Diamond
At A Glance | - Hardness-10.0 (Mohs Scale of Hardness)
- Refractive Index-2.417 to 2.420
- Mined in South Africa, Australia, Canada, Russia and the United States
- Common shapes: round, oval, marquise, pear, heart, emerald,
princess and radiant-cut
- Treatments-heating, radiation and fracture filling
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| Diamond Ring |
Two-tone 1/10ctw. Diamond Ring  |
14k yellow & white gold ring
Retail Price: 639.00
Our Price:429.00
(matching necklace & earrings available)
Ref: #67201
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Facts, Legend & Lore
Diamond-Traditional Birthstone
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Greetings!
Diamonds have
long been valued for their hardness and incredible brilliance.
Chemically, a diamond is pure carbon, just like the graphite used in
pencils. Diamond's hardness is the result of extremely strong chemical
bonds between the carbon atoms. Although most people think of diamonds
as colorless, they actually occur in almost every color, but most
commonly occur in shades of yellow and brown. The rarer stones are found in red, blue, pink and green of more intense
shades.
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Diamond-Colorless and Colorful While most diamonds are in the colorless to
light yellow range as pictured below;
some
have a natural color that is deep, distinct, and opulent.
These are
known as fancy-color diamonds and are often blue, brown, or pink.
Unlike colorless and near-colorless diamonds which are valued for their
lack of color, fancies are valued for their intensity of their color.
The
physical conditions required to form a colored diamond, seldom occur in nature, making natural color diamonds extremely
rare. For every natural color diamond, there are 10,000 colorless ones
that have made the trip from the earth's depths to its surface. It is
this entirely natural process of geological formation which ensures
that each natural color diamond is one of a kind.
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Lore and Legend-The Unbreakable?
This label is actually a misnomer because diamonds can actually break if hit from the wrong angle. From the Greek "adamas" diamond gets its' name because of a incredible hardness and resistance to scratching, making then a superior gem for every day wear. Diamonds
were valued as talismans by the ancient Hindus in India, which was
where diamonds were first discovered. The most powerful stones were
thought to be naturally occurring octahedrons (picture two pyramids
connected base to base) of exceptional clarity that exhibited "fire"
(flashes of rainbow colors.) It was believed that diamonds such as
these would bring the owner power, wealth, everlasting youth and good
fortune. Also, it was believed that flawed stones would have the
opposite effect.
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 Just about everyone knows what their birthstone is. Why
is that? Because people still enjoy the folklore associated with the
tradition of the birthstone. They like believing that wearing a
birthstone brings them good luck and protects them.
Early
civilization as far back as the Assyrians (1400 BC) invested rare and
beautiful gemstones with magical properties. Some minerals were thought
to contain a force or possess certain values and powers. For instance,
amethyst was thought to prevent intoxication. Tradition associates a
gem with each sign of the zodiac based on a color system. Color was
thought to unleash the power attributed to the stone. In time,
birthstones became associated with calendar months rather than the
zodiac.
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Month
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Color
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Stone
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January
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Dark Red
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Garnet
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February
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Purple
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Amethyst
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March
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Pale Blue
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Aquamarine
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April
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White (clear)
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Diamond
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May
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Bright Green
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Emerald
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June
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Cream
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Pearl or
Moonstone
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July
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Red
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Ruby
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August
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Pale Green
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Peridot
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September
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Deep Blue
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Sapphire
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October
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Variegated
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Opal or
Tourmaline
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November
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Yellow
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Topaz or Citrine
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December
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Sky Blue
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Turquoise or Blue Topaz
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