FREE ESSAY ON DIAMONDS

DIAMONDS

Introduction
For centuries, cultures have regarded diamonds as beautiful, magical, mysterious, and
powerful. These precious stones have been sought after, fought over, and worshiped.
Diamonds are associated with wealth, achievement, status, and love. The meaning and
rarity of diamonds brings about much to consider when making a purchase. The rough
gemstones must first be mined and cut. Once cut, diamonds are appraised to determine
their value. Some of them undergo treatments to augment their appearance. Diamonds
progress through these processes to be transformed into beautiful valuable pieces of
personal adornment.
Production
Mining
Diamond is a crystallized form of carbon that grows deep in the earth, under immense
pressure and heat. This form of carbon crystal is the hardest natural substance known to
humans. Diamonds are brought to the surface by volcanic eruption. These types of
eruptions are referred to as pipe mines because they resemble pipes in the ground with
molten minerals moving through them. The pipe's surface layer is a clay-like rock known
as yellow ground for its color. Under the yellow ground is a layer of a mineral referred
to as kimberlite. Both layers serve as matrices for diamonds. This mining process
originated in India over 4,000 years ago, and the modern mining industry began with
discoveries in South Africa in the late 19th century. Today, the top seven diamond
producing countries, accounting for 80 percent of the world's rough diamond supply, are
Botswana, Russia, South Africa, Angola, Namibia, Australia and Zaire. (Levinson 234) 
A good deal of technology is used in mining diamonds. The matrix is removed by blasting
and by automatic block carving machines. The rock is first broken up into smaller pieces,
then the waste is removed, and the concentrate with the gemstones is left behind. The
extraction of the diamond from the concentrate was formerly done by hand. Extraction from
the matrix is now done by putting the concentrate on a vibrating belt greased with fatty
substances that are adhesive to diamonds. Further separation is done by optical selection
with the use of photocells and x-ray technologies. On average one ton of diamond ore
yields half a carat of diamond (one or more diamonds adding up to less than the volume of
a pencil eraser). (Levinson 246)
Cutting
Once the rough gemstones are extracted, they must be evaluated. The evaluation determines
whether the diamonds are worth cutting for use in jewelry. Only about 20 percent of
diamonds mined are used for adornment purposes. The rest of them are ground up and used
for grinding wheels, glasscutters, milling cutters, and scientific purposes. The diamonds
that are worth cutting are cut in a myriad of styles and shapes. The brilliant cut is the
most common, as shown in figure one.
Fig. 1. Brilliant cut diamond and ideal proportions; rpt. in GIA.
There are several steps to cutting and polishing a diamond. The laps (cutting wheels)
used in the process are all coated with diamond because the only material hard enough to
cut diamond is another diamond. First, the rough diamond is cleaved. This means that the
gemstone is sawn to prepare it for initial shaping. Once cleaved, the gem goes through
the bruting process where it is given a shape with a girdle, crown, and pavilion. The
final facets are then put on the gemstone and it is polished. The diamond is then ready
for appraisal. (Levinson 238) 
Characteristics 
It is important to understand how the quality of a diamond is determined, and why some
diamonds are more rare and valuable than others are. Value depends on quality, and the
quality of a diamond depends on four characteristics called the 4Cs: Cut, Color, Clarity,
and Carat weight. (GIA) What do these terms mean when it comes to buying a diamond, and
is one C more important than another is? To make it simple, the larger the diamond, the
rarer it is (carat weight); the purer the diamond, the more valuable it is (clarity); the
less color in a diamond, the more beautiful; and the more precise the cut of the diamond,
the more brilliant it is. The combination of these individual factors makes up the
diamond's overall quality and determines its beauty.
Cut
Once the diamonds are cut, they must be appraised to determine their characteristics and
value. Cut and shape are often confused. Shape is only part of the cut. Shape is the form
created by the stone when looking upon it from a top view. Common shapes for diamonds to
be cut are round, pear, emerald, heart, oval, and marquise. These shapes are pictured in
figure two. The shape of the diamond does not affect its value. 
Fig. 2. Common shapes for cut diamonds; rpt. in GIA.
Most round diamonds are cut to have 58 facets. It is the work of a master cutter that
allows a diamond to be cut in such a way as to permit the maximum amount of light to be
reflected through a diamond. This creates a good brilliance or sparkle. (GIA) 
There are several cuts of diamonds. The one with the greatest value is the ideal cut. The
ideal cut diamond describes a round brilliant diamond that has been cut to exact
mathematically derived proportions. Its symmetry produces great luster and beauty. When a
diamond is cut to the ideal proportions all of the light entering from the top of the
gemstone in any direction is reflected back through the top and is dispersed into a
display of colors. The other cuts are deep and shallow cuts. In the deep cut light is
lost through the sides of the diamond because the diamond is too deep, the result is a
dark spot in the center. A shallow cut loses light through the bottom of the gemstone
because it is too flat; the result is a gray ring inside the table edge. (GIA) These
diamond cuts are illustrated in figure three. 
Ideal Deep Shallow
Fig. 3. The different proportions of cut diamonds and their light refraction; rpt. in
AGS.
The American Gem Society (AGS) was the first national organization to develop and use a
system for determining how well a diamond is cut based against the ideal proportions. The
cut grade system uses a scale ranging from zero, being ideal, to ten, being poor. (AGS)
Color
Diamonds were formed under intense heat and pressure, and traces of other elements may
have been incorporated into their atomic structure accounting for the variances in their
color. (Schumann) Diamonds generally range from a shade of yellow or brown to colorless.
There are diamonds of other colors such as pink, red, green, blue, orange, and black.
These exceptions are rare and sometimes induced by treatments. Diamonds are graded by
their color, the AGS and the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) developed
color-grading scales. The scales and some sample stones are pictured in figure four.
Colorless and fancy yellow diamonds are considered the most valuable. The differences in
color grade are subtle, only a trained professional can properly determine the color
grade. (GIA) 
GIA - D E F 
G H I J 
K L M 
N O P Q R 
S T U V W X Y Z 

