Diamonds

Diamond is the hardest natural material known to man and can only be cut by other diamonds. Its hardness means it maintains its polish excellently and resists scratching, making it ideal for use in designer jewellery. The durability and beauty of diamonds has made them a very popular choice for wedding jewellery. The quality of a diamond is often assessed using The Four Cs. Click here to view diamond jewellery at Astley Clarke.

In 1919, Marcel Tolkowsky calculated the exact shape which would allow a diamond to reflect and refract the most light, giving it maximum ‘sparkle’. Click here to learn more about diamond shapes. Although this shape is still very popular, other shapes, known as ‘fancy cuts’, are also often used. These cuts include the baguette, marquise, princess, heart, briolette and rose cuts. The popularity of these cuts is hugely influenced by fashion – the baguette cut was at its peak during the Art Deco period, whereas the princess cut, which wastes the least of the original crystal and is thus particularly popular with diamond-cutters, is gaining popularity now.

The quality of a diamond cut is vital, as a well-cut diamond can appear to be of greater carat weight and have greater clarity and colour than it actually does. The cut of the diamond is greatly influenced by the original shape of the crystal. Even with modern techniques, cutting and polishing a crystal always results in a dramatic loss of weight – rarely is this less than 50%.

‘Light performance’ is used to describe how well a polished diamond will return light to the viewer. The three properties of this are brilliance, fire and scintillation. Brilliance refers to the white light reflections from the external and internal facet surfaces, fire refers to the colour display produced by the dispersion of white light and scintillation refers to the small flashes of light seen when the diamond, light source or viewer is moved. A diamond cut and polished to produce a high level of these qualities is said to be high in light performance and is very attractive and valuable.
About 49% of diamonds originate from central and southern Africa. However, significant sources of the mineral have also been discovered in Canada, India, Russia, Brazil, and Australia. The hardest diamonds in the world are from the New England area in New South Wales, Australia. These diamonds are generally small, perfect to semi-perfect octahedrans (a three-dimensional shape with eight faces) and are used to polish other diamonds.

Different coloured diamonds are usually treated – they can be found naturally, but this is extremely rare. ‘Fancy diamonds’, as they are called, are popular for use in fine jewellery because they are rare and exotic-looking.

Orange Diamonds
This was the first coloured diamond ever to be produced synthetically and for a long time, the only colour available. These are often similar in colour to amber or topaz, but are considerably harder and brighter and reflect more light. Their flame-like colour makes them particularly popular in fine jewellery.

Black Diamonds
These are coloured black as a result of inclusions, possibly with traces of sulphide. These have begun to be particularly fashionable in designer jewellery in recent years. They are very rare and therefore extremely expensive – currently demand considerably exceeds supply, and this is being rectified by creating a supply of treated black diamonds.

Pink Diamonds
These rank amongst the most expensive gemstones in the world and have recently enjoyed considerable popularity with celebrities. Ben Affleck famously gave a 6-carat pink diamond to Jennifer Lopez on her engagement ring. It is completed with a platinum band and three baguette white diamonds on each side. It was reportedly purchased for $1.2 million in 2002.

Diamonds are also available in purple, brown and blue.

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