Under immense heat and pressure, diamonds crystallized and were brought to the earth's surface through volcanic explosions of magma. This magma cooled and solidified as kimberlite ore, the primary sources where rough diamonds are still found today. Man first discovered diamonds 4,000 years ago in the riverbeds of the Golconda region of India. These diamonds had been eroded from the primary deposits and had washed into the rivers. Today, most diamonds come from primary deposits and only one fifth of all of the diamonds mined end up in jewelry. The name "diamond" comes from the Greek word "adamas," which means unconquerable. The diamond is the hardest natural substance known to man and many of the rarest diamonds are found in "fancy" natural colors including pink, blue, green, yellow, and very rarely in red. Every diamond is unique, with its own individual beauty and when you evaluate one you must grade each stone in two overall ways: Quality, as defined by the 4C's and Beauty, which involves going beyond the technical grading to discover diamonds that have exceptional fire, life and brilliance. Color, clarity, fluorescence, polished girdle, quality of the rough material from which the stone was cut, symmetry, the smoothness of the finish on each facet and the crispness of the ribs between the facets all combine to have an influence on a diamond's beauty. Therefore, a beautiful diamond is one that successfully maximizes the following beauty factors: BRILLIANCE, SCINTILLATION, DISPERSION, LIGHT RETURN GEOMETRY, and PERCEIVED SYMMETRY.
The following is a diamond glossary. This contains the definition of many of the words used to describe diamonds and fine jewelry. We hope that this will help you to make a more educated decision when purchasing your diamond from Tara Fine Jewelry Co., Inc.
