Ronit Diamonds

Clarity is one of the most important factors out of the famous 4C’s of a diamond (and loose diamonds). The scope of clarity grading is to place a diamond in a scale from flawless to imperfect. During the clarity testing internal and external defects have to be found. There are some parameters which influence the clarity grading:
1. Size: The bigger the inclusion is, the lower clarity grade will be. The clarity grade must be examined in a 10x power magnification.
2. Number: As number of inclusions is higher, so will the clarity degree decrease.
3. Nature: The nature of the inclusion should be taken into consideration – the more it influences the internal tension in the stone, the lower the clarity level will be.
4. Location: The nearer an inclusion is to the center and the more evident it is, the lower the clarity grade will be. Inclusions located near the girdle are less noticeable and can be hided during the jewelry setting.
5. Brightness: The brighter and noticeable the inclusion is, the lower the clarity grade will be.
6. Color: a dark inclusion is more noticeable than a bright one.

Loose diamond’s clarity on YouTube

Yours,
Ronit- your personal diamond expert.
This information was kindly supplied by the IGC gemological center.

Diamonds are being mined in 5 main locations:

Africa:
South Africa is the main producer of diamonds in Africa. Namibia is another country that produces diamonds in Africa, and their quality is considered as one of the best.
Angola, as Namibia, is rich with alluvial deposits. A state owned mining company carries out Angola’s mining, but because of many internal conflicts it is difficult to install stable and regular diamonds marketing.
Zaire is the second diamonds producer worldwide- Zaire produces 20% of the world total quantity, however- only half of the diamonds are gem quality.
Botswana also produced 20% of the total world production, while 70% of its diamonds are gem quality diamond.
The first chimneys have been discovered in the 60’s. Later in the 70’s, more chimneys have been discovered thus allowing organized and intensive mining is association with the De Beers Company.
At the moment, South Africa’s role in diamond production is not any more as important as it once was; it represents only 10% of the world total production.

Russia:
Russia’s diamond mines are located in Siberia. The climate in this area is very severe and makes mining pretty difficult. Nevertheless, Russia remains one of the leading diamond producers in the trade. When the USSR disunited into several republics, changes and reversals occurred in the Russian market structure. Recently the Russian government and the syndicate have signed an agreement. The scope of this agreement is to regulate the relations between the two parties, in spite of differences of opinions. Only time will confirm the effectiveness of this agreement. It is very likely that in the future Russia will market its products directly to the free market.

Australia:
Australia is the largest producer of diamonds in the world in terms of quantity – 35% of the total world output!
The mines are mainly located in Western Australia, in the Kimberly region. The Argyle mine was the first and most important Australian mine. Most of its diamonds have brown, yellow and pink hues and are marketed under the name “Champaign”. Australia sells her products through her Antwerp offices independently from De Beers.

South America:
In South America, diamonds are mined in Brazil from alluvial deposits. The governmental and illegal mining renders difficult the evaluation of Brazil’s part in the global market.

North America:
There is a small and inactive mine in the state of Arkansas. The newest discoveries are in the northwest of Canada. The Canadian project is in its last stage after about 10 years of a very intensive work and struggle between the government and the environmental organizations. Experts predict that mining will last about 20 years with an estimated output of a half a billion dollar per year!

Yours,

Ronit

– your personal diamond expert

This information was kindly supplied from the IGC gemology center

Did you know?

Ronit Tamir (aka- moi) is a professional diamond grader!

See the attached certificate….

Want to know the language diamond’s people talk? Interested to learn more about diamonds (and not just the 4C’s?) Try this glossary! We hear all the time about diamonds different shapes, grading scales and what is considered to be a qualified loose diamond. But what about the little details, such as a diamond structure, or the little diamond secrets professional diamond’s people use and never share with the rest of us?
In this phenomenal lexicon, you’ll find all the little mysteries; not just the definition of a princess cut diamond or the essence of a GIA certified diamond….have a look-see!

A

Apprisal: A written estimate of the retail replacement of the diamond described. Usually being used for insurance purposes and should be updated every few years.

B

Bezel facet: on a round brilliant diamond, these are eight large kite-shaped facets on the crown.

Brilliance: a term that describes the reflections of white light coming from the diamond in “face-up” position. This is the main effect that differ diamonds among other gemstones. (No other gemstone has the power to equal the extent of a diamond’s reflecting light).

C

Carat: the standard unit of a gemstone’s weight. On carat equals 1/5 of a gram or 1/142 of an ounce. 1 carat=100 points.

Cavity: A type of inclusion consisting of a large or deep opening in a gemstone.

Clarity enhancement: Any process used to improve the apparent clarity of a diamond.

Cloud: a group of minute to very small, white inclusions which give a “cloudy” appearance.

Crown: the part of the diamond that is above the girdle. It consists of the table facet and the crown facets below the table.

Crystal: A type of inclusion. A crystal is a mineral deposit trapped inside the stone.

Culet: the point at the bottom of a full-cut diamond.

D

Depth: the distance between the table facet and the culet measured in millimeters.

Dispersion: the fiery, rainbow color-flashes emanating from a diamond. This is white light broken up into the colors of the spectrum.

Durability: This covers extremely thin girdles as well as inclusions that weaken a diamond.

E

Eye-clean: a term used in clarity –grading: “eye-clean” diamonds should have no inclusions that are visible through the table to the unaided eye.

F

Facet: the polished planes on the surface of a diamond.

Fancy color: diamonds having color more intense than ‘Z’, as well as diamonds with color other than yellow or brown are considered fancy colored diamonds. These diamonds are being graded using different systems.

