When looking at diamonds, we usually refer to the 4Cs as a basic buying guide:

CUT - (& PROPORTION) - COLOUR - CLARITY - CARAT -( CREATED DIAMONDS)

See page on coloured Diamonds

Diamond Shapes:

Round Brilliant (RB); Square Ideal Cut (SQ); Oval (OV); Pear (PS); Emerald (EM); Asscher (ASS); Heart (HT); Princess (PR); Radiant (RAD); Cushion (CS); Marquise (MQ)

CUT

There are many shapes of diamonds to choose from, but whatever the shape, a well-cut diamond is better able to reflect light. The cut of a diamond refers to its proportions.

These proportions are cut by a skilful craftsman (i.e. the cutter or manufacturer of the stone). The cut is the only characteristic of the 4C's which is directly influenced by man, the other three Cs are dictated by nature alone.

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Proportion:
A diamond's ability to reflect light determines its display of fire and brilliance. Diamonds are usually cut with 58 facets, or separate flat surfaces. These facets follow a mathematical formula and are placed at precise angles in relation to each other. This relationship is designed to maximize the amount of light reflected through the diamond and to increase its beauty.

• When a diamond is cut to proper proportions, light is reflected from one facet to another and then dispersed through the top of the stone.
• When the cut of a diamond is too deep, some light escapes through the opposite side of the pavilion.
• When the cut of a diamond is too shallow, light escapes through the pavilion before it can be reflected.

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COLOUR

The best colour is no colour. Diamonds allow light to be reflected and dispersed as a rainbow of colour. This light dispersion, or colour flash, has no effect on the technical grading of colour.

The absolute finest colourless stone carries a D rating, from here ratings descend through each letter of the alphabet to Z, designating a diamond of light yellow, brown, or grey.

Diamond body colour may be caused by the presence of trace elements, such as nitrogen, within the atomic framework of the carbon crystal. These trace elements are so minute that they are scientifically measured in parts per million (p.p.m.). As the body colour becomes more intense, the grade for colour descends the scale. When directly comparing diamonds for colour, most people are unable to detect a difference unless they are at least two or three colour grades apart. Most professionals use a comparison method to determine the colour of a stone.

It is often surprising to learn that diamonds can also occur, by rare accidents of nature, in shades of pink, blue, green, amber, and even red. These rarely occurring colours are referred to as fancies (fancy coloured diamonds) and are evaluated by a different set of colour standards. These standards take into consideration various factors such as hue and saturation.

Fancy coloured diamonds are the most expensive because of their extreme rarity.

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CLARITY

Almost all diamonds contain very tiny natural birthmarks known as inclusions. To determine a diamond's clarity, an expert views it under 10 power magnification. In addition to internal inclusions, there can be (external) surface irregularities which are referred to as blemishes. These two categories of imperfections, inclusions-internal, and blemishes-external, make up clarity.

The fewer the imperfections, the rarer and more valuable is the diamond. Many inclusions are not discernable to the naked eye and require magnification to become apparent.

A laboratory-certified clarity rating of SI2 represents the point at which inclusions are technically not apparent to the average naked eye.

Clarity is graded using a very precise and complex method of evaluating the size, location, and visibility of inclusions.

FL - IF
Diamonds that reveal no flaws on the surface or internally. These are the rarest and most beautiful gems treasured for their absolute purity.
VVS1 - VVS2
Diamonds with minute inclusions absolutely invisible to the naked eye. Only through careful inspection with a microscope can these tiny inclusions be accurately pinpointed. The brilliance of the stone does not suffer in this category.

VS1 - VS2
Diamonds with tiny inclusions difficult to locate. Only a trained eye looking through a 10X loupe can pinpoint the inclusions in this category. The inclusions are nearly impossible to see with the naked eye.

SI1 - SI3
Diamonds with inclusions easily identified through a loupe. Finding flaws in this category with the naked eye is difficult. The gems in this category maintain their integrity, depending on the location of the inclusions.

I1 - I3
Diamonds with inclusions which may or may not be easily seen by the naked eye. The flaws on the stones in this category will have some effect on the brilliance of your diamond

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CARAT WEIGHT

Most people compare carat weight to size. The larger the diamond the more it weighs. The weight of a diamond is expressed in carats.

The word carat originated from the carob tree or Ceratonia siliqua. The tiny seeds of this tree are well known for their uniformity and consistent weight. Traditionally diamonds and gemstones were weighed against these seeds until the system was standardized, and one carat was fixed at 0.2 grams.

One carat is divided into 100 points. A diamond weighing one quarter of a carat can also be described as weighing 25 points or 0.25 carats.

Points are generally not used to describe weights over one carat. The rarity of a diamond is greatly affected by its size.

The rarity of a 1.00 carat diamond is much greater than twice that of a .50 carat. Although it only weighs twice as much, the 1.00 carat is statistically much more difficult (rare) to mine than the .50 carat

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CREATED DIAMONDS (home page) -- See the "Famous Diamonds Page"

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FAQs

1. Are Created Diamonds real diamonds?
2. What is a Created Diamond?
3. Is Created the same as Synthetic
4. Will a Created diamond test positive on a diamond tester?
5. How hard is a Created diamond?
6. Is it another simulant of a natural diamond like Cubic Zirconium, moissanite etc?
7. What is the importance of Created diamonds in the current diamond consumer market?
8. What colours are available?
9. How many carats are being produced?
10. How will I know it is a Created diamond and its quality?
11. What is the Created Diamond Foundation?
12. Chemical Vapour Deposition

1 Are Created Diamonds real diamonds?
Yes. Created diamonds are diamonds grown under laboratory conditions and share the identical optical, chemical, and physical properties of earth grown diamonds. These properties include unequaled hardness, fire, brilliance, and scintillation, as those produced by nature 100’s of kilometers below the earth’s surface. The only difference is where they are grown.

