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Category: diamonds

  • buying diamonds online 446

    Buying Diamonds Online

    With all of the potential for scams concerning
    diamonds, buying diamonds online almost
    seems unthinkable! However, you actually
    can purchase diamonds online, without any
    problems as long as you are careful.

    First, think about your reasons for wanting to
    purchase the diamond online, as opposed to
    making a purchase from a local jewelry store.
    The most common reason is price. Due to
    low overhead costs, online jewelers and
    wholesalers are able to offer lower prices.
    However, you must be careful sometimes
    a price that is too low is a sure indication of
    a scam.

    One of the best things about purchasing
    online is the unlimited selection. When
    shopping offline, you are limited to the
    selection in the stores in your general area.
    Online, there are no limits. But again, you
    must use a great deal of care and
    consideration before handing your money
    over to someone that you cannot see and
    have never met!

    Before shopping, learn as much as you can
    about diamonds especially cut, color,
    clarity and carat weights. When you are
    knowledgeable about diamonds, it will be
    harder for a con artist to rip you off. Once
    you know more about diamonds, you will be
    ready to start shopping.

    Take your time. Dont purchase the first
    diamond that you see that interests you.
    Instead, look for similar diamonds for sale.
    Do some comparison shopping to find the
    lowest prices. Once you have found the
    lowest price, start doing your investigation.
    You know about diamonds, youve found a
    diamond that you love, and youve found the
    lowest price but you are still quite a ways
    away from actually purchasing that diamond!

    Ask about the sellers credentials, such as
    professional jewelry associations that they
    belong to. View and print the sellers return,
    refund, and upgrade policies. Also inquire
    about additional services, such as settings
    and mountings, sizing, and free shipping. Do
    a search for customer reviews on this
    particular company around the Internet. Also
    check with the BBB Online to see if there have
    been any complaints.

    Ask for a diamond grading report from an
    independent laboratory such as GIA, HRD,
    EGL or AGS. You should see this before
    making a purchase. Finally, use a reputable
    escrow service for high dollar diamonds
    preferably one that will have the diamond
    appraised while it is in their possession. The
    seller sends the diamond to the escrow
    service, and you send the money to pay for
    the diamond to the escrow service. The
    escrow service has the diamond appraised,
    sends the diamond to you, and sends the
    money to the seller. This is the surest way to
    protect yourselfagain, make sure that you
    use a reputable escrow service!

    ()

    PPPPP

  • how are diamonds mined 187

    How Diamonds Are Mined

    We seldom think about how the diamonds
    we wear came to us. Natural diamonds, as
    opposed to synthetic diamonds or fake
    diamonds, are mined from the earth. There
    are currently two methods of mining
    diamonds: Pipe Mining and Alluvial Mining.

    When pipe mining is used, the diamonds
    are extracted from the earth through volcanic
    pipes. These are not man-made pipes. These
    are natural pipes in the ground. Shanks are
    put into the ground next to the pipes, and
    tunnels are driven into the deepest parts of
    the pipe. The diamonds are not sorted out at
    the mine. Instead, huge rocks that are full of
    diamonds are brought out of the mine and
    moved to a screening plant for separation.

    The Alluvial mining method is done in
    riverbeds and on beaches. Walls are built to
    hold back the water and the sand on the bank
    or beach is moved with a bulldozer until the
    level of earth that diamonds can be found in
    is reached. Again, the diamonds are not
    sorted here. Instead, the sand that contains
    the diamonds is bulldozed into trucks, and
    taken to screening plants.

