Diamond Wedding Bands
Purchasing a diamond wedding band can be a daunting task particularly if one does not know much about diamond quality and pricing. To make that task easier we have outlined a few key bullet points that will hopefully provide an overview into this subject. Before we start talking about the 4 c’s of diamond education, let’s begin with a brief outline of the history of the diamond.
Diamonds come from deep within the earth’s crust and are formed by pressure and high temperatures. Carbon is the main building block of diamonds and they form at depths up to 90 miles in the earth’s surface over millions of years. A diamond is the hardest known material on earth – at least naturally forming.
Most diamonds are mined by one of a number of companies of the De Beers Group, which mines more than 40% of all the diamonds in the world. Although large mines exist in area such as Brazil, Australia and Canada, most diamonds come from mines in Africa.
A diamond’s value is largely determined by what is referred to as the 4 c’s of diamond quality:
CUT
No other characteristic is as important to the fire of a diamond and the value of the diamond than the cut. A diamond that is cut too deep or too shallow does not allow the right amount of light through the stone thus removing the brilliance that a more perfectly cut stone would produce. Often referred to as light performance, the cut allows the light to reach its maximum eye-catching capacity in the hands of a skilled craftsman.
CLARITY
Another factor in “light performance” is clarity – the amount of imperfections or “blemishes” in the diamond. A diamond with many inclusions will hinder the flow of light causing an otherwise beautiful stone to LOOK cheap and common to the eye.
Except in extreme cases, the clarity of the diamond to the human eye is not the most important of the 4 c’s. This is because most imperfections are not discernible except under a microscope. However, there are certain buyers who only want a perfect or near-perfect stone and these can be found – although they are rare and are extremely expensive. The clarity of the diamond can also be impacted by the way it is cut – if it is cut wrong inclusions or defects in the final stone can be apparent.
COLOR
The Gemological Institute of America has crafted a measuring scale for diamond color characteristics. These range from D to Z. Although the best “color” is actually colorless most diamonds will range from D (which is colorless) up to a Z (which is yellow in color). The most valuable diamonds are typically colorless – color manifests itself in a diamond by the amount of yellow it possesses.
A diamond’s color is one of the most important of the 4 c’s in that the diamond color for the most part is discernible to the naked eye and a colorless diamond has a beautiful “light performance” quality that is missing in yellow diamonds.
CARAT
Diamonds are measured on a carat scale of up to 100 points. 100 points is equal to one carat. A carat is a measurement of weight – not necessarily of size. And as has been discussed, a large carat-weight diamond might actually be far less expensive than a colorless, flawless diamond weighing far less. Most people view diamonds from the top in that this is how they are typically presented to us – and for this reason this is how diamond size is evaluated.
MENS WEDDING BAND’S DIAMONDS
Diamonds chosen for www.mensweddingbands.com are hand selected and are for the most part “I” color and i1-i2 in clarity. This means your diamond wedding band will have a bright, fire-filled appearance. Our lifetime warranty also covers loss of stones.