All Diamonds from Christina Design London are top quality certified full round cut diamonds / Top Wesselton (F-G) / VVS.
Learn More About Diamonds
The modern round brilliant consists of 57 facets (33 on the top half above the middle or of the stone) and 24 on the (the lower half below the girdle).
Rounds are the most popular shape that Diamonds are cut into. It is also the most brilliant of all the cuts. You may have heard of a term called "Ideal Cut". This term refers to the attempt to cut a Diamond into the best proportions to achieve maximum brilliance.
Rounds are the most expensive cuts, and with good reason. It is usually possible to retain more weight from a Rough (unpolished) Diamond if it is cut into a Fancy shape than if it is cut to a Round.
The 3 most important things to consider when buying a diamond is CUT, COLOUR AND CLARITY:
Clarity
In plain terms clarity is simply how much "stuff" is inside the diamond crystal. The less the "stuff" the more they cost. This again because of rarity by lack of imperfection. Most all of the diamonds mined have inclusions that are visible to the unaided eye. A typical retail jeweller may sell a flawless clarity grade diamond once every 10 years, maybe!
This scale ranges from F to I-3. This entire scale can be divided in half, with diamonds that you can visually see the imperfections to the unaided eye, and diamonds that require 10 power magnification to see the imperfections. This division is at the I-1 clarity grade to the SI-2 clarity grade. The I-3 clarity grade will generally contain enough imperfection to dramatically reduce the amount of brilliancy and sparkle and should not be considered for "fine jewellery". However there can even be a good, as well as bad I-2 or I-1 clarity grade diamond. As an example a good I-1 clarity grade diamond would have an imperfection to the side, which would be eye visible, however after being set would be covered by a prong or other feature of the setting. The less desirable I-1 clarity grade diamond would possess a very similar inclusion however because of its location would not be able to be hidden. An eye visible inclusion such as this would later prove to be a distraction to the beauty of the diamond. As with the colour of the diamond, clarity is very much personal taste and if you don’t like the number of imperfections - just plan to spend more money!
Cut
The Cut is the most important characteristic of a diamond. This factor determines how much light that enters the diamonds from above, then how much light will be reflected and refracted back out of the gem to the eye of the observer. In other words how pretty the diamond can be is decided by the cut. For the consumer it is fairly easy to determine in general terms if a round brilliant cut diamond is well cut or proportioned. The first and easiest characteristic to evaluate is to compare the diamonds weight with the proper diameter size listed in the "Size to Weight Ratio Chart "below. At the turn of the century, a young Belgian mathematician, Marcel Tolkowski, came up with what is now called the "Ideal cut" for round diamonds. His formula in essence says that if an ideal cut diamond has a 1.00 carat weight, then its proper diameter size should be between 6.3 to 6.5mm. This is the first and easiest characteristic to evaluate. The rest of the characteristics, that are equally important, such as depth% and table%, polish, symmetry can also easily be determined by comparing the information in the tables below with the information provided on the certificate of the diamond you are interested in.
Colour
COLOR GRADING arbitrarily begins with "D" to avoid confusion. "A", "B", and "C" are assumed to not exist but there is room in the colour range to allow for finding them. With grades "A", "AA", or "AAA" how do you know which one is the brightest white colour? Diamonds are colour graded by a gemmologist against a master set of colours.
• D-Fare (River) the finest & brightest colourless diamonds, usually for the discriminating customer who can afford the most beautiful and the rare.
• G-H (Top Wesselton) are very white & bright face-up colourless diamonds and when mounted in jewellery it is difficult to see the a difference between these and the River.
• H-I-J (Wesselton or lower) are not quite as bright or have very slight hardly noticeable tint.
• K-L have a slight tint even the average person will begin to notice.
• M or Lower the colour will be noticed.
Diamonds occur naturally in all spectral colours, from red to blue, however the most commonly occurring colours are yellow and brown. An alphabetical scale D through Z grades the amount of colour a diamond possesses. They began at D in case a whiter diamond was later found. Colour & Cut are the two factors that influence a diamond's beauty the most.
Colour should reflect one's tastes and budget. I.e.: You may be able to go with a higher colour grade and lower clarity grade to suit your taste and stay within budget.
Diamonds of a colourless grade in the D-F range are much more valuable than diamonds in the L-P range because of the rarity of these colourless diamonds. This is not to say that the diamonds in the lower colour range are not pretty, they can have just as much brilliancy and sparkle but with a stronger colour tone. The effects of colour to the cost of a diamond can be dramatic. Two diamonds of the same weight, clarity, size and shape can have a cost difference of over 100% for the difference between an F body colours to a J body colour. Colour can only be graded accurately if the diamond is un-mounted or "loose" and it is highly recommended that the diamond be independently certified for its colour as well as the other following quality grades. The colour of your diamond will be simply a matter of personal taste and if you don't like the colour - just plan to spend more money!
