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Jewelry Information 

What determines the price of a diamond?

A diamond's value is determined by its cut, clarity, color, and carat weight. Cut represents 50% of the price of a diamond. A fully cut diamond has 57 or 58 facets (cuts). Think of facets as mirrors. If the facets are positioned properly, light enters the diamond, bounces across the various facets, and eventually leaves at the viewer's eye. If a single facet is not positioned properly, light leaks out of the diamond, never reflecting fire, sparkle, or brilliance, and never reaching its full optical potential.

Carat:

 Diamonds are weighed in carats with one carat weighing about the same as a paper clip, or 0.2 grams. Just as a dollar is divided into 100 pennies, a carat is divided into 100 points which means that a diamond of 50 points weighs 0.50 carats. But two diamonds of equal weight can have very different values depending on their clarity, color, and cut. Carat weight is the most intuitive of the 4Cs – you expect a larger diamond to be worth more.

   Clarity:

 Because they are created deep within the earth, most diamonds contain unique birthmarks called inclusions (internal) and blemishes (external). Diamonds without these clarity characteristics are rare – and rarity translates to higher cost when purchasing diamonds diamonds are given a clarity grade that ranges from Flawless to Included (I3).

Color:

Colorless diamonds are extremely rare and very valuable - most are nearly colorless with yellow or brown tints. The GIA Diamond Grading System uses letters to represent colors, beginning with D (colorless) and ending at Z (light yellow or brown). Many of these color distinctions are so subtle that they are invisible to the untrained eye but these slight color differences make a big difference in price.

Cut:

While diamonds come in many different shapes, including round brilliants, hearts, pears , and marquises, cut has to do with proportion and the arrangement of facets. The sheer beauty of a diamond depends on cut more than anything else, using light to create brilliance, sparkle, and flashes of fire. The GIA Cut Scale ranges from Excellent to Poor. GIA provides a cut quality grade for standard round brilliant diamonds that fall in the D-to-Z color range.

Diamonds prices are governed by international diamond trade prices (like international gold or coffee prices) based on demand and supply. Ultimately, the reason that diamonds are luxury goods and hence expensive is that their supply is limited to what is found in nature. Only 15% of all diamonds that are mined are suitable for use in jewellery, the rest are used in industry for cutting tools, for semiconductors,.. etc. On average 50% of the rough diamond is lost when cutting a polished gem hence, diamond prices increase rapidly with carat weight.

Diamonds are minerals made of almost pure crystallized carbon (99.95%). They are formed millions of years earlier at depths greater than 75 miles below the earths surface. Here the necessary temperature and pressure are present to create this unique gemstone.

SOURCES

Diamonds have been found on all continents. India was once a chief source. The rich fields of Brazil were discovered in the 1700s. In the 19th century even richer diamond fields were found in South Africa. Most of the worlds diamonds are mined in African countries. South Africa is the major source of gem-quality diamonds. Congo, Ghana, Namibia (South-West Africa), and Angola are other major suppliers.

 The Birth of a Diamond

The Birth of a diamond starts in the Earths upper mantle, somewhere between 70 and 120 kilometers beneath the Earths crust. The rocks there are kept at such an incredibly high pressure that even though temperatures far exceed their melting points, almost all of the rocks exist in a solid state. Diamonds are completely made of Carbon atoms (Chemical Composition - C) crystallized in a cubic (isometric) arrangement. That just means that diamonds extremely pure by nature, in fact, Diamonds are the only gems known to man that are made of a single element.

On what hand do you wear an engagement ring?

It depends on beliefs, what part of the world, where you grew up, well actually what era you grew up. before now they wore the engagement ring on the middle finger of the left hand.. and then when married they put in on the ring finger along with the wedding ring. But in some countries they wear it on the right hand middle finger, in the US it goes on your left hand middle finger .

What's the best way to clean a diamond ? 

