Diamonds

 DIAMONDS


This is a pretty big subject simply because the value of the stones is so high that extreme care is used when they are purchased.


Diamonds are the hardest jewelry stone available. Strangely though, they are very easy to break. People confuse the hardness of a mineral with toughness.  Hardness means simply that there are materials that will scratch the subject material and some that will not be scratched by it. You can crush a diamond easily just by giving it a pound with a hammer (steel is in the general 5 to 5.5 hardness range), but it cannot be scratched by any other mineral.

  

Originally there was really no technology to cut diamonds so only rough crystals were used.  The crystals are very much like two pyramids joined together at the bases.  They were fairly attractive just as they were, though not necessarily very shiny.  Broken pieces of them were actually useful to provide sparkle as then there were sparkly broken sides.


The molecules of diamonds are in a very regular order grouped in squares and once layers are added they become regular cubes (not the crystal, but the molecular structure).


In the end, this was what made it possible to cut the stones.  The GRAIN of the material is so straight and orderly that they have a very distinct grain like wood.  You may know that striking wood on the end of the grain allows it to split very easily and fairly. 

straight.


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There is a common set of criteria that determines the value of diamonds.  They are four "C"s.  Cut...Color... Clarity ...and Carat weight. There is another characteristic at work as well but unfortunately, I cannot think of a "C" to use for a title.  That characteristic is Provenance.  Trust me, If Queen Elizabeth I owned the diamond you want to buy, it is going to cost you!

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