Diamonds

An artificial diamond is a stone almost identical in composition to a natural diamond, grown under special laboratory conditions. Artificial diamonds should not be confused with fianite and moissanite. If with the latter two a natural diamond has many differences that allow you to identify a fake using even home tests, in the case of an artificial diamond everything is much more complicated. Let's try to understand. Artificial diamonds - what they are and how they are made The first artificial diamonds were synthesized back in the 50s of the XX century. But it was possible to bring the samples to the size that would be interesting to the jewelry industry only in the 90s. Today there are two main production technologies. HPHT synthesis The technology of growing a diamond in small capsules under high pressure (from high-pressure high-temperature). The raw material is diamond powder, which is dissolved in molten metal flux and then crystallized on a seed. The growing process takes…

Are you planning to buy a piece of diamond jewelry, but don't know how to choose it? In order not to make a mistake with the purchase of jewelry, you need to be able to read the characteristics of these brilliant stones. It is not difficult. Choosing a diamond by its characteristics Perhaps everyone knows that the cost of diamonds depends on their weight, which is measured in carats. Please note! Carat is a measure of the weight of precious stones, it is 0.2 grams. It appeared in ancient Rome: a carat is a carob seed, which has a mass of 0.18 to 0.22 grams. But it is not only the weight that affects the value of stones. A diamond is evaluated according to the following characteristics: Cut shape Cut quality Clarity Carat Color It is the summation of these parameters that affects the final price. Cut shape The shape of a future diamond cut is chosen by the jeweler based on the natural size and shape of the stone. The specialist's task at this stage is to reduce t…

The history of large gemstones is a story of passion and crime, of blood and dark secrets, of fulfilled prophecies and terrible curses. They excite, mesmerize as much as the dazzling brilliance of the gemstone around which they exist. Do you like frightening stories? Then this one is about the Kohinoor, a diamond that has brought incalculable calamities upon all its owners. Only a century and a half ago, the English Queen Victoria managed to stop the curse of "Kohinoor" - the diamond, because of which the blood was shed for centuries. But first things first. "Kohinoor" ("Kohinoor", "Koinoor", "Koh-e-Noor") is a colorless oval diamond weighing 105.6 carats (21.12 grams) with 66 facets. Traditionally, large top-quality diamonds are cut with 58 facets, but Kohinoor's jeweler added 8 more to bring out its incredible brilliance. History of the name "Kohinoor" is a diamond whose appearance is lost in the darkness of not even centuries, but millennia. Even the history of its modern…

In this age of fakes and copies, all consumers have to keep their eyes open. After all, it is so easy to fall prey to unscrupulous comrades and get something of lesser quality instead of the coveted luxury product. This applies to all spheres, including jewelry. So, let us remain vigilant and doubt everything. An experienced jewelry connoisseur always scrutinizes the characteristics of the jewelry and will be wary if he reads that the stones in it are ennobled. Isn't it a fake? What is behind the name "clarified diamonds"? Are they diamonds or just another synthetic clone? And if diamonds are real, how are they ennobled and, most importantly, why? Let's get to the bottom of it. Fig.1. On the left - a polished diamond, on the right - a natural diamond What is a clarified diamond Nature, like any craftsman, can also make mistakes, and sometimes its creations are imperfect. From the human point of view, of course. Thus, about a quarter of all gem diamonds mined in the world ha…

The capital of Saxony, Dresden, is a unique museum city that has been called the German Florence. It resembles a treasury or a precious necklace, where, at the whim of a skilled craftsman, genuine relics neighbor and harmoniously complement each other. One of them is the Dresdner Grüner Diamant (Dresden Green Diamond), a famous large natural diamond of apple color, excellent cut and almost flawless clarity. Now it is kept in the richest European jewelry collection of the "Grünes Gewölbe" (Green Vaults), a museum located in the restored palace of Elector Augustus the Strong. Fig.1. Hat brooch-agraffa with Dresden green diamond The pear-cut emerald diamond shines in the center of the hat brooch-agraffa among its hundreds of white counterparts. It is the only naturally occurring green diamond in the world so large and this puts it on par with the Kohinoor, Cullinan, Hope's Blue Diamond and other legendary treasures. The fantastic color and unique characteristics of the Dresden …