To clean your diamond, prepare a bowl of warm water and add a gentle dish soap. Stir the water and soap until it becomes sudsy. Soak the piece for about five minutes. Then, brush it with a soft bristled toothbrush to get the dirt off. After you have scrubbed the piece, rinse it with clean water and let it dry on a paper towel.

In order to avoid damage to your diamond and to prevent your diamond from becoming excessively dirty, avoid wearing your diamond when cooking, doing yard work and performing other harsh activities. 

Another option is to buy a Sonic Jewelry cleaner, it's a small machine that you fill with water along with a soap solution, the machine vibrates at high speeds and vibrates any grime/dirt off of your jewelry- Not recommended on  pearls!

Can a yellow gold ring be converted to white gold? 

NO, once it is yellow...you CANNOT change it to white.

• Yellow gold is made by mixing pure gold with alloys such as copper and zinc.
• Rose or pink gold is made using a mix of pure gold with alloy metals including copper. The copper provides the rose-reddish color.
• White gold is an alloy of gold and some white metals such as nickel and palladium.

The only way you can change the color of your ring is to have it plated.

How do you clean gold jewelry 14K and 18K ?

The best way to clean them is with steam. other cleansers and polishes can leave a film. There is a way to do it yourself, without the help of a specific jewelry cleaner. Boil some water on the stove and place a veggie stemer on top and place your jewelry in the steamer and let it steam for about 20 minutes.


That's ok for Diamonds, Rubies and Sapphires but really BAD for emeralds, pearls, opals and a number of other stones. They might discolor, loose oil (emeralds), crack or simply fall off (glued pearls). The safest way for delicate stones is to use a tooth brush and soap and lukewarm water. Be careful about going from hot to cold water as the stone may fracture internally (such as Tanzanite).

What's the difference between a carat and a karat? 

When shopping for jewelry, it's not unusual to start wondering what the difference is between a karat and a carat. However, with a little research it's not hard to understand the differences between these two measurements.

A karat is a measurement used to measure the purity of gold, with 24 karat being the purest. The measurement gauges how much gold vs. how much alloy is in the piece of jewelry. All jewelry that is real gold will have its karat weight stamped somewhere on the jewelry. In rings it is usually stamped on the inside of the band and on bracelets and necklaces it's usually stamped somewhere on the clasp.

The word carat originates from the carob bean, which was once used to measure fine gemstones. A carat is a measurement that is used to measure the weight of a diamond. One carat equals 200 milligrams or 0.2 grams.

What is my birthstone?

There are several different birthstones. Following is a list of some birthstones.

January: Garnet,

February: Amethyst,

March: Aquamarine/Bloodstone,

April: Diamond,

May: Emerald,

June: Alexandrite/Monnstone/Pearl,

July: Ruby,

August: Peridot/Sardonyx,

Septembe: Sapphires,

October: Pink Tourmalin/Opal,

November: Topaz/Citrine,

December: Blue Zircon/Turquoise

What is te difference between Diamonds and Cubic Zirconia (CZ)?

 Diamonds are an allotrope (structurally different forms of the same element) of carbon, diamonds are made up of carbon atoms that are arranged in a specific manner. Though they are found naturally (in mines), man-made diamonds are also available. Cultured diamonds are a type of synthetic diamonds that are produced under extremely high temperature and pressure conditions.

The constituent material of cubic zirconia is totally different from diamonds. Cubic zirconia, is made from zirconium dioxide and is in the form of cubic crystalline.

Hardness: Diamonds, whether natural or man-made, are the hardest substance found on the Earth. According to Moh's scale of mineral hardness, diamonds are rated 10 with their absolute hardness value being 1600.

The hardness of cubic zirconia according to Moh's scale is between 8.5, with the absolute hardness value between 200 to 400. It is stated that diamonds are about 500 times harder than cubic zirconia.

Shape and Color: Natural diamonds are always associated with some irregularities in the structure, as well as impurities, which impart color. A pure natural diamond is colorless and found rarely. In comparison to this, synthetic diamonds are flawless, rather structural imperfections are imparted in order to simulate natural diamonds. Synthesizing colored diamonds are far cheaper than producing colorless diamonds, as colored diamonds take less time to grow.

