"The Diamond Necklace" is a famous story by French writer Guy de Maupassant. It tells the tale of a pretty, but poor woman, who borrows a friend?s diamond necklace to wear for a party. She becomes the star attraction at the party but tragically loses the necklace during the evening. She returns the necklace by buying an identical one form a jeweler. She spends the next ten years of her life scrimping and saving to pay back the debt they thus incurred. Poverty and overwork ages her before time, but, later, at a chance meeting with the owner of the necklace, she understands that it was an imitation and not real diamond.
The story speaks of the charm and harm diamond evokes. The reigning queen of jewelry for centuries, diamond is believed to enhance woman?s beauty as nothing else can. It has been a symbol of wealth, status, refinement, love and romance. Besides adorning women, diamonds have also adorned the armors of proud warriors. Many diamond have been part of history in intriguing, passionate or awe-inspiring stories. The Regent, The Blue Hope, Koh-i-Noor, Taylor-Burton, Tiffany etc. are some of the many famous diamonds.
The Regent: First found in Southern India, it was owned by William Pitt, the English Prime Minister and then the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France. It was later set in the crown of French King Louis XV. After the French revolution, the diamond was set in the hilt of Emperor Napoleon?s sword. Currently in the Louvre, France.
The Blue Hope: Once owned by King Louis XIV, it was later bought by Henry Philip Hope of London. The diamond developed a reputation for bad luck since all members of the Hope family as well as its later owner Mr. Edward Maclean died in poverty. It is currently in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Koh-I-Noor: First believed to have been set in the peacock throne of the mogul ruler Shah Jehan, is presently among the British crown jewels.
Taylor-Burton: This one, named after the legendary movie couple, was bought from Cartier by Richard Burton for Ms. Taylor. When they later put it up for sale, prospective buyers had to pay $2500 just to cover the cost of displaying it!
Tiffany: It is a famous yellow diamond, got from the De Beers mine of South Africa and later bought by Charles Lewis Tiffany, the famous Fifth Avenue jeweler.
The list is endless.
Diamond is a polymorph of carbon, another being graphite. Diamond is the hardest substance known to man. Its very name is said to have derived from the Greek word adamas meaning invincible. Its capacity of refraction and dispersion of light gives it the brilliance, which is greater than that of all other precious stones.
A diamond's defining parameters, by which its value and grade are decided, are its carat, color, clarity and cut.
Carat is the unit of weight for diamonds. A carat is equal to hundred points and the weight of smaller diamonds is expressed as points, say, 10 points or .1 carat. Other factors being equal, the higher the carats, the more valuable the diamond would be. Still, cut, color and clarity have their own importance and quality is not determined by weight alone.
The clarity of the diamond is decided by the markings or clouding on the diamond. These flaws, inside or on the surface, are known as inclusions. Some of these inclusions interferes with the passage of light while others can make a diamond vulnerable to shattering. The lesser the number of inclusions, the more perfect and brilliant the diamond would be and higher its value. A diamond with perfect clarify is rare, though most of the inclusions are not visible to the naked eye.
Coming to color, colorless diamonds are more valuable than colored ones, as the reflection from them is brighter. Totally colorless diamonds are too rare, but the ideal one is expected to be so and becomes the yardstick against which the tinged ones are graded. A grading system from D to Z exists in grading the color, D being the best quality available. Light yellow, brown and gray are the colors commonly seen.
A diamond's cut refers to its proportions, such as its depth and width and the uniformity of its facets. It is the property not decided naturally but by the diamond cutter, who fashions the gemstone, cutting it in a way as to let light enter and disperse to make it as brilliant as possible.
Such is the importance of diamonds in the jewelry market that the gem?s other uses remain shadowed by it. But in reality only one-fifth of the diamonds produced have a cosmetic duty. The rest have industrial uses. Diamonds form excellent machine parts because of the capacity to undergo sudden temperature changes without changing size or shape. They are also resistant to wear and rust. Diamond bearings are used in instruments in laboratories. Cutting tools made of diamond is used to slice metal, rock, concrete etc. In lens manufacture it is used as an abrasive. (An abrasive is a natural material used for giving finish to another object by rubbing or polishing it.) Its high thermal conductivity makes it useful in electrical wiring also.
The world's largest diamond producer is Africa where about 50% of global production occurs. Botswana, South Africa, Angola etc. are the African countries leading in the diamond production. Elsewhere, Australia is a leading producer and is an important producer at industrial level.
But despite being the hardest known substance, diamond is not totally invincible. It has four cleavable directions, and if struck in one of these directions, it may break. A skilled diamond setter knows how to set it in jewelry in such a way that it is unlikely to receive a blow in that direction.
