Diamond Edge

Diamond Certificates

2007-04-25T02:06:00.001-07:00

A diamond certificate is also known as a Diamond Grading Report. This report comes from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), and you should require this report when you are purchasing a diamond.

With a diamond certificate, you can verify the color, cut, carat, weight, and clarity of the diamond. You don抰 have to worry about a diamond dealer telling you anything less than the truth, because the certificate comes from the GIA ?not the dealer. You may be required to pay for the certificate, but the cost is usually low, and in many cases, it will help you negotiate a better price on the diamond ?or keep you from purchasing a lower quality diamond altogether.
If you buy a high quality diamond, and then later decide to sell the diamond, you will need to have the certificate, or you will have a hard time selling it to someone else. Furthermore, you can use the Diamond Grading Report to look up the wholesale value of the diamond in question. Use the guide that is used by the diamond cutting industry.

With the Certificate, or Diamond Grading Report, there won抰 be any doubts when you are trying to purchase a diamond. You can easily find out what the diamond is worth. This will prevent you from overpaying, and it can prevent a seller from under-charging as well.
A copy of the Diamond Grading Report should be given to your insurance company as well, when you insure the diamond. This provides absolute, unquestionable proof of the value of the diamond should it be stolen in the future. Insurance companies cannot argue with the report.
Avoid diamond dealers who seem reluctantto provide a certificate! Also avoid sellers who tell you that a certificate diamond will cost you more ?the only additional cost should be the cost of the certificate, which is low. If the dealer doesn抰 want to provide a certificate, then you don抰 want to do business with that dealer.

Don抰 accept certificates from Gemological Laboratories other than GIA. There are many fly-by-night Gemological labs these days, but in the end, GIA has been established as the most respectable and trustworthy ?not to mention oldest ?of the lot. So avoid dealers who don抰 want to use GIA for certification purposes as well.

Don抰 buy an expensive diamond without paying the extra cost of the certificate. If a dealer tries to convince you to make the purchase without the certificate, or if they want to use a company other than GIA, you can be sure that the dealer has probably greatly inflated the price of the diamond ?they have something that they are hiding from you.

Diamond Grading

2007-04-25T01:57:00.000-07:00

You抳e been told that having a certificate or a diamond grading report is important, and as a responsible consumer, you get one ?unfortunately, you probably won抰 understand a word of what is on that diamond grading report, unless you are a jeweler.

On the color grading scale, D, E, and F mean that the diamond has no color. G, H, and I means that it has very little color. J, K, and L means that the diamond has a slight yellow color. P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and X means that the diamond is a darker shade of yellow. Z means that the diamond has a fancy color ?other than white or yellow. On the color grading scale, D is the most valuable, and X is the least valuable ?however diamonds that get a Z rating are the rarest and most expensive diamonds in the world.

There are many aspects to a grading report. Figuring it all out can be very confusing. You should talk to a jeweler you trust, and have them explain everything on the diamond grading report to you.

Where Diamonds are Mined

2007-04-24T03:27:00.000-07:00

Argye mine located in the Kimberley region in the far north east of Western Australia. Owned by Rio Tinto, this mine is the world largest single producer of volume of diamonds. However, due to low proportion of gem quality diamonds it is not the value leader. It does produce 90-95% of the world supply of pink diamonds.

Diavik is also owned by Rio Tinto, located in Canada it is a very large mine. It is located north of Yellowknife and south of the Artic Circle on an island. The island is connected by an ice road. It is also an important part of the regions economy employing more than 700 people and producing more than 8 million carats annually.

Ekati diamond mine is owned by BHP Billiton and located south of the artic circle in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The Ekati is Canada first operational diamond mine. Diamonds mined here are sold under the Aurias trade name Authenticity is verified through CanadaMark service. CanadaMark service is also owned by BHP Billiton Diamonds, Inc.

Baken diamond mine is located along the lower Orange River in South Africa. It is owned and operated by Trans Hex. The average size stone for 2004 was 1.29 carats. In 2004, this mine produced a 78.9 carat D color flawless diamond that sold for more than 1.8 million dollars (US), as well as a 27.67 pink diamond that was sold for over 1 million US dollars.

Merlin is the second of only two diamond mines in Australia. No longer operating it was owned by Rio Tinto and sold to Striker Resources, who has explored the possibilities of reopening the mine.

Orapa is the world largest diamond mine. It us located 240 Km west of Francistown. The mine is owned by 璌ebswana?which is a partnership between DeBeers and the government of Botswana. This mine operates 7 days a week. It maintains pre primary and primary schools for its employee children. There is also a 100 bed hospital and game park. This mine began production in 1971 and is the oldest mine owned by the Debswana Company.

The Premier mine located in Cullinan, South Africa produced the largest gem diamond ever in 1905. The Cullinan Diamond weighed 3,106.75 carats. This mine also produced the Golden Jubilee diamond which weighed 545.67 carats. This mine is owned by the De Beers Company and was renamed The Cullinan Diamond Mine in 2003 in celebration of its centennial.