Untitled Document

Diamonds symbolise love, signify wealth and are a beautiful adornment. Their extraordinary hardness, lustrous shine and brilliant fire set them apart from all other gemstones. Like a woman, no two diamonds are the same. Pure white or colourless diamond is the most popular but diamonds also occur in many other colours such as yellow, pink, brown, green, orange, red, blue and black. Fancy coloured diamonds are rare, and depending on the rarity of the colour, can be extremely expensive. Diamonds are also cut into many different and unusual shapes, such as half moons, horses heads and stars. Some of the most enduring and popular shapes are shown below.

CUT

Round Brilliant

The majority of polished diamonds we see today, although appearing to most people as colourless, in fact exhibit a faint tint of yellow. Pure white diamonds with no trace of colour at all (D colour) are extremely rare, and as such, are difficult to obtain and are very highly valued. The progression of colour in diamond presents us with a range of tints from the completely colourless to a definite yellowish tint. This gradation is very subtle and is not easily distinguished by the untrained eye, even more so once the stone has been set.

You may have noticed that the top colour for diamond is a 'D' and not an 'A' which might seem a little strange. Names for certain colour grades started to evolve in the late 19th Century and when a diamond mine gained a reputation for producing stones of a particular colour, the name of that mine was given to that colour. Naturally this system was unsatisfactory because a mine will produce a whole range of different coloured diamonds. Thus the current grading system using letters was introduced. The letter 'A' was deliberately not chosen to represent the top colour as it had been misused by traders in the past who had 'upgraded' their diamonds in comparison to rival traders', by using A+, AA and AAA.

CLARITY

The clarity or purity of a diamond refers to a stone's freedom from inclusions or imperfections. These are natural characteristics within the stone and the number, size, position and brightness of the inclusions will determine the clarity grade. Clarity is graded on a scale ranging from 'flawless' to 'imperfect' as determined by an experienced grader using 10X magnification.

FL Flawless
IF Internally flawless, insignificant blemishes.
VVS1 & VVS2
Very very slightly included.- Tiny
inclusions, extremely difficult to
see under 10x magnification.

FL/IF

VVS1

VVS2

VS1 & VS2
Very slightly included.- Minor
inclusions, quite difficult to see under 10x magnification.
SI1 & SI2
Slightly included.- Inclusions noticeable
under 10x magnification.

I1 - I3
Included stones.- Inclusions noticeable
to the naked eye.- In I3, they may threaten a stone's durability.

CARAT

Diamonds are sold by weight or 'carats'. One carat = 1/5g. There are also 100 points in a carat. Therefore a quarter carat diamond is also a 25 pointer or 0.25ct. Depending on how well a stone has been cut or polished, there can be a variation of the weight of the stone to the diameter. Some stones can be bottom heavy or 'lumpy' where a disproportionate amount ot the weight is on the underside (pavilion) and the stone looks small for its weight (and price). Some stones can be shallow and look large for their weight but a shallow stone will leak light through the pavilion and lose some of its brilliance. Below is a guide to the approximate carat weight to stone diameter ratio for some of the most popular shapes .

