So, for those wondering what shape of diamond to get for the lady in their life, whether it be for diamond earrings, a diamond ring or diamond pendants, here are some suggestions:

Round
The round cut diamond is for the lady who is classy and traditional. The round brilliant shape is the most popular cut for a diamond and is found on all sorts of diamond jewelry, especially in engagement ring , from the most humble to the most grand. The round brilliant has become one of the most traditional and sought after cuts of all, even though it was only perfected during World War I.

Some jewelers, including those who sell online diamond jewellery, use shape and cut interchangeably. Others use cut when they mean the way the gem cutter actually shapes the stone. In the case of the round brilliant, a cut that’s too shallow or too deep ruins the diamond’s ability to sparkle.

Princess
The princess cut is a square cut with sharp corners and is just the thing for the lady who’s playful, cheerful and really a girl at heart. As even a diamond can be chipped, it is best to put this gemstone in a prong setting on an engagement ring to protect those corners.

Asscher
Though this is a modern cut, having been developed in 1902, it’s for a woman who possesses an old-fashioned femininity. It’s of step cut that has squares steps with cropped corners.

Oval
This cut is for an imaginative lady who likes to experiment and embraces the latest in all things, whether it’s art, food or fashion. This is the piece of diamond jewellery that makes a short finger look long and elegant when it’s set on a ring

Radiant
This sparkling cut is for a positive and energetic woman who likes to flirt, even if she is engaged. This rectangular-shaped diamond has a brilliant cut, which makes it especially fiery on diamond ring

Pear
Made for a bold yet charming and somewhat idiosyncratic lady, the pear-shaped diamond has been heralded in song. Pears are great for diamond pendants.

Heart
Who else but a tender-hearted romantic would go for a heart-shaped diamond?

Marquise
This cut was said to be inspired by the lips of the mistress of one of those French Bourbon kings. Accordingly, it is for a woman who’s dramatic, outgoing, yet refined.

Cushion
For a lady who is fancy and chic yet delicate, cushion cut diamond jewellery is a perfect fit. It looks like its name. It is a square with round corners and is interesting because much of its carat weight is in the bottom part, or the pavilion.

Buying a Perfect Diamond
The very best and costliest diamonds are flawless, truly colorless and expertly cut and polished no matter their final shape. The size of the carat is up to what the wearer wants and the buyer can afford. If a fancy, or colored diamond is bought, the clarity is not as important as the richness of the color. The trend of buying certified diamond jewellery Online has increased tremendously in the past decade.

Interesting Trivia: A Round Brilliant Cut diamond has 57 facets. If the culet of a diamond is also faceted, then the diamond would have 58 facets. Anything more or less means the diamond is not cut ideally.

1. Table: The table is the flat plane that sits on top of every Round Brilliant cut diamond. It is also the biggest single facet of the finished diamond. When defined and cut precisely, it helps bring out the most beautiful aspects of the diamond.

2. Crown: As the name suggests, it is the top part of the diamond. It starts from the outer edge of the table and ends at the upper end of the girdle. There are several facets cut into the crown, each perfectly balanced and identical to its neighbors.

3. Crown Angle: The angle formed by facets on the crown of the diamond with the imaginary plane of the girdle. The crown angle and the size of the table determine the amount of light that enters, reflects and refracts inside a diamond which directly affects the fire and brilliance of a polished diamond.

4. The Girdle: The outer edge or diameter of the diamond. It is the girdle that separates the top part of the diamond from the bottom. Since the girdle represent the highest diameter of a diamond, a slight variation in girdle thickness can greatly affect the carat weight of a diamond. Typically, all solitaires have faceted girdle while smaller diamonds may sometime have unpolished girdle.

5. Pavilion: This is the bottom part of the diamond – starting from the bottom edge of the girdle and reaching down to the very tip of the polished diamond. The pavilion angle can greatly affect the light performance of a diamond. If the pavilion is too deep or too shallow the diamond may look grayish.

