What Is a Pure Diamond?

Throughout the larger than 500 years since Archduke Maximilian of Austria launched Mary of Burgundy with the first diamond engagement ring, the stone has come to symbolize purity, faithfulness, love, and splendid. Nonetheless most likely essentially the most trendy alternative for an engagement ring as we communicate, diamonds are extraordinarily sturdy and very unusual. Nonetheless understanding why they’re so invaluable—and what to seek for for those who’re in search of one—is crucial to deciding on the stone that’s greatest for you.

“A really highly effective issue to remember when purchasing for a piece of diamond jewelry is to not rush the strategy,” says Kristina Buckley Kayel of the Pure Diamond Council. “It’s paramount to take your time to evaluation and know exactly what you’re purchasing for and the place it’s coming from. A pure diamond’s character is as explicit and as unusual as that of the actual particular person carrying it.”

Ahead, consultants share each half you may wish to discover out about pure diamonds, from how they’re formed (and positioned!) to understanding their long-term price—and the best way to resolve on one that will look as fairly now as it may in 50 years.

How Pure Diamonds Are Formed

Pure diamonds found underground are a “crystalline sort of pure carbon that’s formed by the extreme heat and pressure of the earth,” says Kayel. The stones are acknowledged for his or her sturdiness, rarity, and sparkle. “Pure diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring substance, and formed deep all through the earth 1 to a few billion years previously,” says Kayel. “Pure diamonds are the oldest issue you may ever contact—to not point out private.”

Colored diamonds will even be formed underground; the hue modifications primarily based totally on completely different components present as a result of the carbon crystallized. “All through a diamond’s formation, when carbon atoms bond collectively, coupled with the trapping of non-carbon atoms or if there are modifications in pressure, this may alter the stone,” says Kayel. “This results in diamonds of virtually every color inside the rainbow, in some other case commonly known as ‘fancy colored’ diamonds.” 

Whereas brown and yellow are the most common fancy colors, says Olivia Landau of The Clear Scale back, the stones moreover might come out blue, inexperienced, pink, or crimson. “A pure blue diamond is formed in an area with trace components akin to boron,” says Landau. “That’s moreover true for inexperienced diamonds, as they seem to be a outcomes of being formed near a uranium deposit with radiation.”

The Distinctive Attributes of Pure Diamonds

Diamonds are graded consistent with their scale back, color, carat weight, and readability—the 4 Cs. The higher a stone scores in each class, the additional invaluable it is. Nonetheless the equivalent imperfections which can make a diamond additional financially accessible give it a look all its private. “It’s essential to look previous the 4 Cs and take into consideration the fifth C: character,” says Kayel. “Ensuing from their rarity and historic and pure formation, every diamond’s character is unique.” 

Landau moreover seems for the one-of-a-kind components in each stone. “Although there could possibly be defects, I think about that these are actually the pure fingerprints or ‘birthmarks’ of the diamond and might result in a lot of the good stones,” she says. “The inclusions that get caught inside the diamond over the formation course of that takes billions of years give each one their very personal distinctive story, and is what makes them so explicit.”

Why Pure Diamonds Are So Useful

Pure diamonds are nonetheless extraordinarily unusual—significantly relative to lab-grown diamonds, which could possibly be produced in “limitless parts” in just some weeks, say the consultants. “Pure diamonds are a unusual and finite helpful useful resource that take billions of years to create, and since there are usually not any new diamonds presently being formed, they’re an actual rarity,” says Landau.

Kayal visualizes it this vogue: “The annual restoration of all pure diamonds 1-carat and above can fill just one practice ball,” she says. “Of the diamonds which might be being mined as we communicate, solely about 50 % are thought to be extreme enough prime quality to be purchased on the diamond market, making them an especially invaluable commodity.”

What to Seek for When Looking for a Pure Diamond

When in search of a diamond, Landau recommends looking out for stones with scale back, color, readability, and carat rankings licensed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)—and discovering a jeweler you perception. “No two diamonds are the equivalent, and all diamonds are graded by individuals, so it is additional of an paintings than a science,” she says. Kayel recommends paying shut consideration to the best way wherein a piece of jewelry is marketed. “Lab-grown diamond’s should be disclosed as such and might’t merely be known as a ‘diamond,’” she says. “The phrase ‘diamond’ alone implies that it’s a pure diamond.”

Ethical Sourcing

As a result of the diamond commerce has matured, elevated oversight has counteracted the ethical factors that beforehand plagued mining processes. “It’s vitally unusual to find a diamond that isn’t ethically sourced,” says Landau. The Kimberley Course of, developed by the United Nations and the World Commerce Group, regulates the diamond commerce and authenticates the ethical sourcing of each stone. Larger than 80 worldwide places are part of the strategy, says Kayel, beneath which “all powerful diamond commerce is strictly regulated to ensure it is conflict-free.” The commerce might be implementing blockchain utilized sciences to help shoppers trace the path of their diamond, from mine to proposal. 

Sustainability

Increasingly daring sustainability initiatives embody corporations identical to the De Beers Group and Rio Tinto setting carbon neutrality timelines. “The diamond commerce actively protects the biodiversity surrounding each mine, masking an area 4 events larger in dimension than the land they use,” says Kayel.

Heirloom Top quality

Looking for a pure diamond now—sooner than the provision drops rather more dramatically, probably inside the subsequent two to three a few years, says Landau—means you’re investing in an asset that will admire in price (every sentimental and financial). “Pure diamonds keep their price,” says Landau. “Heirloom diamonds are the final phrase sort of sustainability, because of they’re recycled and handed down by generations.”