Round Brilliant		Princess Cut		Emerald Cut		Oval		Pearshape		Marquise
Ct. Wt.	Diam mm	Ct. Wt.	Diam mm	Ct. Wt.	Length mm	Ct. Wt.	Length mm	Ct. Wt.	Length mm	Ct. Wt.	Length mm
0.01	1.3	0.01	1.0	0.01	1.5	0.01	2.0	0.01	2.0	0.01	2.5
0.05	2.4	0.04	2.0	0.06	3.0	0.05	3.0	0.06	3.5	0.06	4.0
0.10	3.0	0.08	2.5	0.10	3.5	0.11	4.0	0.12	4.5	0.11	5.0
0.15	3.4	0.14	3.0	0.14	4.0	0.16	4.5	0.22	5.5	0.15	5.5
0.20	3.8	0.22	3.5	0.20	4.5	0.22	5.0	0.29	6.0	0.19	6.0
0.25	4.2	0.33	4.0	0.28	5.0	0.29	5.5	0.36	6.5	0.24	6.5
0.33	4.5	0.47	4.5	0.37	5.5	0.47	6.5	0.56	7.5	0.30	7.0
0.40	4.8	0.65	5.0	0.48	6.0	0.73	7.5	0.81	8.5	0.54	8.5
0.50	5.2	0.87	5.5	0.76	7.0	1.00	8.4	1.00	9.1	0.75	9.5
0.75	5.9	1.12	6.0	1.00	7.7	1.26	9.0	1.32	10.0	1.02	10.5
1.00	6.5	1.43	6.5	1.37	8.5	1.72	10.0	1.53	10.5	1.52	12.0
1.50	7.5	1.78	7.0	1.62	9.0	1.99	10.5	1.76	11.0	1.93	13.0
2.00	8.2	2.19	7.5	2.23	10.0	2.29	11.0	2.01	11.5	2.41	14.0

CERTIFICATED DIAMONDS

Unlike gold, silver or platinum, diamonds do not carry a hallmark. The assessment of the quality of a diamond is usually down to the knowledge and integrity of the supplier, however when it comes to buying larger or better quality stones, a diamond that has been certificated by an independent laboratory is a guarantee of the quality and characteristics of the diamond you choose. A diamond certificate will provide information such as the shape, carat weight, clarity and colour and whether the stone is a natural untreated diamond. The symmetry of the cut and the quality of the polished finish will be given and whether the diamond fluoresces under long wave UV light. A certificate is not a declaration of value.

When buying a certificated diamond, the report should come from a reputable, internationally recognised diamond grading laboratory. Rock Chic recommends GIA (Gemmological Institute of America) and HRD (Laboratory Hoge Raad voor Diamant) certified stones. These laboratories are totally independent as they are not involved in the buying, selling or valuation of diamonds.

A diamond certificate bears a unique number which is also laser inscribed onto the girdle of the diamond. This cannot be seen by the naked eye but ensures that the stone can be matched to its certificate.

When buying a certificated stone it is always a good idea to have a second opinion from an experienced professional as it is always possible that the diamond may have sustained damage in the form of a scratch, chip or crack subsequent to certification, and to the untrained eye, this would be difficult to spot.

HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR DIAMONDS

Treat them gently. Diamond may be the hardest mineral on earth and very durable, but diamonds can be cracked or chipped by a hard blow.

Diamonds are easily dulled by soap, moisturiser and skin oils. Use a diamond jewellery cleaner or mild fairy liquid solution to bring your diamond back to its former brilliance. Always rinse and and gently pat dry.

Diamonds will scratch each other as well as other jewellery. Keep each piece of diamond jewellery separately in a lined or padded jewellery box.

CONFLICT DIAMONDS

An important issue facing the diamond and fine jewellery sectors today is that of 'conflict diamonds'. These are diamonds sold by rebel forces to fund military campaigns, often to undermine or overthrow legitimate governments. At its peak, the trade in conflict diamonds was estimated to be less than 4% of annual rough diamond production, however in order to prevent future conflicts and human rights abuses being funded in this way, the 'Kimberley Process' was established.

The Kimberley Process is an international governmental certification scheme in which 40 governments currently participate. The scheme requires strict import/export regimes on rough diamonds and came into operation on the 1st January 2003. The Kimberley Process extends only to rough diamonds however in support of the UN and participating governments, the World Diamond Council announced a system of self-regulation under which all diamonds sold are covered by a warranty given by the supplier. Rock Chic therefore requires all its suppliers to ensure that all diamonds supplied comply with the Kimberley Process and to provide the following warranty:

'The diamonds herein invoiced have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with United Nations resolutions. The seller hereby guarantees that these diamonds are conflict free, based on personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by the supplier of these diamonds.'

The Rock Chic diamond inventory is guaranteed conflict free as the company was established after the introduction of the Kimberly Process and Rock Chic does not deal in 'old' diamonds.