In case of cubic zirconia, structural perfections can be made during the manufacturing process. It can be made colorless, so that it is similar to pure diamonds. Cubic zirconia with varied colors are also available in the market.

Weight: Diamonds are light-weight as compared to cubic zirconia. The weight of cubic zirconia is about 1.75 times than that of diamonds. To understand better one-carat diamond; cubic zirconia of the same size will weigh 1.75 carats.

Brightness: Diamonds are more bright in comparison to cubic zirconia. It is due to the fact that the refractive index of diamond is 2.41, whereas that of cubic zirconia is 2.17. Cubic zirconia is also shown to have more flashes of color, as its dispersive power (0.060) is higher than that of diamonds (0.044).

Diamonds also differ from cubic zirconias in the cleavage property; diamonds have cleavage planes and are found to be more brittle in particular orientations.

How do I find my bracelet size?

The best way to size yourself for a bracelet is to take a string and wrap it around your wrist, then measure the string with a ruler. That will give you the mesurement of your wrist. We recommend you like most companies a bracelet to be a 1/2 to 1 inch larger than your wrist, so for instance, if your wrist measures 6.5" around, then a 7.0" or 7.5" bracelet is good for you, depending of how tight you want your bracelet.

Some metals facts you might not know:

Gold and platinum are alloyed with less costly metals when making the karat quality used for jewelry.  Most platinum jewlery is 95 to 90 percent platinum with the balance an alloy.  Some new platinum products are 50% platinum and 50% less costly metal although some is alloyed with palladium which is hardly "cheap", but less costly than gold or platinum.
Gold is alloyed with many different metals, all of which cost way less than gold.  All alloys are substantially lighter, a lower specific gravity, than pure gold or pure platinum.

When we hear that 18 karat gold is 75% gold we rarely give it a second thought.  Or if we hear of 50% platinum being made of 1/2 platinum and 1/2 another metal we don''t think a lot about it.

Here''s the strange part.  Metals are alloyed by WEIGHT, not by VOLUME.  The alloys for gold and platinum are MUCH lighter than gold or platinum.  It takes quite a bit more volume of alloy metal to mix in to make any karat of gold or platinum than one might think.

By volume, 14kt gold, is quite a bit less than 50% gold content.  By volume, 50% platinum is far less than 1/2 platinum and 1/2 alloy.

It is the classic situation of mixing feathers with lead to get a 50-50 ratio of content.  A few drops a lead and a container full of feathers makes 50% of each by weight, but the composite lead/feathers when examined buy VOLUME is nearly all feathers with just a spot of lead mixed in.

Platinum and gold when pure don''t tarnish.  It is always the alloy that tarnishes anyway.  That'' s why 14kt gets a patina faster than 18kt.  The amount of alloy content that can tarnish is a lot higher in 14k than 18k.  The new platinum/palladium mix may not tarnish because pure platinum and pure palladium don''t tarnish.  I suppose when mxed, they still will not oxidize.

Anyway, food for thought.  I always loved making karat gold when I did shop work many years ago.  Glowing, flowing metals, the hissing of the torch, the smell of the burning and the bright metal when it finally cooled.  When you see the amount of alloy in a 14kt gold unmelted pre-mix, you''d really be surprised.

David S. Atlas

GG(GIA), ASG, Sr. Mbr. NAJA

www.datlas.com
www.datlasestates.com
www.dglaservices.com

Best time of the year to buy a Diamond?

October thru Valentine's Day diamond Vendors have their largest inventories. Right now, if you don't find a diamond you are interested in, wait until January. Vendor's have been very busy during the time leading up to Christmas. Inventories are not anything near what they were the first of December.

You might find some "sale" pricing between Christmas and New Year's. All businesses need to reduce inventory for tax purposes. Generally speaking tho, the best time to buy is as soon as you can afford to. Diamond prices continue to rise.