Recognizing Diamonds

Diamond is a woman's best friend said Marilyn Monroe, today it is the undisputed star of our rappers' ICE..

But what is a diamond? How do you recognize the quality of a diamond? What is a brilliant and what does baguette mean? RisiviLab will try to answer these and many other questions about the world's most durable and valuable stone.

Let's start at the beginning, diamonds are but one of the many forms in which carbon can occur. They originated billions of years ago in very deep areas of the earth (between 150 and 200 km deep) where the pressure level is so high that this fascinating mineral was formed.

The value of a diamond is measured by grading the so-called four Cs namely:

• Cut
• Carat (carat weight)
• Color
• Clarity (purity)

The Cut

The main differentiator between diamonds is the cut that gives the stone its shape. There are many different ones and they are chosen according to the needs of the jewelry itself.

The most famous is the round cut, called brilliant. The classic image we all have of the diamond is the brilliant cut, which actually can also be applied to other stones such as rubies or sapphires. The brilliant is the most versatile and common cut, composed of 57 facets that create the special brilliance, brightness and reflections.

There are various evolutions of the brilliant cut in addition to the round, such as. oval, heart-shaped, teardrop-shaped, marquise (or shuttles), princess (square in shape), radiant (a square with truncated edges), to cushion (square base with curved sides and rounded edges).

Another famous type of cut is the stepped cut, which includes the cut emerald (rectangular with truncated edges), yoke (square), baguette (rectangular), taper (trapezoidal).

The Baguette cut is a variant of the emerald cut with 14 facets. It is very delicate because it immediately highlights if a stone has flaws, which is why we use it only with top quality stones. We prefer it together with the yoke to achieve a clean effect between the various stones placed side by side without showing the metal on which they are lying.

In the past, diamonds were cut with other harder diamonds, creating numerous chips called “rosettes.” Today, cutting is done by laser technologies that greatly reduce “waste.”.

The weight (Carat)

The weight of diamonds is measured in carats (Ct). One carat is equivalent to 0.2 grams. The value of diamonds varies more by cut than by weight, in fact for the same carat a baguette compared to a brilliant can cost more than twice as much.

The Color (Color)

Color is the most striking feature, especially when diamonds are placed side by side in a pavé setting and the effect should be homogeneous.

It is classified with letters of the alphabet from D to Z. Note that the first three letters of the alphabet were not included in this classification to maintain a margin for improvement: there is always a whiter stone!

Purity (Clarity)

The purity depends precisely on the number of impurities within the stone. These impurities are called inclusions, and gemologists classify them through a 10-magnification lens by establishing this scale:

FL: Pure both internally and externally at 10 magnifications

IF: No internal features detected at 10 magnifications

VVS 1 - VVS 2: Very small inclusions, difficult to detect at 10 magnifications

VS 1 -  VS 2: Very small inclusions visible at 10 magnifications

SI 1 - SI 2: Small inclusions visible at 10 magnifications

I1: Inclusions visible to the naked eye, but with difficulty

I2: Inclusions visible to the naked eye

I3: Obvious inclusions, clearly visible to the naked eye

We routinely use VS diamonds but it should be specified that this characteristic is significant especially for stones of a certain carat. In fact, for smaller stones it is not particularly relevant.

Risivi Lab would like to reiterate that our stones are all certified as to provenance: none of our diamonds are bought from areas of the world where there are conflicts So they would have a lower price.