DIAMONDS & GEMSTONES

    THE PRECIOUS GEMSTONE DIAMOND

Diamond, the most famed and fabled of all gemstones, is very unique in many ways. Renowned for being the hardest substance on earth, its sparkling fire, durability, and rarity make Diamond the most prized of all gems. Diamonds have been known to mankind and used as decorative items since ancient times; some of the earliest references can be traced to India. No gemstone contains as much allure and interest as does Diamond.

Most Diamonds used as gemstones are colorless or very faintly colored. However, colored Diamonds, known as "fancy", can be extremely rare and valuable, and the most valuable gemstones ever known have been fancy Diamonds..

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The 4 Cs of DIAMOND CLASSIFICATION

Color

Diamonds in the D-to-Z color range are valued by how closely they approach colorlessness – the less color, the higher their value.

Clarity

The absence of inclusions and blemishes makes a diamond rare and affects value.

Cut

The sparkle and brilliance of a diamond depends more on its cut than anything else.

Carat Weight

Diamonds and gemstones are weighed in metric carats: one carat is equal to 0.2 grams, about the weight of a paperclip.

GEMSTONES

 

SAPPHIRE

Sapphire is a typically blue gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide. Trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium can give corundum respectively blue, yellow, purple, orange, or green color.

 

emerald

Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale. Most emeralds are highly included, so their toughness (resistance to breakage) is classified as generally poor.

 

Smoky quartz

Smoky quartz is a grey, translucent variety of quartz. It ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to a brownish-gray crystal that is almost opaque. Some can also be black. Like other quartz gems, it is a silicon dioxide crystal. The smoky colour results from free silicon, formed from the silicon dioxide by natural irradiation.

 

ruby

A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires.

Diamonds

and Gemstones Book!

Complete Information Guide to Rocks, Minerals and Gemstones.

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