2 What is a Created Diamond?
A Created diamond is a diamond grown in a prepared medium of temperature and pressure similar to those conditions that prevail beneath the earth’s surface when diamonds form. Carbon, in the form of graphite, is present. The carbon liquefies and is deposited atom by atom, layer by layer on a tiny diamond “seed” in the crystalline structure of a diamond. Created diamonds have the same physical, chemical and optical properties of mined diamonds.
Both are grown within a matter of days; however mined diamonds take many years to be found and extracted from the earth. The rough Created diamond undergoes the same processes of cutting and polishing as a mined diamond.
Created, lab-grown, lab-Created?
All these terms are correct terminology for laboratory grown diamonds as they are grown in a laboratory in a prepared medium of temperature and pressure.

3 Created or synthetic?
The primary meaning of the term “synthetic” is “something resulting from synthesis” or “made by chemical synthesis”. “Synthesis” in turn means a “combination of components to form a connected whole” or “the production of chemical compounds by reaction from simpler materials”.

In order for something to be described as “synthetic” it must result from or be made by “synthesis”. Synthesis involves the combination of different components to form a whole or a reaction of simpler material to form a chemical compound.
No synthesis takes place in the growth process of Created diamonds as there is no combination or reaction of different materials. Diamond is composed of carbon only as opposed to other precious stones such as ruby that are a compound of different elements.

It is therefore argued that to refer to a laboratory grown diamond as “synthetic” is both misleading and factually incorrect. The term “Created” is defined in the Merriam - Webster online dictionary as “grown within a prepared medium”. Created diamonds are grown in a prepared medium of temperature and pressure that mimics the conditions in which diamonds form deep below the earth’s surface.

Created Diamond Index

4 Will a Created diamond test positive on a diamond tester?
Yes. A diamond-tester will confirm that this is a real diamond.

5 How hard is a Created diamond?
Created diamonds rate 10 or 10+ on the Mohs scale. The 10+ aspect refers to previous findings by the GIA and others that lab-grown diamonds are slightly harder and less brittle than mined diamonds. This can be as a result of ideal nitrogen dispersion in lab-grown diamonds, therefore forming a perfect crystal structure.

6 Is it another simulant of a natural diamond like Cubic Zirconium, moissanite etc?
No. Cubic Zirconium, moissanite, fianit, and Yttrium Zirconium Oxide (YZrO2) are not
diamonds but are simulants trying to duplicate the visual properties of real diamonds.

7 What is the importance of Created diamonds in the current diamond consumer market?
Gem quality mined diamonds are generally white in colour. Created diamonds are available in intense fancy colours that match the most spectacular found in nature. The introduction of fancy colour Created diamonds adds a new dimension to the world of diamond jewellery and jewellery design. The fact is that the availability of affordable intense fancy colour diamonds is an opportunity to the diamond jewellery industry, not a threat.

8 What colours are available?
Currently Created diamonds are produced in yellow and orange. Blue, green and pink diamonds are in a development phase and are available in limited quantities.

Created Diamond Index
9 How many carats are being produced?
Created diamonds are a rare reality. The supply of the product is extremely limited - a few thousand carats per annum compared to the 100 million carats of gem quality mined diamonds.

10 How will I know it is a Created diamond and its quality?
Created diamonds are diamonds of known origin. The unique number, laser inscribed on the girdle of each diamond, enables the origin of that diamond to be traced back to the laboratory in which it was grown thereby ensuring supply chain integrity. As with mined diamonds, a certificate accompanies all stones sold.

11 What is the Created Diamond Foundation?
The Created Diamond Foundation is an international body established to ensure that the highest ethical standards prevail within the Created diamond industry and will provide an objective source of information to both industry and consumer.
One of the services which will be provided by CDF will be to grade Created stones. The Foundation will ensure full disclosure of the nature of the product and issue authentication and grading reports on Created diamonds. Each diamond graded by the Foundation is laser inscribed on the girdle with the words “Created diamond”, the Foundation logo and a unique number that enables the diamond to be traced back to the laboratory in which it was grown.

CVD

Chemical vapor deposition is a method by which diamond can be grown from a hydrocarbon gas mixture. Since the early 1980s, this method has been the subject of intensive worldwide research. Whereas the mass-production of high-quality diamond crystals make the HPHT process the more suitable choice for industrial applications, the flexibility and simplicity of CVD setups explain the popularity of CVD growth in laboratory research. The advantages of CVD diamond growth include the ability to grow diamond over large areas and on various substrates, and the fine control over the chemical impurities and thus properties of the diamond produced. Unlike HPHT, CVD process does not require high pressures, as the growth typically occurs at pressures under 27 kPa.

See more in the Wikkpedia file HERE

Created Diamond Index