April’s Birthstone: The Diamond!

Popular Diamond Cuts

As we continue our series on birthstones, let's take a moment to describe how birthstones came to be! In the first century, it was believed that the 12 gems of Aaron’s Breastplate (a sacred breastplate worn by the High Priests of the Israelites, and sometimes referred to as the breastplate of judgment) were directly related to the 12 months of the year, the 12 signs of the zodiac. This concept was adopted into Christianity when St. Jerome recognized the Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem (an evolution from Aaron’s Breastplate over the centuries). Finally, wearing a different colored gem for each month of the year is supposed to bring good luck.

Back to April’s Birthstone: the delightful, beautiful, and ubiquitous diamond!  The diamond was selected as April’s birthstone as it was thought to be a harbinger of strong relationships, and improve inner strength for those born in that month. It is supposed to provide other positives, such as balance, clarity, and abundance. While so much is already known about the diamond, we’ll describe some interesting aspects here.

Did you know that diamonds can be manufactured?
Most diamonds sold now are created naturally when carbon (coal basically) is compressed under high pressure about 115 miles beneath the Earth’s surface, and transported to the surface via tectonic plate shifting and volcanic eruptions that have occurred over eons (millions of years!).

However, starting in the last century, two different forms of manufacturing (“growing” actually) diamonds have been optimized:  High Pressure, High-Temperature (HPHT) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).  Basically HPHT simulates the pressure and temperature of the natural formation, and adds microscopic diamonds to carbon.  This extreme heat and pressure causes the carbon to crystalize to the microscopic diamonds, and “grow” a bigger diamond.  CVD involves the energizing various carbon based gases to form the carbon structure unique to diamonds.

Synthetic diamonds are harder than natural diamonds, and (so far) are the hardest materials ever produced!

Cutting Glass is Not the Correct Way to Determine if a Diamond is Real
Quartz will also cut glass!  Nor is rubbing two diamonds together a good idea either, is both can be damaged.  The modern way to determine if a diamond is real is to check how readily it transfers heat. A heat source is applied at one of end of a diamond, and the measuring device (connected to the heat source) measures how quickly the heat is transferred through the material.  Very fast means a diamond!

The 5 C’s of Diamonds as Jewelry
Carat – the size of the diamond.  Obviously larger carats carry higher prices because they are rarer, but higher carats does not always mean better quality.  Carats are measured in 100 points, so 50 points would be ½ carat.

Cut – the cut of diamond is the most obvious style choice.  Round, Princess, Radiant, Emerald, Oval, Pear, Asscher, Flanders, Heart, Cushion, Marquise, Old Miner, & Trillion are the main ones, but most any shape can be created with proper milling procedures.  Just be careful:  most of these cuts are designed to refract white light, which creates part of the brilliance of the diamond.  A smaller diamond can be cut shallower to have a larger face, making it appear larger in a ring, however, this reduces the brilliance of the diamond. Keep that in mind if you want to show a bigger looking diamond, at a lower cost. Diamond masters can only do so much with the physics of light!

Color – diamonds are graded D through Z, with D being the most colorless (refracts white light the best).  D, E, & F are considered colorless, G-J near colorless, K-M faint yellow, N-R, very light yellow, S-Z, light yellow.  Obviously, the higher the grade, the more expensive.

Clarity – almost every diamond contains some flaw.  The less the flaws and the smaller the size of the flaws, the less imperfections to refract light, increasing the brilliance of the diamond.  Clarity is measured on the GIA scale: Flawless, VVS1, VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, I1, I2, & I3.

Certification – a grading report from an independent gemological lab will almost always accompany your diamond, giving you confidence in your purchase.

So for those April birthday’s you have the Emperor of Gems as your birthstone, the diamond!  And to safely store your diamonds and other treasures, you’ll need a beautiful luxury jewelry box or standing jewelry armoire.  And with Mother’s Day coming up, a womens jewelry box makes a great gift for that special someone!

Guest Blogger:  Noelle Price

Large Jewelry Armoire for All Your Treasures!

Get to Know Your Diamonds

As one of the toughest substances on the planet, the diamond earned its name. The word diamond comes from the Greek word adamas, which means unbreakable, which is what diamonds are. Diamonds have a wide variety of uses, especially as a mineral in many different industries. But, the most popular use for diamonds is in jewelry, and diamonds have been and continue to be the valuable gemstone.


Diamonds have been used as a decoration on the body for hundreds and possibly thousands of years because of the beautiful structure and fire that many diamonds have. As diamonds have continued to be popular for adornment, gemologists have created ways of deciding the value and class of each diamond. The “four Cs” is the common name for the way that diamonds are classified.


The first “C” is carat, which is the weight of the diamond. Many engagement rings are designed with diamonds that are one-carat in weight and many people will choose a diamond that weighs 1.01 carats over a diamond that weighs .99 carats, just for the sake of being able to say they have a one-carat diamond. Smaller diamonds are easier to find, so the larger ones are more expensive.


The second “C” is clarity and it is the clarity that decides whether a diamond can be put into jewelry or be used in an industrial capacity. Many diamonds have little flaws, called inclusions, which make the diamond look cloudy. Clarity is based on the eye of a trained professional using a magnification of 10x. About 20% of diamonds are clear enough to become jewelry and many of those have inclusions that can be seen with the naked eye. Many jewelry designers can hide flaws with the settings. The most desirable clarity is called flawless and the poorest rating is imperfect. Needless to say, the flawless diamonds are the most valuable.