Fancy shape: any shape that is not round.

Feather: a fracture or break in a diamond that looks like a white feather.

Fire: a term referring to dispersion.

Fluorescence: the property in approximately 50% of all diamonds that makes them glow when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Fracture: a chip or break on a diamond that is not in the direction of a cleavage plane.

Fracture filling: a treatment whereby feathers in a diamond are filled with an artificial substance.

G

Girdle: the outer edge, or outline of the diamond’s shape.

Girdle thickness: the measurement describing the girdle thickness is the average distance between the pavilion (lower part) and crown (upper part).

H

Hearts and arrows: also called “H&A”, these are mostly round cut diamonds having superior cutting quality and which are known to show a visual pattern of 8 hearts looking down through the pavilion and 8 arrows when viewing the diamond in the face-up position using the H&A loupe.

I

Ideal cut: a diamond polished to the highest precision and perfection resulting in ideal balance between brilliance and fire.

Inclusion: a naturally occurring imperfection in a diamond.

K

Karat: the measurement of gold’s purity, when 24 karat being pure gold.

L

Laser drilling: a diamond enhancement technique whereby a laser is used to drill to a dark inclusion, which is then bleached in order to enhance the inclusion’s appearance.

Loupe: a 10x magnifying lens used to examine diamonds.

Luster: the degree to which a diamond reflects light.

M

Mine cut diamond: an ancient form of the brilliant diamond with a cushion shaped outline, high crown, small table, deep pavilion and an extremely large faceted culet.

N

Natural: a small rough diamond portion that can be found on some polished diamonds.

O

Old European cut diamond: the earliest known form of brilliant cut diamond with a very small table and steep crown.

Optical property: A gem’s intrinsic ability to interact with light.

P

Pave: a style of jewelry setting in which numerous small diamonds are mounted close together to create a glistering diamond crust that covers the whole piece of jewelry and obscures the metal under it.

Pavilion: the lower part of a polished diamond, usually coned-shaped.

Pinpoint: internal characteristic, minute to very small, usually a whitish dot inside a diamond.

Polish: the way polishers finish the smoothness of facets on diamonds.

S

Scintillation: the small areas of light in a polished that flash on and off as the diamond, the observer or lightning moves.

Star facet: one of the eight triangular facets found at the edge of the table facet and pointing to the outline of a brilliant cut diamond.

Symmetry: symmetry of facets, and symmetry of the parts of the stone.

T

Table: the largest facet, situated on top of the crown of a diamond.

Hope you have found this article enriching…

Yours,

Ronit Tamir- Diamond expert

How does a diamond form?

The diamond is a natural mineral composed mostly of carbon. Its crystal structure belongs to the cubic system. The diamond is usually an octahedron and less often has the shape of a cube. The following conditions are needed to transform carbon into a diamond crystal:

1. A pressure of 100,000 bars.
2. Temapature of about 2500C.

Ambient conditions of this type only occur at depths of 130-200 KM below the surface of the earth in active volcanoes. Diamond melting point is 3700C, its specific gravity is 3.52, its hardness is 10 and its refractive index is 2.417.

Diamond’s crystallizations theories
The first diamonds were found in ancient and present riverbeds, but towards the end of the 19th century, diamonds were also found in large volcanic pipes, which had penetrated into the depth of the earth. Diamonds are in fact found in volcanic tuff rock called “Kimberlite” that has benn considered either hardened lava or the basic material of extinct volcanoes. This assumption has later been refuted; the Kimberlite rock has many large spaces thick with kimberlitic. Kimberlite is not the parent rock of diamonds but rather the host rock. The question of a diamond’s formation remains unsolved.
In the first part of the 20th century it was a common belief that diamonds were formed in the eclogite rock of the kimberlitic pipes. The truth is that sometimes diamonds are found in the eclogite rock but they are never formed there.

Even the most recent theories about the diamond’s formation process are not conclusive – although it is certain that diamonds have been created in the earth depth, deeper than any other gemstones.
Some believe it is possible that fluids enriched with carbon monoxide, nickel, iron and copper are very

Hope you are enriched,

Ronit

Check it out!

A new article was just published about me and my online loose diamonds shop in “Diamond-World”…..What do you think?

Love,

Ronit

Market demand for diamonds during October, as the industry was heading into the all-important Christmas holiday selling season, was enough to keep polished diamond prices in the trading centers from sagging, but it wasn’t strong enough to push diamond prices higher.

Polished diamond prices showed almost no movement during October, the final month for diamond shipments into the U.S. market for Christmas consumption, according to the IDEX Online Polished Diamond Price Index. The Index had its narrowest trading range in months – it moved less than a hundred basis points between the high point and the low point during October – shown as an Index of 108 on the IDEX Online Polished Diamond Price Index.

There was a slight flurry of trading activity just after the middle of the month, and it appeared that prices might move higher. But by the end of the month, polished diamond trading activity settled back to the level of the past several months.

Because of weak demand and sluggish polished diamond trading activity, most of the market requirements are being met from existing gemstone inventories in the diamond trading centers. As a result, polished diamond prices have remained in a very narrow trading range since this Spring – some would say that prices are stuck in a rut – with no immediate sign that the market is headed higher . . . or lower. We note, however, that there have been some signs of price strength in certain larger higher quality size stones. It is not clear if these prices are sustainable, or just the result of internal pricing adjustments within certain trading bourses.

For further information, please see:
http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=33164

Love,
Ronit