking for a pure diamond now—sooner than the availability drops far more dramatically, seemingly inside the subsequent two to three a very long time, says Landau—means you’re investing in an asset that may respect in value (every sentimental and financial). “Pure diamonds preserve their value,” says Landau. “Heirloom diamonds are the final phrase kind of sustainability, on account of they’re recycled and handed down by generations.”