Diamonds are a girls best friend…

Hello April! A new month means it is time for a new birthstone. And this month it is one of our favourite gemstones – Diamonds! Happy birth month to all you April babies!

One of the most coveted gemstones in the world, most natural diamonds are between one to three billion years old.

The word diamond comes from the Greek word “adamas” which means invincible or indestructible. This is very fitting as diamonds are the hardest natural substance. The only thing that can scratch a diamond is another diamond. So it is easy to understand why diamonds have been incorporated into beautiful and meaningful pieces of jewellery throughout the ages.

Most people are aware that the value and price of diamonds are heavily influenced by the 4 Cs – Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat with the primary focus being on the clarity and carat weight of the stone as the factors that influence the price of the diamond. However, in recent years a large body of diamond connoisseurs have favoured ideal cut round brilliant diamonds which are diamonds that have been precisely cut according to mathematical formula developed by Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919.

This formula prescribes a very tight range of angles for each part of a diamond that are meant to create the maximum brilliance and fire in a diamond.  The term Hearts and Arrows is often used to describe the pattern created in a diamond cut with perfect symmetry and angles.

Chart created by IdealScope.com that shows the light return within an ideal cut diamond.

A special viewer called an ‘Idealscope’ was developed by Garry Holloway that allows you to see these wonderful patterns in a diamond. Customers are willing to pay a premium price for what is considered to be a perfectly cut diamond.

However a growing body of jewellery designers are breaking all the rules and incorporating ‘imperfect’, and ‘organic’ diamonds such as rose cut, or rough cut diamond beads into their designs.  And the effect can be quite stunning!  These diamonds tend to ‘twinkle’ rather than sparkle and are often know as candle-light diamonds as they can look truly beautiful in low lighting.   And the great news is that these diamonds can be more affordable than their traditionally cut counterparts.

Here are some examples…

A gold rose cut diamond engagement ring by Deborah Cadby.

A grey teardrop shape rose cut diamond pendant by Alexis Dove.

A selection of beautifully organic diamond jewellery by EmbersJewellery.

And the trend for antique cuts looks only set to continue with a number of diamond cutters now cutting modern antique cut stones that are cut for light return and sparkle so you can get the best of both worlds!

Rose cut and organic diamonds are still relatively difficult to source here in the UK, but our friends at Kernowcraft have recently started selling some beautiful ones in a range of colours if you want to incorporate diamonds into your designs.  Do check them out!

So what kind of diamond makes your heart sing? The perfect ideal cut diamond or a diamond with natures fingerprints and birthmarks??