🕵️♂️Diamond Terminology
What is a Rough Diamond?
A rough diamond, also known as an uncut or raw diamond, is a diamond in its natural state, having been freshly mined and unprocessed. It lacks the smooth and polished appearance of a cut diamond and may have a rugged, textured surface.
What is a Cut Diamond?
A cut diamond is a diamond that has been skillfully cut and polished, transforming an unprocessed rough diamond into a remarkable gemstone. The cutting and polishing process unleashes the diamond's beauty and releases its true potential value.
Rough Diamond Vs Cut Diamond
The value of a rough diamond is significantly increased through cutting, as this process unlocks the diamond's inherent brilliance and sparkle. The carefully crafted facets and polished surface enhance the stone's market appeal, desirability as well as true value.
Characteristics of a Rough Diamond
When buying a rough diamond, you must consider things like; Clarity, Color, Shape and Transparency:
1. Clarity
How many natural imperfections, called inclusions and blemishes, the diamond has on its inside and outside. These imperfections are often invisible to the naked eye and require a microscope to see. Diamonds with fewer imperfections are clearer, more transparent, and appear more brilliant.
2. Color
Rough diamonds can range in color from colorless to yellow, brown, or even green. Trace elements or structural defects can cause variations in color, and color intensity can affect a diamond's value as well as appearance.
3. Shape
Rough diamonds can come in a variety of shapes, including octahedral, cubic, and triangular.
Rough diamonds can have surface features like pits, cracks, or growth lines that can affect their appearance and potential for cutting.
The shape of a rough diamond will determine how it is cut. If the stone has a good general shape and no major surface features its is classed as "Markable". When cutting a Markable stone the waste (or amount of carat size lost) during the cutting process will be less.
If a rough diamond has a lot of surface features or its general shape is more irregular then it will require sawing into a better shape before it can be cut. These stones are referred to a "Sawable" and have a higher level of waste during cutting.
4. Transparency
How much light passes through the diamond.
Transparency plays a vital role in a rough diamond as it impacts the stone's clarity and potential for brilliance. A transparent rough diamond signifies a lower presence of inclusions, making it more desirable and valuable once cut and polished.
Fancy Colored Diamonds
Most people think that diamonds are all clear or white, like the ones we see in diamond engagement rings, but this is not actually the case.
Fancy colored diamonds are rare and captivating gemstones known for their vivid and mesmerizing colors. Unlike traditional white or colorless diamonds, these exceptional stones come in a diverse range of hues such as blue, pink, yellow, and green, making them extremely valuable and highly desirable.
Kimberley Process Certificates (KPC)
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is the process established in 2003 by United Nations General Assembly to prevent "conflict diamonds" or so called "blood diamonds" from entering the mainstream rough diamond market.
Kimberley Process Certificates are authoritative documents that confirm the ethical origin of rough diamonds. These certificates contribute to ethical and transparent practices in the diamond industry, promoting responsible sourcing and trading.
The KPC documents are issued by the local government in the source country and are required for both the 'export' and 'import' of rough diamonds.
What is a Gemologist?
Gemologists are experts in the field of gemology, who are responsible for verifying the origin, clarity, color, cut, and carat weight of gemstones to ensure accuracy in valuation and identification.
Gemologists typically use a combination of visual inspection, magnification, and light performance analysis (UV Light) to check a diamond's characteristics and determine its value.
Last updated