6. Culet: It is a special minuscule facet added at the bottom of the pavilion to keep the tip of the diamond from getting damaged. In an Ideal cut diamond, the culet would be almost non-existent and undetectable by the naked, untrained eye.

7. Total Depth: In the simplest of terms, this is the height of the diamond as measured from the table to the culet.The above aspects give a diamond its shape and its allure. In addition to these, there are certain other important aspects that also need to be taken into consideration.

a. Symmetry: A diamond that is cut with perfect symmetry would yield the best light performance, brilliance and fire. It takes a highly skilled craftsman to cut and polish a perfectly symmetrical diamond as all the relevant facets must be identical and fully aligned

b. Polish: The smoothness of the diamond facets, small flat panels that are etched all over the surface of the diamond, greatly affects the amount of that enters inside a diamond.  When a diamond is cut with perfect symmetry and polish, all the facets bring out the best fire, brilliance and scintillation.

Interesting Trivia: Most people, outside the diamond industry, believe that the Cut of a diamond refers to the shape of a diamond. However, a trained gemologist refers to specific cutting parameters that bring a particular shape to life with highest fire, brilliance and scintillation.

Based on classifications and nomenclatures followed by the diamond industry around the world, the Cut of a diamond is divided into five categories.

1. Excellent Cut:The design of this cut is such that it ensures every shard of light entering the diamond is reflected multiple times and in all directions, thereby literally setting the stone afire from within. Achieving the Excellent Cut requires exceptional expertise and craftsmanship.Excellent cut diamonds show equal dark and light shades, creating an impression of play of shadows and light.

2. Very Good Cut:Very Good Cut diamonds have slightly more flexible cutting parameters than Excellent Cut. When skilled craftsmen attempt to retain higher carat weight by slightlycompromising onthe light performance, the Cut becomes Very Good. Diamonds with Very Good Cut still show good deal of sparkle, brilliance and fire, but their price per carat is much lower than that of an Excellent Cut diamond.

3. Good Cut:Just like the Very Good Cut, Good Cut diamonds are created by sacrificing quality of the cut over carat weight of a diamond. Most of the size proportions of diamonds in this cut are quite broader than those of the Excellent or Very Good Cut as the target is to get maximum stone size rather than focusing on the light performance. Such diamonds are ideal for the more budget conscious buyers who want to have a pretty stone that is larger in size.

4. Fair Cut: A cut that is almost at the bottom of the grading spectrum in terms of quality and preference. The only aim of those working with this cut is to get the maximum possible carat weight out of the rough diamond. There is very little consideration given to the color or clarity of the stone. The value of Fair Cut diamonds is based largely on their carat weight.

5. Poor Cut: The lowest of cuts in diamonds. These diamonds perform very poorly when it comes to the light performance inside the diamond based on internal reflection and refraction. They are just stones that have been processed to look big. As the cut is not optimized, there can be multiple inner impurities as well as outer surface defects. For those only looking to own a gem that is called a diamond without any other specific considerations, these are the diamonds to buy.

Interesting Trivia: When found in nature, diamonds do not look much different from the thousands of different stones we find all around us. It takes a discerning eye to recognize a diamond in the rough.

When found deep in the bowels of the earth, or in the alluvial soil left behind by rivers, majority of rough diamonds look extremely ordinary and unattractive. Whether or not there is a high quality gem grade diamond lying inside its heart is tough to know when looking at a freshly mined rough diamond. Before a diamond can be considered as ready to grace your special someone’s jewelry piece, it needs to go through a lengthy and pain staking process.