The third “C” is color and gemologists have several rankings for this scale. Diamonds come in a wide variety of colors, like blue, pink, brown, and yellow, as well as different variations of white or colorless. The scale for color are graded on letters, with the best colorless diamonds rated “D”.


The fourth “C” is the cut of the stone. This is not the shape of the diamond, but the way the diamond was cut within the standards of the industry. There are certain terms that are applied to cuts and certain degrees and percentages. Many diamonds are not cut to the standards so they will reach the magic one-carat weight. Terms regarding the cut include the facets on the top half (the crown) and the bottom half (the girdle). Ideal percentages have been designed so that angles and depths of the crown and pavilion are cut to get the best fire out of the diamond.


Even though this is not included in the grading of a diamond, the shape is very important to those who are buying diamonds. The fancy diamonds cuts include baguette, marquise, princess, heart, briolette, and pear. Right now, the most popular cut is the cushion cut, which is like a princess cut, but with rounded edges.

Once you choose the perfect diamond, you can keep it safe and secure in a beautiful heirloom quality jewelry box from ChasingTreasure.com.

The Legend of the Hope Diamond

Many families have some amazing pieces of jewelry that they keep in their Chasing Treasure jewelry boxes,
but no one has anything as spectacular as the Hope Diamond. This breathtaking gem has been the source of much speculation as to whether or not the Hope Diamond is cursed. Regardless of the history of the diamond, two things are certain. One, the Hope Diamond is extraordinary jewel and two, the diamond’s story never gets old.


Quality Statistics

Regardless of the numerous stories about the diamond, the statistics of the Hope Diamond are enough to create the sensation attention this diamond has received over the centuries it has been known to the world. The last time that gem was weighed, it was recorded as weighing 45.52 carats. The pear shaped diamond, which is about the size of a walnut is deep blue in color; with a color slightly more grey than a sapphire. Interestingly, the blue diamond shows a red luminescence when it is exposed to ultraviolet light; the red light allows gemologists know what diamonds are real and which ones were lab produced. Some also believe that the red glow is partially to blame for the stories about the curse. The diamond has a clarity rating of VS1 and the cut is an antique cushion brilliant cut with extra facets on the faceted girdle and pavilion.


French Ownership

The Hope Diamond is a piece of a larger 115-carat diamond known as the Tavernier Blue, which supposedly came from a mine in India. A man named Jean Baptiste Tavernier sold the the Tavernier Blue to King Louis XIV in 1669; some believe Louis XIV paid in gold and a title of nobility for the diamond, which at the time was uncut. After owning the diamond for a few years, the King had the diamond cut into a triangular stone approximately 69-carats in size. The diamond was set on a golden pin so the king could wear it to ceremonies.


When Louis XIV died, the diamond was passed on to King Louis XV who had the diamond reset into a pendant surrounded by nearly 200 carats of painted diamonds in the shape of a fleece. When Louis XIV died, the diamond went to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. During their reign, the crown jewels, including the blue diamond, were stolen and the French Blue (Hope Diamond) disappeared. Shortly after the jewels were stolen, the pair were guillotined, which many believe is due to the curse of the blue diamond.

The Curse of Hope Diamond

Even though there is no proof, the curse originates with the idea that the diamond was a part of a statue of Sita, who was the wife of the seventh Avatar of Vishnu named Rama. Vishnu like to get revenge, so the rumors are that revenge was obtained through the diamond. As the diamond moved the different hands, many of the owners ended up with unfortunate endings. Two owners committed suicide, seven owners were murdered, and other owners were abandoned, left penniless, or ruined.


Currently, the Hope Diamond can be seen in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington D.C., where visitors can enter the museum for free.

2 Diamond Style Jewelry Trends for Summer

It is fun to have some glitz and glam every once and a while and right now we are seeing a lot of sparkling gems lighting up the jewelry counters. Perfect for spring and summer, diamond or diamond like encrusted jewelry is a fun way to sparkle and shine. And it is not for evening wear only.

There are 2 great trends that you can check out with the diamond jewelry. You are going to be able to find these at any nice jewelry counter or online retailer.

Trend #1:

Floral diamond jewelry is one of the hottest trends for summer 2012. We are seeing celebrities everywhere sporting real diamond floral-style earrings, necklace pendants, dangling floral diamond charms off bracelets, diamond floral brooches and of course cluster-style floral rings.

Trend #2:

Diamond religious crosses are always popular with anyone of the Christian faith and this summer season we are seeing Christian celebrities wearing beautiful diamond cross pendants, diamond cross earrings and even religious cross pins that are all decked out in glittery sparkling diamonds!

Of course, most of us are not spend what it takes to buy the real deal, so for us, we can find gorgeous crystals that are pure and clean so they sparkle and shine too. When you take clear, quality crystals or rhinestones and set them in sterling silver, you can get the same look at a fraction of the price.

Lights love to bounce off beautiful diamonds and crystals so why not embrace the hottest trend right now and show your lovely glitter. Match it with your favorite outfit and with a set of gorgeous rhinestone, crystals or diamonds you are going to shine like a celebrity.

by Kaye Lefier, Contributing Editor at ChasingTreasure.com, online store specializing in wooden jewelry boxes and leather jewelry cases. Kaye is an avid Jewelry Collector and writes about Jewelry and Jewelry Trends.