    ()

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  • 32 Diamond durability

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    Diamonds are among the hardest substances on earth; in fact they use diamonds and diamond dust to cut diamonds. Other gemstones are hard as well, but not nearly as hard as a diamond. Diamonds and other gemstones are measured by the Mohs scale. It runs from 10 (hardest) down to 1 (softest). It is somewhat arbitrary and not linear. The range from 9 to 10 is much greater than 8 to 9.Harder minerals of course tend to be more durable and will not scratch easily. Theyre good choices for jewelry because of their ability to withstand changes in elements or the arbitrary scratch or knock. Talc, with a Mohs hardness of 1, is the softest mineral and can be scratched with a fingernail. Quartz is the most common gem mineral (citrine and amethyst) and ranges at 7 and above. Rubies and sapphires are nearly as hard as diamonds, with a scale of 9 on the Mohs scale.
    People mistakenly think diamonds are indestructible and this is not true! Pliny the Elder in his Natural History stated that these stones are tested upon the anvil, and will resist the blow to such an extent as to make the iron rebound and the very anvil split asunder. If you tried that, however, you would more likely shatter the diamond, rather than the anvil!
    Many diamonds are cut to prevent accidental nicks, scratches and breaks. Except for the Princess cut, which is a square-cut diamond with pronounced corners, most corners on angular diamonds are rounded. A protruding point of a square or rectangular diamond could inadvertently be knocked against a surface and chip or scratch.
    Your diamond should be protected in a soft, velvet-lined case if youre not wearing it. Have the setting checked periodically and have the stone examined by a professional. Your diamond is not only an investment in money, but an investment in yourself or your relationship and is worth the small amount of extra care it takes to preserve it forever!
    
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  • 44 Quartz

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     44 Quartz

    While quartz is the most plentiful mineral on earth, it also provides endless fascination and beauty for experts and casual observers alike. It is found in nearly every geological environment and is at least a component of almost every rock type. It is also the most varied in terms of varieties, colors and forms. This variety comes about because of the abundance and widespread distribution of quartz. A collector could easily have hundreds of quartz specimens and not have two that are the same due to the many broad categories.
    Quartz is usually clear, but in granite it is also cloudy white or grayish in color. It can also be dark (as in smoky quartz). Many gemstones are actually less common colored varieties of quartz. Examples include purple amethyst, yellow citrine, and pink rose quartz. Because quartz is so resistant to weathering due to its chemical composition and atomic bonds, it accumulates as the other minerals in a rock erode. Light colored beach, Aeolian and alluvial sand is composed of mainly quartz grains.
    The use of Crystals for crystal healing or gem healing, has been linked to mental, physical, spiritual health, charkas energy, whose Healing Power followers of the New Age, Psychic Healing and Atlantis and Crystal Healers have long revered for relieving pain, stress, depression, anxiety in the mind, body and spirit. Spiritual Healers believe this approach to alternative medicine is essential for ensuring health.
    For Spiritual Healers, no stone is as essential to their craft as quartz. Embodying all the qualities they seek, it is the quintessential healing crystal. Part of this faith they place in Quartz comes from its scientific properties that make it useful in electronic devices. From this one truth, Crystal Healers make huge leaps in logic. They believe that its crystal formation can align the harmonies within the human body, that they can program the crystal easily, that acupuncture needles coated with quartz are more effective, and that it has the ability to receive and send energy.

     
      
    
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  • 26 Portuguese diamond

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    Theres something so exciting about these incredibly large and perfect stones. Sometimes they have well-documented histories and we know where they came from and who owned them and when. But others have a past thats not as well-known, and that only adds to the romance and mystique surrounding them.

    One such diamond is called the Portuguese Diamond and is a 127-carat, cushion-cut diamond, shaped in an octagonal emerald shape. Its nearly flawless. While its called the Portuguese Diamond, with a story that it was mined in Brazil and became part of the Portuguese Crown Jewels, theres really no true documentation that says definitively that thats where the diamond was mined. Must of the diamonds history is pure legend and conjecture. One can only imagine who wore this incredible stone!
    One part of the diamond’s history that is well-documented is that in February 1928 Peggy Hopkins Joyce traded a $350,000 pearl necklace for the diamond and $23,000 in cash. According to New York newspaper accounts, it was mounted on a diamond-studded platinum choker to be worn close around the throat (probably the same necklace described above). Miss Joyce performed in the Ziegfeld Follies, and had six husbands, at least five of whom were wealthy. She was said to be almost as fond of jewels as of men. Sometime prior to 1946 Miss Joyce placed the diamond on consignment to the group of jewelers mentioned above, in an unsuccessful attempt to sell it.
    Harry Winston acquired the Portuguese Diamond from Miss Joyce in 1951, and for the next several years it traveled the country as part of his “Court of Jewels” exhibition. In 1957, Winston sold the diamond to an international industrialist, who then traded it back in 1962. In 1963, the Smithsonian acquired the Portuguese Diamond from Mr. Winston in exchange for 2,400 carats of small diamonds.