In this article, we are going to take a glance at the various steps and processes these sparklers go through before their inner fire and brilliance become fully apparent. Broadly, we can segregate the overall process into five sub-processes:

1. Planning
2. Cleaving
3. Bruting
4. Polishing
5. Quality Inspection

Let us take a look at each of these processes in brief to understand them better:

1. Planning: As with any other product, a diamond’s journey from rough to polished starts with planning. Did you know that every rough diamond can be cut in multiple ways to create a polished gem stone? However, only one particular design plan yields best color, clarity and carat weight. Therefore, planning calls for understanding all of these aspects and designing the diamond to get the best possible outcome. This is perhaps the most time consuming step and involves both manual and machine aided planning. Sometimes, rough diamonds are planned, then taken through the cleaving process partially and then re-planned based on the outcome of cleaving. For large high value stones, the planning and partial cleaving process is repeated several times until final plans are decided.

2. Cleaving: So the diamond has been planned. As the name itself suggests, the next step involves cutting or splitting the diamond into two or more parts. This is done along the split lines marked during the planning stage. It throws further light on the inherent beauty and qualities of the stone and get the diamond ready for the actual cutting and polishing stages. Either a diamond lined machine saw or a more modernistic laser machine is used to cleave the diamond precisely.

3. Bruting: A strange sounding name for a process – brutingis where the diamond actually gets its shape. The process normally involves using a second diamond or a diamond impregnated bruting wheel to give the diamond under design its shape. After all, only a diamond can cut a diamond. Of course, this job can only be done by specially trained artisans as even a slight error can permanently destroy the stone or reduce its value significantly.

4. Polishing: This is the stage that gives the entire process its name – diamond polishing. In fact, this process involves two sub-stages – blocking and brillianteering.And we also get to hear a new term here – brillianteering. It’s actually a combination of two words brilliant and engineering. In blocking, the background or base for brillianteering is created. Pavilions, crowns, culets and some of the facets are crafted at this stage.

The final surface polishing is done in the brillianteering sub-stage. During this process, majority of the facets are polished onto the stone and its inherent brilliance and reflective abilities are fully brought to the fore. Only the most skilled and experienced artisans are allowed to handle the diamond at this stage.

5. Quality Inspection: As with any product, diamond processing also ends with a quality inspection. This is where expert craftsmen and inspector check the stone for any manufacturing errors. Every facet, every pavilion and crown is thoroughly inspected. Any minor blemishes or errors are sent back for corrections. Only stones that meet exacting specifications set out at the start of the planning process are accepted as finally polished diamonds ready for the market.

Hard Fact: While the entire process might sound quite simple, it might take a rough diamond anywhere from 20 days to several years to reach its final fully polished state. For example, the world famous Cullinan Diamond took more than 4 years to be completed.

The Red Cross: One of the most unique diamonds every produced, the Red Cross features a prominent Maltese Cross in its top facet. Just like The De Beers stone, it was also mined from the Kimberley mines by De Beers in 1901. It weighed 375 carats in its rough form, which was reduced to 205.07 carats after it was finished. The finished Red Cross is a beautiful canary yellow diamond, cut into a cushion shape. When Christie organized an art sale in London in 1918, the owners donated the diamond for the benefit of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John.

The Millennium Star: A perfectly flawless diamond (internally and externally), the Millennium Star was found in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1990. Unlike other most famous diamonds, the Millennium Star was found in alluvial deposits and was a huge 777 carats in its rough state. De Beers purchased the stone and polished it as one of the most perfect diamonds ever produced. It was only unveiled by De Beers in 1999 as part of its Millennium Collection. The actual value of the diamond has never been revealed by the company, but it is believed to be several hundred million dollars. The Millennium Star is a perfect pear shaped stone weighing 203.04 carats.

The Koh-I-Noor: Best translated to mean “Mountain of Light”, this mystery shrouded diamond is from the Indian sub-continent. Over its history, it has been owned by the Mughals, the Sikhs, the Afghans and many other rulers as spoils of war. It is perhaps the best known and most fought over diamond ever. It is a flawless and colorless 105 carats diamond that is now part of the Crown Jewels of England.

There are of course dozens of other diamonds that would easily fit into this list, but these particular twelve stones mentioned here are some of the biggest, most desirable diamonds ever known to mankind.

