The Industry of Diamonds
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Diamonds are possibly the oldest stone that you’ll ever possess. Diamonds are formed through fossilized strata of carbon, submitted to the high pressure of the inner layers of the Earth crust for about 3 billion years. At such conditions, the hardest material over Earth is formed and kept in relatively close locations.
As everybody knows, the diamonds are used as finest pieces of jewelry as much as in the industry in general. If it is considered that it is material capable of cutting the hardest of the crystals, the efficiency of the diamonds in drilling - for example - can not be overcome by any other known material.
Process Flow of the Manufacture of Diamonds: From the Earth Crust to the Stores
Diamonds are basically extracted from Africa, where almost half of the diamonds yearly produced in the world are extracted. Though Australia, Russia, Canada and some other minor locations also possess diamond mines.
1. Mining the rough material.
Diamond mines are very peculiar, and consist of a long pipe that is drilled down the crust, even until 160 Km deep down. Aside the main shaft, there are smaller tunnels excavated alongside to be blasted, drilled, crushed and extracted. Of the rough production (approximately 28 Metric Tons) of pre-diamonds, 20%are suitable for jewelry and the rest is used for industrial purposes.
2. Classification of the Rough Material.
The rough diamonds are classified in more than 5000 different categories, before they hit the market. There is an international Central Selling Organization, which organized events where the diamonds are sold: sights. There are about 10 sights per year, and the buyers can bid upon the merchandise chosen to be sold at sights.
3. Cutting.
Through the use of specialized hardware and software, the diamonds are analyzed on the basis of each piece, taking into consideration the shape of the diamond, together with the internal inclusions. The objective is to obtain the most profitable cut of th diamond. It does not matter if the diamond is used for jewelry or for industrial purposes, every diamond is analyzed before being marked and cut with the use of high-accuracy devices.
4. Wholesale.
Once cut, the diamonds are sold directly to jewelry manufacturers and diamond wholesalers, which in turn prepare them in the shape of jewelry and sell it to the final consumer.
Parameters to Evaluate the Quality of the Diamond (Jewelry)
Though there are some few parameters applied to the production of diamonds for industrial use, in jewelry the diamonds are evaluated based on the physical attributes of the specific piece analyzed.
Shape.
It refers to the overall outline of the diamond, being that there are some which are round, Princess, Emerald, Asscher, Marquise, Oval, Radiant, Pear, Heart, Cushion.
Cut.
Which determines its brilliance, understood by the capacity of the diamond to reflect the light. Some gemologists tend to think that the cut is the most important feature of the gem.
Color.
The rule is that the colorless the diamond, the better, as it will reflect the light in a much better fashion. There is an alphabetic scale for the measurement of the color in diamonds, with the M-Z as lower quality in terms of color and viceversa.
Carat.
Which is about the size of the diamond, although is not a linear scale. In nature, it is more difficult to find big (suitable) diamonds, the bigger the diamond, the highest the price, almost in a geometrical or even exponential scale, that is, two 1-carat diamonds are not worth the same as one 2-carat diamond.
Certification.
A report made by an authorized team of gemologists is issued as a Diamond Dossier, which stated clearly the characteristics of a diamond.
Diamonds in Jewelry
As a jewel, the diamond is maybe the upmost within the wish list. Specially, for diamond engagement rings. In the past, the industry used to issue pre-manufactured models, with very limited options in terms of final design of the ring.
Fortunately, with the advent of communications in the 21st century, it is now very common to pre-design the ring before making the purchase, with the aid of specialized online jewelry stores and manufacturers and web tools, which closely resemble the use of the "wizards" in Excel, f.i.
In fact, the choice of a diamond is now more a task of choosing among some options, which influence on the final price of the ring. It resembles the process of purchasing a computer through the webpage of manufacturers, e.g., buying a new laptop from Dell.
Of course, it has to be done from well-known professionals, as the offer through the Internet is increasing and the scams may be present anywhere. A good site, where you could find interesting resources to have a better understanding of diamonds and jewelry is Blue Nile. By the way, they are wholesalers and sellers of fine diamonds and jewelry. If you are looking for a nice, fashionable diamond ring - maybe for your wife or girl-friend - take a look over there.
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Awesome post, really I haven’t any words to appreciate your post. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and though with us.
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