The most important stage in the processing of gemstones, which determines their appearance in the future, is, of course, the cut. It is quite possible to get confused in the varieties of faceting, but all experts divide them into 3 groups: diamond; step; mixed. In this article, let's talk about step cuts. And let's consider the most popular step cut for Emerald cut diamonds. In general, a step cut of any type ("octagon", "asher" and others) implies a parallel arrangement of facets. This means that a crystal subjected to such a strictly geometric treatment can only have a rectangular or square shape. Such symmetry, of course, worse reveals the brilliance and play of the stone, but perfectly emphasizes its purity, depth and transparency. In addition, it is ideal for colored minerals and crystals with a hue. Rectangular diamonds from Cartier But back to our diamond "emeralds". As is clear from the name, the first stone for which such a cut was used was not a diamond at…

Like many beautiful and exquisite things, the diamond has a direct connection to France. More precisely, the word "diamond" comes from the French language and means "brilliant". However, all over the world it is customary to say diamond, but brillant is mentioned only in the context of cutting. And this is logical. A natural diamond is a stone that is not very attractive outwardly. Only a quality cut turns it into a sparkling perfection. What is the classic and reference cut of a diamond? There are 12 main types of diamond cuts. At the same time, mankind has preferred the classic round cut - Standard Round Brilliant cut - to all others for more than a century. From 75% to 90% of diamonds sold in the world at the moment have the traditional shape and 57 or 17 facets. Who invented the round brilliant cut? History of creation The history of the perfect diamond dates back to the 17th century, when jewelers began to master new faceting techniques to bring out the beauty of the ge…

Fig. 1 The weight of one carat of a diamond in grams When choosing a piece of jewelry in a jewelry store, the first thing you look at is the tag. And when a piece of jewelry has diamonds, the tag always indicates their weight, but not in grams, but in carats. Of course, you have questions - how much does 1 carat of diamond weigh or how many carats are in 1 gram of diamond? Let's answer it now. Grams and carats: weight ratio The ratio of grams to carats is 1:5. One carat of a diamond contains only 0.2 grams or 200 milligrams. Accordingly, there are 5 carats in 1 gram. The weight of gemstones is estimated only to thousandths of a gram (the third digit after the decimal point). How the carat emerged The history of weighing gemstones in carats begins in ancient Rome. Not having accurate scales at hand, Roman jewelers and merchants used other ways to determine the mass of stones. There is a carob tree whose seeds are always the same size (about 1 cm) and weight - 0.2 grams, or, m…

Each of us at least once in our lives, if only for curiosity's sake, but looked into a horoscope, and knows who he or she is according to the sign of the Zodiac. And it makes sense - the constellations do give their wards certain common features. After all, it can hardly be considered a coincidence that the "earthly" Capricorns, Virgo and Taurus - Stephen Hocking, Newton, Kurchatov, Kapitsa, Joan of Arc and Oleg Deripaska, for example - are pragmatic, hardworking and purposeful. And everyone who in the circle of communication with the representatives of the "air" trinity of signs, noted that often these comrades - the nature of creative, but a little frivolous. Examples: Pushkin, Lermontov, Esenin, Tsvetaeva, Dickens, Byron. Well, what about the element of fire? Aries belongs to the "fire" trigon of signs and occupies in this trinity of honorable first place. With all that entails. Aries women - born leaders: bright, spontaneous, energetic, assertive ("I see the goal, I beli…

The zodiacal circle opens the brightest, most charismatic and temperamental sign of the entire fiery triad. In the man Aries organically combined the most valuable features of the strong half of humanity, and therefore Aries is often called the standard of masculinity. He - smart, visionary, bright, stubborn and assertive Viking, who always leads his drakkar exactly to the goal, and all rowers and warriors on board unconditionally obey his commands. And he is also irresistible to the opposite sex. Steven Seagal, Marlon Brando, Elton John, Ronaldinho, Pavel Bure, Da Vinci, Bach, Francis Ford Coppola, several dictators who once shook the world to its foundations - all these people appeared under the constellation of Aries. Needless to say, they are more than remarkable and strong, above all, in spirit? So, if you are born under the sign of Aries, you are lucky. And if you are a lady and there are Aries among your close men, you are doubly lucky. True, with gifts hiccup - "fier…