What Is a Pure Diamond?

Inside the higher than 500 years since Archduke Maximilian of Austria provided Mary of Burgundy with the first diamond engagement ring, the stone has come to characterize purity, faithfulness, love, and splendid. Nonetheless primarily essentially the most in fashion chance for an engagement ring proper now, diamonds are extraordinarily strong and very unusual. Nonetheless understanding why they’re so priceless—and what to seek for everytime you’re searching for one—is crucial to choosing the stone that’s finest for you.

“Essential issue to remember when purchasing for a little bit of diamond jewelry is to not rush the tactic,” 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 specific and as unusual as that of the actual individual sporting it.”

Ahead, consultants share each half it’s advisable to search out out about pure diamonds, from how they’re formed (and positioned!) to understanding their long-term price—and the way in which to determine on one that may look as stunning now as it will in 50 years.

How Pure Diamonds Are Formed

Pure diamonds found underground are a “crystalline sort of pure carbon that’s formed by the acute heat and pressure of the earth,” says Kayel. The stones are recognized 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 be formed underground; the hue changes 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 changes in pressure, this will alter the stone,” says Kayel. “This results in diamonds of virtually every shade inside the rainbow, in some other case generally called ‘fancy colored’ diamonds.” 

Whereas brown and yellow are the most typical fancy colors, says Olivia Landau of The Clear Reduce, the stones moreover may come out blue, inexperienced, pink, or purple. “A pure blue diamond is formed in an area with trace components paying homage 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 according to their reduce, shade, carat weight, and readability—the 4 Cs. The higher a stone scores in each class, the additional priceless it is. Nonetheless the similar imperfections which can make a diamond additional financially accessible give it a look all its private. “It’s vital to look previous the 4 Cs and ponder the fifth C: character,” says Kayel. “On account of their rarity and historic and pure formation, every diamond’s character is unique.” 

Landau moreover seems to be like 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 will find yourself in a couple of 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 every their very personal distinctive story, and is what makes them so specific.”

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 aren’t any new diamonds in the mean time being formed, they’re an actual rarity,” says Landau.

Kayal visualizes it this way: “The annual restoration of all pure diamonds 1-carat and above can fill just one practice ball,” she says. “Of the diamonds which will be being mined proper now, solely about 50 % are thought to be extreme adequate top quality to be provided on the diamond market, making them a particularly priceless commodity.”

What to Seek for When Purchasing for a Pure Diamond

When searching for a diamond, Landau recommends looking for stones with reduce, shade, readability, and carat rankings licensed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA)—and discovering a jeweler you perception. “No two diamonds are the similar, 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 easiest way a little bit of knickknack is marketed. “Lab-grown diamond’s needs to be disclosed as such and might’t merely be often called 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. “This can be very 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 areas are part of the tactic, says Kayel, beneath which “all powerful diamond commerce is strictly regulated to verify it is conflict-free.” The commerce may also be implementing blockchain utilized sciences to help purchasers trace the path of their diamond, from mine to proposal. 

Sustainability

An increasing number of daring sustainability initiatives embody firms similar to the De Beers Group and Rio Tinto setting carbon neutrality timelines. “The diamond commerce actively protects the biodiversity surrounding each mine, defending an area 4 events greater in dimension than the land they use,” says Kayel.

Heirloom Top quality

Purchasing for a pure diamond now—sooner than the supply drops way more dramatically, likely inside the subsequent two to three a very long time, says Landau—means you’re investing in an asset that may admire in price (every sentimental and financial). “Pure diamonds keep their price,” says Landau. “Heirloom diamonds are the ultimate phrase sort of sustainability, because of they’re recycled and handed down by the use of generations.”