This is the first of a three part series all about diamonds and how to understand the value and price of diamonds.

It is important to know something about diamonds before you buy any. It is easy to buy a diamond that is of poor quality for a high price so the more you understand about diamonds the better your chances of getting a good deal are.

Diamonds are not just a set price, There are many types and qualities and many dealers and suppliers. Picking the right one can make a difference of thousands of dollars but you do need to know what you are looking for and when dealing with a dealer or jeweler, what you are talking about and understand what ‘they’ are talking about also.

Diamonds, like many other substances such as talc, graphite, gypsum etc, is a carbon material. One of the major differences is the hardness of the substance. The diamond is the hardest and the way this is determined is how the atoms are arranged in the carbon. Diamonds are made under intense pressure deep within the earth and most of the diamonds you will see around were made anywhere from one to three billion years ago.

To get 5 grams of diamond generally requires mining or sorting through about 1 million grams of material but only 20% of these are suitable for jewelry. The rest are used in industry for cutting other material or other diamonds and for watches as, for all intents and purposes, cannot wear out.

Diamonds are thought to be white but in fact can be a range of colors and these are usually called Fancies or fancy diamonds.

Watch out for the next article in the series, which will be posted soon! There we will go into some depth on some of the more important aspects of diamonds and how to choose them!

Part 1 of a 3 part series

This entry was posted on Monday, October 9th, 2006 at 9:38 pm.