Formerly, original diamonds were used both for industrial purposes and for jewelry. But now much of the need for industrial diamonds is met with synthetic ones. Synthetic diamond?s main advantage is that its properties can be tailored for specific applications. It can also be produced in large quantities. Diamonds are for ever. Changing cultural ethos or political conditions have not diminished its importance.
The story speaks of the charm and harm diamond evokes. The reigning queen of jewelry for centuries, diamond is believed to enhance woman?s beauty as nothing else can. It has been a symbol of wealth, status, refinement, love and romance. Besides adorning women, diamonds have also adorned the armors of proud warriors. Many diamond have been part of history in intriguing, passionate or awe-inspiring stories. The Regent, The Blue Hope, Koh-i-Noor, Taylor-Burton, Tiffany etc. are some of the many famous diamonds.
The Regent: First found in Southern India, it was owned by William Pitt, the English Prime Minister and then the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France. It was later set in the crown of French King Louis XV. After the French revolution, the diamond was set in the hilt of Emperor Napoleon?s sword. Currently in the Louvre, France.
The Blue Hope: Once owned by King Louis XIV, it was later bought by Henry Philip Hope of London. The diamond developed a reputation for bad luck since all members of the Hope family as well as its later owner Mr. Edward Maclean died in poverty. It is currently in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
Koh-I-Noor: First believed to have been set in the peacock throne of the mogul ruler Shah Jehan, is presently among the British crown jewels.
Taylor-Burton: This one, named after the legendary movie couple, was bought from Cartier by Richard Burton for Ms. Taylor. When they later put it up for sale, prospective buyers had to pay $2500 just to cover the cost of displaying it!
Tiffany: It is a famous yellow diamond, got from the De Beers mine of South Africa and later bought by Charles Lewis Tiffany, the famous Fifth Avenue jeweler.
The list is endless.
Diamond is a polymorph of carbon, another being graphite. Diamond is the hardest substance known to man. Its very name is said to have derived from the Greek word adamas meaning invincible. Its capacity of refraction and dispersion of light gives it the brilliance, which is greater than that of all other precious stones.
A diamond's defining parameters, by which its value and grade are decided, are its carat, color, clarity and cut.
Carat is the unit of weight for diamonds. A carat is equal to hundred points and the weight of smaller diamonds is expressed as points, say, 10 points or .1 carat. Other factors being equal, the higher the carats, the more valuable the diamond would be. Still, cut, color and clarity have their own importance and quality is not determined by weight alone.
The clarity of the diamond is decided by the markings or clouding on the diamond. These flaws, inside or on the surface, are known as inclusions. Some of these inclusions interferes with the passage of light while others can make a diamond vulnerable to shattering. The lesser the number of inclusions, the more perfect and brilliant the diamond would be and higher its value. A diamond with perfect clarify is rare, though most of the inclusions are not visible to the naked eye.
Coming to color, colorless diamonds are more valuable than colored ones, as the reflection from them is brighter. Totally colorless diamonds are too rare, but the ideal one is expected to be so and becomes the yardstick against which the tinged ones are graded. A grading system from D to Z exists in grading the color, D being the best quality available. Light yellow, brown and gray are the colors commonly seen.
A diamond's cut refers to its proportions, such as its depth and width and the uniformity of its facets. It is the property not decided naturally but by the diamond cutter, who fashions the gemstone, cutting it in a way as to let light enter and disperse to make it as brilliant as possible.
Such is the importance of diamonds in the jewelry market that the gem?s other uses remain shadowed by it. But in reality only one-fifth of the diamonds produced have a cosmetic duty. The rest have industrial uses. Diamonds form excellent machine parts because of the capacity to undergo sudden temperature changes without changing size or shape. They are also resistant to wear and rust. Diamond bearings are used in instruments in laboratories. Cutting tools made of diamond is used to slice metal, rock, concrete etc. In lens manufacture it is used as an abrasive. (An abrasive is a natural material used for giving finish to another object by rubbing or polishing it.) Its high thermal conductivity makes it useful in electrical wiring also.
The world's largest diamond producer is Africa where about 50% of global production occurs. Botswana, South Africa, Angola etc. are the African countries leading in the diamond production. Elsewhere, Australia is a leading producer and is an important producer at industrial level.
But despite being the hardest known substance, diamond is not totally invincible. It has four cleavable directions, and if struck in one of these directions, it may break. A skilled diamond setter knows how to set it in jewelry in such a way that it is unlikely to receive a blow in that direction.
Formerly, original diamonds were used both for industrial purposes and for jewelry. But now much of the need for industrial diamonds is met with synthetic ones. Synthetic diamond?s main advantage is that its properties can be tailored for specific applications. It can also be produced in large quantities. Diamonds are for ever. Changing cultural ethos or political conditions have not diminished its importance.
