Its toughness and beauty have been known and praised since ancient times. The actual word “diamond” comes from the old Greek “adamas”, which means “unconquerable”.

The decision to purchase a diamond is a rather important one. To the Romans, diamonds were falling stars that tipped the arrow of Eros, the God of love. This meant that those who wore them would be filled with love and spread feelings of happiness around them.

Whether or not the belief was based on real facts, diamonds seem to have some form of energy around them, and you should pay special attention when choosing one.

The Four C’s

Assessing the Four C’s is a method that helps us see the true value of a stone we’re about to purchase. Used mainly by professional jewelers, it’s still very simple to be applied even by an untrained eye.

So What Are The Four C’s?

They are Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat.

The Cut…

… is considered by many jewelers as the most important of a diamond’s properties.

Depending on how well it is made, it determines how well it reflects light. Professionals strive to make the cut as precise as geometrically possible so that it will reflect more light. If the cut is too shallow, light escapes out the sides and the diamond loses brilliance. If the cut is too deep, light is lost out the bottom and the diamond appears dark or dull.

Therefore, a bright shining diamond, with a symmetrical appearance is a definite sign that the cut is of high quality.

Color

Despite the common belief, not all diamonds are white or colorless. In fact, most diamonds you will find have slight tones of yellow, brown or blue.

There is an actual scale you can use to get a beautiful diamond at a reasonable price. It covers all leathers from D to Z.

D to F are colorless diamonds. These are the rarest and of course, the most expensive. Unless you have a huge pocket, look for stones in the range of…

G to I. These ones offer excellent value and they have a light blue color.

Stones graded above K can still be lovely if they have a great Cut and …

Clarity…

… refers to the number of imperfections in the stone. Absolutely perfect diamonds are extremely rare.

So the value of the crystal is deeply influenced by the number of “Inclusions” or “Blemishes”.

There is also a more complicated scale to rate the perfection of a Diamond, but I won’t bore you with it.

Just watch for diamonds rated “I”, which have imperfections that may be visible with the naked eye. The other grades aren’t important because when mounted in jewelry, the slight imperfections become invisible.

Carat

This is generally the only property people follow when purchasing diamonds.

The carat is the measurement unit for a diamond’s weight. One carat weighs 200 miligrams, or 1/5 of a gram. Each carat is divided into 100 points.

The bigger the crystal, the more carats is has and the bigger the price.

Don’t be tempted to say the bigger the better. Ultimately, you want a diamond that has a balance between the Four C’s.

With this kind of knowledge, you are now ready to start searching for the greatest gift you could ever think of. So wait no longer. I guarantee that you’ll be satisfied with the jewel you’ll choose.

April is the most privileged month in the year because it has diamond as its birthstone. Diamonds are the most expensive precious stones because they have the most extraordinary properties in the mineral kingdom. And they look good with any outfit, being the first choice for many Hollywood actresses such as Cindy Crawford or Halle Berry.

Most diamond are more than a hundred million years old; some are three billion years old. They are the oldest gemstones known to man.

Their chemical composition is of pure carbon, crystallized over millions of years deep inside Earth’s core at an incredible pressure into the toughest object on the planet. There is nothing more resistant than it. You can only cut a diamond with another diamond. No need to worry that you’ll scratch it; it will never happen.

However, you should never use fire on diamonds. There is a story of a jeweler who went to the king of Spain to promise him that he could build him the biggest diamond in the world. For this, he asked to be given a bunch of smaller diamond that he would use to build the big one. The king agreed.

The jeweler’s plan was to melt the small diamonds into a huge, more beautiful one. To his surprise, the diamonds didn’t turn into an extraordinary precious stone, but into graphite which has the same chemical composition, but it’s worthless. When he was asked for the diamond, the jeweler could not explain what happened. The king thought he just kept the gems for himself, so he beheaded him.

April Birthstone - Diamond

When it comes to wearing diamonds, there’s no wrong way. Diamond brooches adorn business suits. Diamond studs are worn to the gym. This ground swell of wearing diamonds every day started a few years back when designers like John Galliano and Donna Karan popularized them on their runways.

Most recently, Galliano and other major European designers showed elaborate Belle Époque settings, and Oscar de la Renta showed diamonds exclusively in his collections. A lot of upwardly mobile professional women took note. They are today’s diamond customers who want diamonds, can afford them, and don’t have to wait for an engagement or 25th wedding anniversary to own them.

When looking for diamonds, customers must take a careful look for the 4 C’s: cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. But people should understand that it is the cutting that releases the true brilliance of a stone.

You can find a wide array of diamond jewelry at the industry leading distributor, Diamond International.