5. The Spirit of de Grisogono: Amongst the rarest of rare diamonds, the Spirit of de Grisogono is the the black beauty found in west Central Africa. Originally weighing 587 carats in its rough form, the world’s largest black diamond was cut and polished down to 312.24 carats in the Mogul cut style. Though an exceptional and rare diamond, the Spirit of de Grisogono has managed to disappear from public eye and its current location and ownership are unknown.

6. The Centenary Diamond: A diamond carrying an insurance policy of $100 million, and with its present location and ownership a secret, the Centenary is one of the most revered diamonds the world has ever known. Mined at 599 carats from the Premier Mine in 1986, it was cut and polished to a finished 273.85 carats. It is a splendid D color diamond. The most unique feature of the Centenary is its 247 facets, the highest number for any known diamond polished up to that time.

Hard Fact: There are many large stones that have been exceptional and that have unfortunately disappeared from the public domain. In most cases, this has happened on account of theft.

7. The Jubilee: Named in commemoration of the 75^th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Victoria of England, the Jubilee is an E colored diamond with outstanding clarity. Mined at 650.80 carat from the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa in 1895 this magnificent stone was cut into cushion shape yielding a polished diamond of 245.35 carats. Its present valuation is unknown.

Interesting Trivia: The diamond industry employs more than 10 million people worldwide and boasts of roughly $100 billion in annual revenue. If we put together the 50 biggest diamonds in the world their value would easily exceed the current annual revenue amount.

8. The De Beers: Another diamond mined back in 1888 by De Beers from its Kimberley mines, the De Beers was named after the company. Believed to have been cut and polished in Amsterdam, it was put on display in Paris. His Highness Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala acquired it and commissioned Cartier to set it into an exclusive ceremonial necklace in 1928. With 2930 diamonds, the stunning necklace was aptly dubbed the Patiala Necklace. The necklace and the diamond have both gone missing since then.

There are four more outstanding stones that I absolutely cannot leave out of my list of the most famous stones. I will share my complete list of the twelve most famous stones on my next blog.

Throughout the course of history, men have found the shine and attractiveness of the stone to be irresistible. AS a matter of fact, things haven’t changed much even today. When diamonds were not really considered precious possessions back in the day, there weren’t many wars or deaths associated with these gems. But as soon as their inherent value was understood, it triggered a chain reaction that forced men to do horrible things for possessing these precious stones.

There have been many famous diamonds through history including the Kohinoor, the Shalimar, and the Cullinan diamond – to name a few. Each one of these magnificent stones comes with its own trail of blood and bodies strewn behind as men went to great lengths to possess these legendary gems.

Hard Fact: Blood diamonds or conflict diamonds are diamonds that are either mined illegally or stolen from legitimate mines and then sold on the black market. The proceeds from such diamonds are used to fuel terrorism, war and insurgency.

When Africa found its first diamond mines way back in the early 1800’s, most of the mine owners were either Jewish or Englishmen. The century was one of British dominance in the great African continent. The aboriginals of Africa were being enslaved, victimized and slaughtered in hundreds and thousands. They were forced to work the mines and dig out the stones for the owners. Working conditions were such that dozens of slaves died every day.

Initially the enslaved workers had no idea about the value of the diamonds. But once they realized how precious these stones were, efforts to steal and pillage the stones for themselves started in earnest. The mine owners too recognized this and were known to take extremely severe steps to stop theft. Strip searches were the norm and any worker found stealing was either flogged in public or summarily executed.

In addition to the workers themselves, roving bandits and others would also try to sneak into mines to grab some diamonds. To keep these in check, the mine owners surrounded their stakes with land mines and similar barriers. Guards with watch dogs trained to kill were also deployed. Many men lost their lives or were handicapped for life. Of course, this rarely stopped others from trying.

More recently, in the last few decades, diamonds have also been used to finance coup; insurgents have used the money generated from stolen, illegal diamonds to overthrow governments or spread terror among innocent people. This phenomenon was so widespread that the United Nations had to intervene. Following a meeting of all diamond producing nations, the UN officially introduced the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) requirements in 2003.