• The diamond derives its name from the Greek word adamas, meaning unconquerable.
• The Diamond is the hardest substance on earth.
• Diamonds are formed under extreme heat and pressure deep within the earth's crust, and come to the surface through volcanic eruptions
• Most diamonds found in nature are between one and three billion years old
• The largest diamond ever found was the Cullinan at 3,106 carats. Known also as the Star of Africa, it adorns the scepter of King Edward VII of England. The Tower of London is its current home.
• Most expensive diamond: $16,548,750. It was bought in 1997 and was 100 carats.
• The easiest way to spot the difference between a diamond and cubic zirconia is to weigh it. Cubic zirconia weigh 55% more than diamonds.
• Diamonds can be completely consumed by fire at temperatures ranging from 1,400° to 1,607° F., depending on the hardness of the gem.
History
Diamonds are thought to have been first recognized and mined in India, where significant alluvial deposits of the stone could then be found. The earliest written reference can be found in the Buddhist text, the Anguttara Nikaya another Sanskrit text, the Arthashastra, which was completed around 296 BCE and describes diamond's hardness, lustre, and dispersion. Diamonds quickly became associated with divinity, being used to decorate religious icons, and were believed to bring good fortune to those who carried them. Ownership was restricted among various castes by colour, with only kings being allowed to own all colours of diamond.
In February 2005, a joint Chinese-U.S. team of archaeologists reported the discovery of four corundum-rich stone ceremonial burial axes originating from China's Liangzhu and Sanxingcun cultures (4000 BCE–2500 BCE) which, because of the axes' specular surfaces, the scientists believe were polished using diamond powder [4] [5]. Although there are diamond deposits now known to exist close to the burial sites, no direct evidence of coeval diamond mining has been found: the researchers came to this conclusion by polishing corundum using various lapidary abrasives and modern techniques then comparing the results using an atomic force microscope. At that scale, the surface of the modern diamond-polished corundum closely resembled that of the axes; however, the polishes of the latter were superior.
Diamonds were traded to both the east and west of India and were recognized by various cultures for their gemmological or industrial uses. In his work the Roman writer Pliny the Elder noted diamond's ornamental uses, as well as its usefulness to engravers because of its hardness. In China, diamonds seem to have been used primarily for engraving jade and drilling holes in beads. Archaeological evidence from Yemen suggests that diamonds were used as drill tips as early as the 4th century BCE. In Europe, however, diamonds disappeared for almost 1,000 years following the rise of Christianity because of two effects: early Christians rejected diamonds because of their earlier use in amulets, and Arabic traders restricted the flow of trade between Europe and India.
Until the late middle Ages, diamonds were most prized in their natural octahedral state, perhaps with the crystal surfaces polished to increase lustre and remove foreign material. Around 1300, the flow of diamonds into Europe increased via Venice's trade network, with most flowing through the low country ports of Bruges, Antwerp, and Amsterdam. During this time, the taboo against cutting diamonds into gem shapes, which was established over 1,000 years earlier in the traditions of India, ended allowing the development of diamond cutting technology to begin in earnest. By 1375, a guild of diamond polishers had been established at Nuremberg. Over the following centuries, various diamond cuts were introduced which increasingly demonstrated the fire and brilliance that makes diamonds treasured today: the table cut, the briolette (around 1476), the rose cut (mid-16th century), and by the mid-17th century, the Mazarin, the first brilliant cut diamond design. In 1919, Marcel Tolkowsky developed an ideal round brilliant cut design that has set the standard for comparison of modern gems; however, diamond cuts have continued to be refined.
The rise in popularity of diamonds as gems seems to have paralleled increasing availability through European history. In the 13th century, King Louis IX of France established a law that only the king could own diamonds. However, within a century diamonds were popular gems among the moneyed aristocratic and merchant classes, and by at latest 1477 had begun to be used in wedding rings. Popularity continued to rise as new cuts were developed that enhanced the diamond's aesthetic appeal, and has largely continued unabated to this day; diamonds have proven popular with all classes in society as their cost has become within reach. A number of large diamonds have become historically significant objects, as their inclusion in various sets of crown jewels and the purchase, sale, and sometimes theft of notable diamonds, have sometimes become politicized.
Source DiamondGrading.com • RobbinsDiamonds.com • Wikipedia.com
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