Instructions - how to recognize a diamond

There is no 100% functional, simple and reliable manual. So it is definitely not possible to know the diamond with certainty at first sight, especially if we are laymen, we do not have information, experience and relevant equipment and other helpers.

Diamond is almost the hardest known natural mineral, or mineral, in Mohs's 10th hardness scale. It is a crystalline form of carbon. The most popular cut is diamond grinding, because the beauty of this mineral stands out in it.

Diamond is a popular and to some extent an expected engagement stone. Affection, love and respect for the loved one are inserted into it, which is also associated with financial demands.
But it is also a traditional gift for the wedding anniversary, the 10th, 30th, 60th, 75th and 80th anniversaries. Especially the 60th anniversary is the best opportunity to donate a diamond or diamonds, as it is called a diamond wedding. If you want to be inspired by gifts for individual wedding anniversaries, read the following article.

The basic characteristics of diamonds are the so-called 4 C, which are the initial letters of the English terms of these characteristics.
The world's gemological institutes use different rules for evaluating diamonds, but they are more or less similar.

CARAT = weight in carats. Carat (ct, or Ct, or CT) is a unit of weight used in jewelry for gems as well as pearls. This unit does not belong to the SI system. Today, the so-called metric carat is used, which is exactly 200 mg (ie 0.2 g). Historically, this is the seed weight of locust bean bread (Latin: Ceratonia siliqua), which was used in the legume family, which was used in Arabia and Persia to determine the price of precious stones. The seeds are commonly available and their weight is relatively the same everywhere. E.g. A real diamond with a brilliant cut, weighing 1 ct, is about 6 mm in diameter. In contrast, raw, uncut stones weigh grams or kilograms. Each cut stone is weighed to 3 decimal places.

COLOR = color. In the normal scale, it is the letter D (exceptionally white) to Z (yellowish, brownish). The classification is based on standard diamonds, which have been marked by accredited laboratories according to precisely defined rules. The scale was introduced by the American Gemological Institute (GIA) in the 1950s.
The more colorless a diamond is, the more valued and expensive it is. The letter D was used so that the division did not resemble the one replaced by the GIA. Previously, the letters A, B, and C, Roman, or Arabic numerals were used to indicate color.
The 23 degrees of color scale is divided into 5 categories: colorless (D - F), almost colorless (G - J), very fine traces of color (K - M), fine traces of color (N - R) and clear traces of color (S - OF).

CLARITY = internal purity. The evaluation includes the so-called internal features, ie presence, resp. the absence of inclusions of mineral crystals or other precious stones. The degree of purity is determined by the type, size, location, prominence and amount of inclusions.

CUT = grinding wheel and its quality. The evaluation of the quality of the grinding includes the so-called external features, ie surface defects. The evaluation includes the shape of the facets (faces) and the angles between them, the width of the rundist (edge of the facet) and the size of the calette (bottom face of the cut). The GIA scale is used, namely the grinding of standard round diamonds (ie diamonds with a diamond cut) in the color range D to Z, which is based on 7 basic criteria. These are: the total amount of light that the stone reflects (brilliance), the scattering of the reflected light into the color spectrum (fire), the combination of flashes and light and dark areas as the stone moves (spark), the mass coefficient, resistance, polishing and symmetry.

The determination of qualitative characteristics should be done by a trained gemologist.

Brilliant vs. diamond

A diamond is not a precious stone, but it is called a type of cut. Brilliant grinding has been known since about 1910 and has a total of 56 (57) faces or facets. Marcel Tolkowski, who was able to calculate this inclination, is behind the ideal inclination of the facet angles. The light passing through the diamond thus reflects the entire color spectrum, moreover in maximum intensity. On well-cut diamonds, the so-called black flame can be seen when looking directly inside the top. This is an optical phenomenon where the peak works the other way around, similar to a reflector. The ideal cut has 32 upper facets and a top surface and 24 facets at the bottom. In addition, the last surface is tolerated, as ideally several facets should converge into a single point, which is almost impossible in practice.

Brilliant is derived from the French "brilliant", shining, bright). Both terms are often confused. A diamond can be a diamond or other precious stone that is cut into many facets. However, only a round diamond with a brilliant cut should be correctly marked as a real diamond, other precious stones should be marked with an adjective, ie an emerald with a brilliant cut. This explains the difference between a diamond and a diamond.

What do you imagine when you say zircon or cubic zirconia? How to recognize a diamond from zircon?

Zirconium is chemically zirconia, a white crystalline substance that becomes a stable cubic (cubic) structure at very high temperatures (2,350 ° C). Cubic zircons are used in jewelry, as a substitute for diamonds, because they are similar in appearance and you cannot tell them apart at first glance.

Unlike diamond, however, zircon loses its luster after about 1 year. Because it is softer than a diamond, its surface can be damaged, stopping it from reflecting the rays of light as it did when it was new. Zircon and diamond can be reliably identified by the price to be purchased.

But whether you decide to buy a diamond, another gemstone or a semi-precious stone or zircon, there will always be something special for you. Because you bought it because you liked it, or because someone gave it to you who loves you and who cares about you. The financial burden should not be significant in such a case. It doesn't matter if the stone cost a few hundred crowns or a thousand or hundreds of thousands. If it is a gift, it is important who gave you and for what occasion.

She wrote the article for you on December 11, 2021: Mgr. Radka Brichcínová

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