Today, Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) is enforced and except for a few aberrations, all diamonds produced anywhere in the world pass through this certification and scheme.

Diamonds have been attracting mankind from times immemorial and are likely to continue doing so for the next several millennia.

Hard Fact: From all the diamonds mined the world over, only about 20% actually get used in jewelry.

Yup, you read that right. Jewelry grade diamonds are only about 20% of the total diamonds mined around the world. The rest are either too dull or opaque or just downright financially unviable to be converted into the sparkling stones required for jewelry. Now before you start wondering what happens to the remaining 80% of the diamonds mined, know that diamonds are mainly classified into two kinds – jewelry grade and industrial grade.

While the jewelry grade diamonds are useful only as objects of desire, the industrial diamonds find multitude of uses in almost every technological sector across the globe. Wondering where? Let’s take a look…

High Quality Audio: I am sure you did not see that one coming. Unbelievable, but true.Apparently sound travels a lot faster in diamonds than it does in air. Furthermore, diamonds are unbelievably hard, so when they vibrate, they do not suffer wear and tear. When converted into a really slim dome, they can reproduce top quality sound without any distortion.

Industrial Abrasives:The ultimate combination of hardness and toughness of the diamonds make them ideal for a number of industrial applications such as grinding, polishing and cutting. After jewelry, perhaps the second highest use of diamonds is as abrasives. Extremely small diamonds or grinded diamond powderare installed into a number of tools including drill bits, grinding wheels, metal and diamond saws. Most of the diamond cutting and polishing tools themselves use such diamonds or diamond based powder. After all, only a diamond can cut a diamond.

Semiconductors: Diamond’s impressive chemical, thermal and electronic properties make it the ultimate semiconductor material. Due to diamond’s thermal conductivity, diamonds can tolerate extremely high temperature without getting too hot. Their ability to dissipate heat combined with ability to let electrons travel really fast, allow diamonds to tolerate high voltages before breaking down.

Engraving:Diamond is the hardest materialknown to man. There are several other hard metals and stones other than diamonds, but none come close to the hardness of diamonds. In other words, nothing can scratch the surface of diamonds. So, once again, diamonds are the natural choice for any kind of engraving on other materials. Be it quartz, granite or any other stones, diamonds are used to create beautiful styles, patterns, shapes and even to give them necessary finishingdesiredfor jewelry and other decorative applications.

Interesting Trivia: In earlier times, diamonds were believed to have medicinal properties, especially against poisons and certain deadly diseases such as the plague.

Bearings: When low friction is required, bearings are normally the chosen solution. But what if the bearings needed are really teeny weeny and cannot be changed frequently? Diamonds come in handy in such cases. Their high durability and resistance to abrasion make them just perfect for use in such micro ball bearings.

Diamond Coatings: Once again, it is the high durability of diamonds that is in demand here. For highly sensitive parts of machines, diamonds are converted into vapor form and then the vapor is sprayed on to such parts. This gives them durability that no other coating can provide.

These are just a few of the better known and more widely used applications of diamonds. Scientists across the globe are of course finding many many more applications of diamond as a super technological material every day.

Thus began the love story of a man with diamonds. That love story started around 3000 years (in other words, 30 centuries) ago. The far forgotten land was some place in the Southern part of India (as per popular belief).  And the man who found the first diamond… Well, no one really knows who found the first diamond. What is definitely known though is that since then men have done the most amazing and romantic things with these sparkling stones to celebrate their beauty. And, at the same time, some men have also done the most horrible and imaginable thingspossible to get their hands on these precious stones.

Interesting Trivia: For nearly 500 years, diamonds were known only in India. The rest of the world had no idea that such an exquisite stone existed!!!

So who introduced diamonds to the rest of the world?

