Smart Gems
Sparklies for Smarties

Smart Gems

Fire

February 27th, 2007

The term fire is commonly used to describe a diamond, but what does it refer to? The ancient Greeks thought that fire in a diamond symbolized the eternal flame of love. Fire in a diamond is the dispersed light that appears as rainbow-like flashes of color. You can usually observe a diamond’s fire in places like restaurants or clubs where the light is lower. The amount of fire depends on how the stone is cut and faceted. Older cut diamonds appear as if they have more fire because they’re cut with steep crown angles and flatter tables of the facets.

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About Diamonds

Carats

February 22nd, 2007

Many people equate the term carat with the size of a diamond, and as carat size increases, so will the carat weight. But the operative word there is weight. Carat refers to the weight of a diamond and is equal to roughly 200 milligrams which is less than a ¼ of an ounce. A carat can also be broken up into 100 points. So ¾ of a carat is also 75 points.

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About Diamonds

Care of diamonds

February 22nd, 2007

Diamonds are durable and strong, but should be cared for as though they were fine breakable china or more fragile gems. They can chip or scratch if you’re not careful, and they can get quite dirty with oils from your skin and cosmetics, hair sprays or perfumes.

There are several ways to clean and store your diamonds. You can clean a diamond pretty quickly with a commercial jewelry cleaner that you either dip your jewelry in or soak them in a tub that gives it an ultrasound bath. Cold water and ammonia also work very well to dissolve oils that accumulate on your stones.

You can use a soft brush like an eyebrow brush to clean in between the prongs of the setting. Hold the diamonds by their settings and don’t touch the stones. If you’re cleaning them in the bathroom, be sure to close the stopper on the sink! You don’t want to go fishing in the plumbing for your valuable jewelry! Read the rest of this entry »

About Diamonds

Color

February 20th, 2007

508536_diamonds_are_forever_a_pain.jpgWhen 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 we’ve 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 hasn’t happened yet!

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About Diamonds

Certified diamond

February 15th, 2007

Diamond certification is essential when you’re buying a diamond and is different from a jeweler’s appraisal, although the certification is part of any appraisal. Many diamonds look the same, but not all of them are going to be of the quality you might like. Diamond certification is the written proof of a diamond’s attributes. Without it, you have no assurance that the diamond you are buying is of the quality you’re paying for. With it, you know the precise grading for each of the 4Cs – color, cut, clarity and carat weight, and, therefore, the diamond value.

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About Diamonds

Diamond durability

February 1st, 2007

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. They’re 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.

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About Diamonds

About

January 1st, 1970

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About Diamonds

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