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  • 14 color

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    When it comes to the 4Cs of diamonds, color, or lack of it, is an especially important characteristic. Diamonds are given letter grades to denote the level of color, starting with the letter D for a flawless, colorless diamond. Why D, and not C, B, or A? The reason weve heard is that when diamonds started being graded for color with this scale, it was decided to start with D, to leave room for the extremely rare possibility that a diamond would be found that was even more flawless than flawless. It hasnt happened yet!

    The color grades of D, E and F are the rarest and most colorless. The gradations in color can only be seen by an expert gemologist. The grades G-H are called near colorless and the difference can be seen by a casual observer only when compared to a higher-grade diamond. A stone in this grade category is an excellent value. The grades I-J are also near colorless, but not to the same extent as G-H. These also are an excellent value.

    The color grades move up the scale to Z, with an increasing amount of color. These are inferior gem-quality stones and should not be confused with canary or other colored diamonds. Colored diamonds are graded differently than white diamonds and are also highly prized among collectors. Theyre especially beautiful when combined with white diamonds. Consider that the Hope Diamond, one of the most famous diamonds, is a rich blue color. Out of all colored diamonds, a red diamond is the rarest of all.

    The colors in colored diamonds come from impurities between the cells of the crystals, or structural defects. There are many different colors that diamonds can come in, but theyre limited to steel gray, white, blue, yellow, orange, red, green, pink to purple, brown, and black
     
     
    

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  • 45 Quartz2

    45 Quartz 2
    In ancient Egypt, glazed quartz served as a substitute when no high quality examples of Turquoise could be found. The Greeks had originally named quartz, krystallos, the word for ice, but this soon came to mean any crystal. In China’s Ming Dynasty, quartz often showed up as stone in jewelry work. In Pre-Columbian America, explorations of Mixtec graves have uncovered quartz use for ear jewelry. In European history, Queen Elizabeth I’s court spiritualist’s crystal ball was Smoky Quartz, which is also the national gem of Scotland, whose national scepter included a large Smoky Quartz on its top. In modern times, it was the first crystal used in radio transmission and reception and was essential in the development of computers.
    Clear quartz is of the traditional healing stones believed to draw out pain and amplify healing energy. Crystal Healers use clear quartz in rituals meant to treat convulsions, diarrhea, dizziness, exposure to radiation, general pain, hemorrhages, headaches, hypochondria and kidney diseases.
    Rose quartz is used for treating cardiovascular health, fertility, headaches, kidney disease, migraines and sexual dysfunction, as well as those disorders occurring in the throat, ears, nose and sinuses.
    Rose quartz is the essential stone for increasing love and for times of extreme emotional turmoil, such as divorce, bereavement or career set backs because it helps to remind the wearer of the importance of self-love. It stimulates the body’s love centers and can result in peace and fidelity in committed relationships. As one of the most important crystals for attracting love it does emotional maintenance clearing out emotional baggage, converting negative emotions, and calms hot tempers, all of which prepare us for love. The stone is also recommended for improving mental discipline and making one more responsible, and for meditation and mental tranquility.

  • are diamonds really rare 179

    Are Diamonds Really Rare?