AGS -0 .5 1.0
Colorless
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Near Colorless 3.5 4.0 4.5
Faint Yellow 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 
Very Light Yellow 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10
Light Yellow 
Fancy Yellow
Fig. 4. The AGS and the GIA color grading scales with samples; rpt. in GIA.
Clarity
Diamonds, more than any other gemstone, have the capability of producing the maximum
amount of brilliancy. Clarity is an indication of a diamond's purity. All diamonds,
except the most rare, have tiny traces of minerals, gases, or other elements that were
trapped inside during the crystallization process. These inclusions may look like tiny
crystals, clouds, or feathers. A diamond that is free of interior inclusions and exterior
blemishes (commonly called flaws) is of the highest quality. The absence of flaws in a
diamond allows for no interference with light, creating a fiery gemstone. Less than one
percent of all diamonds ever found have had no inclusions and can be called flawless or
internally flawless. (GIA)
To determine a diamond's clarity a professional with a trained eye uses a 10x-power
binocular microscope. There are two systems for clarity grading developed by the AGS and
the GIA; the GIA system is illustrated in figure five. 
Fig. 5. The GIA clarity grading scale with samples and explanation; rpt. in GIA.
Carat Weight
A carat is a unit of measurement used to describe the weight of diamonds. 
One carat is divided into 100 points, so that a diamond of 75 points weighs .75 
carats. There are five carats to one gram. Size is the most obvious factor in 
determining the value of a diamond, but two diamonds of equal size can have 
unequal values depending on their other qualities. Diamonds of high quality can 
be found in all sizes, although there may be temporary shortages in certain sizes 
and qualities due to supply, demand, and availability of rough. (Schumann) 
Treatments and Synthetics
Diamonds are exposed to several treatments to enhance their quality. One treatment is
laser drilling, commonly used in the clarity enhancement of diamonds. A focused laser
beam is used to drill a narrow channel from the surface to dark inclusions, which may
then be acid bleached. Another treatment is artificial irradiation, which has attained
some importance due to the coloring effect produced when the stone is bombarded with
particles of atomic size. Irradiation produces a green color, which can be further
altered to fancy yellow, brown, orange, and rare pink by subsequent heating under
controlled conditions. (EGL) 
One of the most controversial gemstone treatments to appear in the last decade is the
filling of surface reaching breaks in faceted diamonds. The filling of diamonds has
proven to enhance diamond clarity by two grades. (Kammerling 145) The diamonds are first
cleaned, then filled with a molten glass at high temperatures, cooled, and cleaned again
to remove glass from the stones' surfaces.
Claims have been made concerning the stability and durability of various products. It is
virtually impossible to determine exactly how many treated stones are in the marketplace.
Recent findings by gemologists indicated that the filling material used in at least one
of the treatment processes might decompose when exposed to an ultraviolet lamp or
ultrasonic cleaning. The GIA has learned that, while ultrasonic cleaning for a brief
period may not damage at least some fillings, extended exposure to this process may cause
some shattering of, or other damage to, the filler. High temperature torches used in
various jewelry repair procedures may also have adverse affects on treated gemstones.
Because of industry concerns about disclosure and detection, it has been suggested that
all such stones be laser-inscribed with initials to disclose the treatment. (EGL) 
Synthetic diamonds are also on the market. Some of the synthetics have the same exact
properties as natural diamond. In 1990, scientists at the General Electric Research and
Development Center (GERDC) in New York, announced the production of a new isotopically
pure carbon-12 synthetic diamond. Carbon, in nature, consists of a mixture of carbon
atoms that have different masses called isotopes. Natural diamond has carbon atom
isotopes twelve and thirteen, as do the GERDC synthetics. (EGL) 
Conclusion
Two additional C's should be mentioned. One of the most important for the consumer is the
C in cost. The most obvious of the 4C's is the carat weight or the size of the stone,
which is one of the bigger factors in determining value of a diamond. The combination of
all four characteristics is the final determining cost factor. There are many different
combinations of size, color, clarity and proportioning that will affect the final value.
(DiNola)
Finally, there is the last C confidence, confidence in your jeweler. When you are ready
to choose your diamond, see a reliable jeweler, one who is trained and will be happy to
explain the four C's to you. He or she will tell you the difference between various
qualities of diamonds and how these differences affect the price. Do not expect to find
any bargains in diamonds, quality has its price. An established jeweler prizes his good
reputation and will help you choose the best quality diamond. He or she knows you are
looking for quality when you are making one of your most important purchases. (DiNola)