Are you an aspiring jewellery designer?
Are you an aspiring jewellery designer?
At Seventy Seven Diamonds we love to encourage talent and support up and coming designers in their struggle to become more skilled, successful and recognised. This new blog series will identify some of the key challenges faced by jewellery designers and offer advice and information on current opportunities which they, as aspiring artistes, can use to their advantage for both creating and selling their pieces.
The Job
Jewellery design can be an extremely creative and rewarding career, it is just difficult to know where to start in transforming your talent into profit. You can keep it low key and make a go of it at your local market exhibition stall or craft fair, or stretch to bigger targets of expansion through networking and employing a team to push design and sale.
35 Interesting Diamond Facts
We have always been facinated by the diamond, and continue to adore its beauty, brilliance and natural perfection. The diamond is the most wanted gemstone in the world. But why do we love diamonds so much? Here is some fun diamond trivia to highlight the wonders of our favourite gemstone.
- Diamonds are made of carbon
- A diamond is a semi-conductor
- Diamond is the best tool for cutting glasses
- Round cut diamonds have 58 facets
- Diamonds were originally mined in India over 2,800 years ago
- There are over 16,000 different classifications of diamonds
- Only one diamond in a million will weigh one carat or more
What are the differences between diamond grading labs?
Consumers need to be aware that there are variations between different diamond labs when making a diamond purchase. Although many reputable jewellers offer uncertified diamonds with their own brand name or appraisal included, ideally a diamond should come with a grading report from a well known and reputable lab.
Most diamonds sold come with a diamond certificate or grading report which authenticate a diamond’s attributes. These reports will include features such as cut, shape, carat, colour, clarity, dimensions, etc.
There are many different diamond grading laboratories, but no across the board standards so different labs can produce different reports for the same stone.
Several renowned grading agencies in the United States and Europe have high reputations and different levels of standards:
- Gemological Institute of America (GIA): The foremost authority on diamonds. They set the standard for accuracy in grading diamonds particularly based on colour and clarity. Labs from all over the world commonly use GIA master set stones to compare colours and clarity grades when they're uncertain on a grading.
What are ideal diamond proportions?
Proportions determine a diamond's brilliance (the amount of light reflected back to your eye), fire (the flashes of colour due to prismatic separation into the colours of the rainbow) and scintillation (sparkling movement of light as you move the diamond). If ideal proportions are used in the creation of diamonds, their overall excellence can be optimised.
In 1919 Marcel Tolkowsky was responsible for discovering the basis of what is now regarded as the “Ideal Cut” diamond. The Mathematician formed a Masters thesis on the proportions for round brilliant cut diamonds.
Supposedly, he conducted his research by asking Londoners to select the most appealing diamond from a small group. He combined these observations with those of his family’s Belgian diamond cutter business and then applied maths and physics to confirm why certain proportions produced the best looking diamonds.
The image shows a single example; in fact Tolkowsky’s theorem predicted a range of proportions with varying combinations of pavilion and crown angles that could enhance brilliance and fire. A variation on this was the Eulitz cut, developed in 1972 and considered to be ‘mathematically perfect’.
The Skinny on Diamond Fluorescence
Fluorescence can seem to be an intimidating subject when choosing a diamond, however armed with the correct knowledge it becomes clear that it's just another factor that needs to be taken into account and is ultimately owing to personal preference and budget.
What is Fluorescence?
In technical terms, fluorescence is the tiny particles in a diamond which most typically emit a blue light, when placed under UV lighting.
As graded by GIA, the fluorescence of a diamond is measured on a scale from None (no fluorescence), Faint, Medium, Strong and Very Strong. The strength of fluorescence in a diamond is not directly correlated to the colour or clarity of the diamond, meaning that the colour and clarity have no influence on the whether the diamond will have fluorescence or not. Diamonds of different colours and clarities can have exactly the same level of fluorescence.
Global Trends in Diamond Demand
There is debate whether the diamond industry is a manufacturing, natural resource, or a consumer industry. Many factors contribute to the rise and fall of diamond production and purchase which can be reviewed as global demand trends.
