What is a Diamond?

Diamonds have their name from the Greek word “Adamas”-, meaning the invincible. No material made from nature is as hard as the diamond, which means it has an amazing ability to reflect light. The most important thing to know about the diamond is the 4 Cs, which determine a diamond’s quality – Colour, Carat, Cut and Clarity. Read along if you want to know more about diamonds!

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Colour

The diamond’s colour is determined by which elements and temperatures affect it under its creation. The quality of a diamond’s colour is assessed from the absence of colour and is given a letter from D-Z where D is colourless, and Z is a light yellow. Colourless/white diamonds are preferred since they’re rarer than black, light yellow or light brown diamonds. However, if the colour is a bright yellow, blue, green, pink or red, it’s categorised as ‘fancy coloured’ – such diamonds are extremely rare and valuable.

Cut

The diamond’s cut is crucial for the amount of light it reflects, and thus how much it sparkles. The quality of the diamond’s cut is categorised on a scale with 5 steps – poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent. Diamonds of high quality have well-proportioned facets and are not cut too ‘deep’ or too ‘low’.

Clarity

The diamond’s clarity describes its purity. Just like other gemstones, diamonds often have small inclusions. It shows up as tiny cracks or impurities such as carbon inside the diamond. These are completely natural and occur under the creation of the diamond. Actually, you would often need to look at the diamond with a microscope under a lot of enlargements, before the inclusions are visible. When clarity is decided, it’s assessed to which extent the diamond has inclusions. Diamonds of high quality have no or very few inclusions that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Carat

The diamond is weighed in the unit, carat. This unit is not to be confused with karat, which is used to describe the purity of gold. When speaking about the diamond’s weight in carats, you’re speaking about its size. A 1-carat diamond weighs 0,2 grams. Diamonds with a high carat, or large diamonds, are rarer than the smaller ones. The value of a diamond rises exponentially with its size.

Dispersion

When light hits the diamond, it’s thrown around in the facets. Some rays of light split up while others are absorbed, which makes our eyes experience the light reflection in the beautiful rainbow colours. This effect is called dispersion and the rainbow colours are also referred to as the diamond’s “fire”.

What is a brilliant cut?

The round brilliant cut was invented in 1919 and is now the most applied cut to diamonds since it gives the opportunity for maximum light reflection. It consists of 58 carefully proportioned facets.

April's birthstone

The diamond is April’s birthstone. April’s alternative birthstone is Rock Crystal. Carrying your birthstone is said to bring good luck. You can carry your own birthstone as a good luck amulet, or your loved ones’ birthstone as a symbol of love.

The traditional choice for engagements

The diamond is the traditional gemstone for engagement rings. The tradition reportedly began in the year 1477, when Duke Maximillian of Austria gifted his lover, Marie of Bourgogne, a diamond ring. However, it wasn’t until after the 2nd World War that the tradition truly became widespread by the British diamond company, De Beers with their slogan “A Diamond is Forever”.

Diamond's spiritual symbolism

The diamond is a gemstone for strength, invincibility and wealth. The diamond is also a classic symbol of love. The combination of strength and love makes it the obvious choice of gemstone for relationships.

Legend

In ancient Greece, it was believed that diamonds were the tears of the gods or splinters from fallen stars. It was said that the tips of Cupid’s arrows were set with diamonds and had magical powers. The Greek philosopher, Plato, described diamonds as living beings, containing heavenly spirits. In other cultures, the diamond was used as a stone of truth. By placing the diamond in front of a person, it would sparkle when the truth was told, and cloud up when faced with lies.

Gemology

Diamonds consist of carbon and are formed more than 150 kilometres underneath the Earth’s surface as a result of extremely high temperatures and pressure. Hereafter, the diamonds are brought closer to the Earth’s crust through crater tubes. Today, diamonds are mainly extracted and mined in South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Russia, and Canada. When you measure a gemstone’s hardness, Moh’s Hardness Scale is used. The scale goes from 1-10, where 10 is the hardest – here, you will also find the diamond. The hardest gemstone.