    When you walk into a jewelry store and see
    all the diamonds in all of the various settings
    that are for sale, it is difficult to realize that
    diamonds are indeed rare. Most people
    dont even stop to consider how that
    diamond came to be sitting in that jewelers
    case! There is quite a bit of work that is done
    before a diamond is ready to sell to the
    general public!

    For every one million diamonds that are
    mined, only one will be found that is a quality
    one caret diamond. In order to find a two
    caret diamond, about five million diamonds
    must be mined. More than two hundred tons
    of ore must be mined to find one small
    diamond, and even then, more than 80%
    of the diamonds that are mined are only
    good for industrial use, such as diamond
    drill bits.

    So, the next time you visit your local jewelry
    store, ask to see the one carat diamonds.
    You should look at this diamond with new
    appreciation knowing that it truly is one
    in a million!

    ()

    PPPPP

  • 2 Minerals are crystals

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    The earliest forms of jewelry were items that early humans found naturally, such as shells or bits of bones. Early gravesites have also revealed that pre-historic man buried his dead with flowers and with carved ivory beads. These primitive beads would have taken at least an hour each to make.

    Early man also might have found bits of turquoise that occurred naturally in areas of Turkey and North America. The pearlescent swirls found inside an abalone or conch would have also been used as jewelry.

    They might have also found the earliest types of precious gems in the form of natural crystals, such as quartz or diamonds. Crystals are solid substances where the molecules are arranged in a symmetrical fashion, and they generally fall into one of six shapes:

    Isometric, or cubic crystals are shaped like blocks and are symmetrically shaped. An example of an isometric crystal would be pyrite. This is also called fools gold because it has a metallic yellow or brassy color similar to gold.
    Tetragonal, where the crystals are shaped like four-sided prisms and pyramids. An example of a tetragonal crystal is the zircon.
    Hexagonal crystals are shaped like six-sided prisms, or pyramids. An example of this kind of crystal is the beryl, which includes gems like emeralds and aquamarines.
    Orthorhombic crystals. An example of an orthorhombic crystal is topaz. Topaz can come in a variety of colors, although the mostly highly prized is a deep amber color. At one time, topaz was much more valuable, until rich veins of it were found in Brazil, which devalued the market.
    Monoclinic crystals are short and stubby, with tilted faces at each end. Monoclinic crystals include gypsum.
    Triclinic crystals are usually flat with sharp edges but no right angles. Each crystal has three unequal axes. An example of triclinic crystal is feldspar.

    
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  • 39 Beryls

    39 Beryl

    The beryl is the family of crystal that creates emeralds and aquamarines, when its color is green or blue-green, respectively. Red beryl is bixbite or red emerald or scarlet emerald, pink beryl is morganite, white beryl is goshenite, and a clear bright yellow beryl is called golden beryl. Other shades such as yellow-green for heliodor and honey yellow are common. It can also come in violet.

    The earliest known source of emerald was near the Red Sea in Egypt, the so-called Cleopatra’s emerald mines. They were probably worked from about 2000 B.C., apparently the location of them was lost in the middle ages, and not rediscovered until 1818. Most emeralds used in ancient jewelry are believed to have come from these mines. They are not worked nowadays because of the low quality of crystals found.
    Emeralds have been found in Austria since Roman times; these are no longer commercially mined.

    Columbia is generally recognized as the source of the world’s finest quality emeralds, both in the past and the present. The Columbian Indians were using them before 1537, when Quesada conquered Columbia. Russia has been another important source of emeralds in the past. Emeralds were discovered in Australia in 1890 in New South Wales. Emeralds were discovered between1927 and 1929 in South Africa, followed by other sources. Another important source of superb quality emeralds, usually only of small size, is in Zimbabwe formerly Southern Rhodesia. These were discovered only in 1956. Emeralds were known in India from antiquity, but their source is not certain. The quality of Indian emeralds is very variable, but most are polished as beads. Other sources of emerald include Norway, North Carolina, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, although none of these are very important. But if you’re vacationing in any of those states, we best you’ll keep your eyes peeled for any stray beryls!