According to the IDEX Online Polished Diamond Price Index, average day-to-day polished diamond prices have remained steady for the last eight consecutive months, rising a mere 0.1 percent in November month-over-month. The IDEX Online Diamond Price Index is a real-time index constituted from actual asking prices in the global diamond industry: it therefore objectively reflects price trends as they occur.
Whilst rough diamond prices are higher, consumer demand for diamonds and diamond jewellery has been tenuous for over the past year which has kept polished diamond prices low. Year-over-year prices have dipped for polished diamonds for the past eleven months and prices remain 10.1 percent below last year’s average.
Which Diamond Shape Will Suit Her?
So you're looking into finally getting your lady that diamond engagement ring she's been lusting after for ages, but there's so much choice that it's difficult to guess what she's going to like. Well, just like any other kind of fashion, the kind of diamond a woman prefers will most likely speak for her unique sense of style. In this article we'll explain to you the 10 main diamond shapes, a bit about their history, and what shape will suit her personality best!
Round Brilliant Diamonds for the Classic lady
Most commonly known as brilliant or ‘Round Brilliant cut’ (RBC), this is the classic image of a diamond and suits a classic girl. The modern brilliant cut was born around 60 years ago - it is quite simply the best and most popular cut for diamonds. This refined shape accounts for over 75 per cent of diamonds sold today. Not all round diamonds were and are cut as Brilliants. To be a Brilliant a diamond requires 58-facets divided among its crown (top), girdle (middle-top) and pavilion (base). With a high standard cut, the consequence is a firing gem that shines with absolute brilliance.
It is easy to see why RBCs are by far the most popular diamond shape for engagement rings. Appearing clean, modern and simple it remains elegant, versatile and timeless, perfect for the classic lady who appreciates simplicity and sparkle.
Cushion Brilliants vs. Cushion Modified Brilliants
If you've been looking into purchasing a cushion cut diamond you may have noticed that the choice isn't as simple as just asking for a cushion cut diamond. Not only is it available in either a square or rectangular shape, but there are several different variations on the cut alone. In this post we'll explain the new descriptions being used to categorize the cushion cut.
The Cushion Debate
Recently there has been a debate in the diamond world involving the cushion cut and all its variations. The discussion stems over whether the newer, “Cushion Modified Brilliants” are in fact more brilliant than traditional “Cushion Brilliants”. Over a number of years different variations of the cushion shape have been cut and modified, with the intentions of either creating a unique style, preserving the most amount of diamond weight from the rough, or in an attempt to improve appearance. As more
How Important Is the Girdle?
When looking for a diamond, there are many things to take into consideration; so much so that the choice and information can become overwhelming. The four C’s is a great guideline for the most basic and important factors of a diamond, however, there are many other technical terms used in the industry. This article will discuss the girdle and its importance in your diamond selection.
What is the girdle and how is it graded?
The girdle is the edge of the diamond. The purpose of the girdle is to protect the edge of the stone from chipping. Its measurements are presented as either a worded description or a percentage. Like many other of the features of a diamond, labels are used to rate the diamond ranging from Extremely Thin, Very Thin, Thin, Medium, Slightly Thick, Thick, Very Thick, Extremely Thick, Faceted, Smooth to Polished. The girdle can also be presented as a number, for example, 0.7% thin or 3.0% thick.
What Makes a Diamond Sparkle?
Diamonds are notoriously known for their sparkle and shine, but in the rough this is not the case. The crystallised carbon has to go through several processes in order for it to look like the finished product. Included in these processes is the cutting and polishing of the diamond, which are the main factors determining the sparkle and lustre of the diamond.
Diamond Cut
Being one of the four C’s the diamond cut is signalled as an important factor when choosing a diamond ordinarily. The cut is frequently classed as the most important characteristic of a diamond, and has the greatest influence on the diamonds beauty and appearance. Therefore, it is also the greatest determinate in the general sparkle of the stone. The cut refers to the overall polish of the diamond from rough and is a measurement of the amount of light able to travel through the diamond. GIA rates the cut of diamonds on a scale from Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair to Poor.
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