Diamond is the main birthstone in April, and aren’t the April babies lucky: diamond is perhaps the best-known and most sought-after gemstone in the world! Some quick facts:
- It’s the hardest known substance on earth.
- Scientists find them in surrounding rock that is significantly newer, as a result of new volcanic material moving old diamonds around deep underneath the earth’s surface.
- Many diamonds are over three billion years old
Most diamonds you think of look like this, right?
Right! Well, colorless diamonds, (or near-colorless to faint yellow) are the recognizable ones used in classic, everyday diamond designs you see in every jewelry shop you stroll by. There are many more colors and forms, apart from white, to explore. Let’s learn about a few!
1. Fancy-colored Diamonds
Wow. These are classifications of naturally colored diamonds, and yes, ‘fancy’ is an actual gemological term! Almost all of these diamonds are more valuable than those in the ordinary D through Z color range (the standardized color grading scale for colorless to very faint yellow/brownish diamonds).
2. Irradiated Colors
Do you ever see this distinctive teal-blue colored diamond in a jewelry store? This color is the sure sign of an irradiation treatment, turning otherwise ordinary white-yellow-grey-brownish stones into this vivid greenish blue. If you like this color – get it! Although ‘color enhanced’, it’s still a natural diamond. Natural fancy green diamonds, seen in the chart above, interestingly carry a little bit of natural radiation.
3. Rough Diamond in Jewelry
In the past fifteen years or so, a lovely trend has emerged with ‘rough diamonds’ in fine jewelry! DeBeers and Todd Reed are designers who’ve made unfinished diamonds luxurious. Many, many diamonds are mined more of a taupe color (above) Whether polished or not, they make beautifully modern jewelry designs. And lastly,
5. Black Diamonds!
Gorgeous, ultra-shiny (or for gem geeks: adamantine luster) and less expensive than white diamonds, we have black ones. ‘Carbonado’ is their technical name, and from celeb engagement rings to casual gift jewelry, they’ve also increased in popularity in the past few years. Set next to white stones, they look especially lovely.
Diamonds inspire us to add sparkle to our style. You needn’t spend hundreds or thousands to work bright pops of sparkle into your own beadwork designs, like our shimmery white Meredith Earrings :
Happy Spring to our blog-reading friends!
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