Some historical facts point the finger toward Alexander the Great of Macedonia. It is believed that he first took diamonds back to Europe with him when he returned to Greece after his conquest of India. That would mean diamonds traveled from India to Europe sometime around 327 BC. That’s even before Christ was born!

Maybe the ancient Indians knew about the value of diamonds and used them in jewelry… or maybe they did not. There’s no record. But what is historically known is that in the second century AD, a Hungarian queen had diamonds set on her new crown. Much later, in 1477 AD, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, presented an engagement ring to his soon to be queen – Mary of Burgundy. The ring was set with diamonds and started a trend that continues till date – that of getting engaged with a diamond ring.

Going back a bit, cutting and polishing of natural diamonds was as yet an unknown process. No one knew how to cut diamonds until the 13^th century. It was only in 1375 that the Point Cut was created. Up until then, only the best naturally formed diamonds were used for jewelry or decorative purposes. The rest were discarded.

Fact: Until the 14^th century, only best naturally formed diamonds were used for jewelry or decorative purposes; the rest were discarded since no one knew how to cut and polish the stones with rough edges. 

Increasingly thereafter, various new cuts were developed and the demand of diamonds as objects of desire and their use in jewelry increased.

In the 18^th century, India ran out of diamonds, but new supplies were discovered in Brazil. About a century and a half later, South Africa took over as the diamond producing capital of the world. It was South Africa that gave birth to the world’s largest diamond producing organization – the De Beers Corporation. As newer diamond deposits were discovered in various countries around the world, the reach of diamonds increased. What was once an object of desire and flauntedby only the rich and elite, now started reaching the masses.

In the last couple of centuries, these stunningly brilliant stones have gone through many upheavals and changes. But their allure and attraction has remained unchanged.

What will be the future of these sparkling stones? Only time will tell…

Would it not be cool if we could take some big lumps of coal, apply ultra-high pressure and temperature to it, and get gorgeous diamonds? We would all be rich overnight. Unfortunately, converting coal to diamond can only happen in the movies. Then again may be the Superman can do it with his unreal superpowers.
HARD FACT: DIAMONDS DO NOT FORM FROM COAL
Yup, that’s true – diamonds do not come from coal. They might be found in some coal mines somewhere, but there’s no way that coal might become diamond.
How do diamonds actually form?
For starters, let us understand that both coal and diamonds are made of carbon (though diamond is purer). Yes, you read that right. Both have the same basic material at their cores. However, while coal is only black with zero reflective qualities, diamonds come in a range of colors and have very high reflective indices.

It takes ultra-high pressure,approximately 50 Kilo bars, and extreme temperature, in excess of 1000 degrees Celsius, to form a diamond. Such pressures and temperatures are only possible deep in the earth’s crust – somewhere between 140 and 190 kilometers. There would have to be some form of carbon available deep down there, but that would not necessarily be coal.

Interesting Trivia: Diamonds were formed deep in the earth’s crust somewhere between 600 millionto 3.3 billion years ago. That’s means the youngest diamonds we hold in our hands today were formed way before the dinosaurs ruled the earth.

Actually, coal is rarely ever present that deep below the surface. Coal is usually found at just about 3.2 kilometers underneath the surface. Moreover, coal is formed from plant / vegetation sediments at much lower pressure and temperatures.

Luckily, that would not be required as the diamonds normally get pushed closer to the surface due to a special kind of volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. Now don’t go about thinking that every time there is a volcanic eruption, there will be diamonds spewed out of the earth for the picking. To the contrary, there is no recorded recent volcanic eruption that has brought diamonds to the surface.

That’s because the diamond bearing crust (or mantle as it is correctly known) is much deeper than most currently active volcanic tubes. In other words, diamond bearing regions of the earth came to have those diamonds hundreds of thousands of years ago when there were massive and deep crust volcanic activities thereabouts.

Well, that’s all about how diamonds are formed and come to the surface of the earth to reach us. Next up, we will take a look at the long history of man’s love with this most precious of stones.