Diamond Myths
There are many myths surrounding diamonds the first of which is that diamonds are rare. In fact they are not. Emeralds and Rubies are more rare than diamonds and often more expensive! Diamonds are so plentiful in fact that there are enough diamonds in the world for each person in the US to have a handful. Most diamonds are or poor quality however and used in industry and so known as industrial diamonds.
Diamonds are also thought to be the most expensive gemstone. Again this is a myth. Many emeralds and Rubies are much more expensive per carat weight than diamonds. There are emeralds and rubies available worth over ten thousand dollars per carat.
Some people think that a larger diamond is always worth more than a smaller one. This is also not always true. The size of a diamond is only one of the methods by which the value of a diamond is assessed. The color, clarity, weight and other factors all play an important part. A high quality smaller diamond can be worth much more, even thousands more, than a poorer larger diamonds.
It is considered that as diamonds are made from the hardest material known to man that diamonds are tough and will last forever. Not true! Like anything else, it will last provided proper care is taken. Diamonds can chip and fracture and get cracks and scratches. Diamonds should be kept separate from other jewelery in soft cloth bags if lose and properly set with strong prongs if in jewelry such as rings. They should be carefully looked after and not just tossed around the place.
When a diamond is shaped it is done by grinding, not by chipping. The exception is when a very large stone is cleaved into two or more smaller ones. The usual stones are shaped by grinding and the result is a shaped stone and a lot of dust. The dust is usually used in industry to make cutting tools so the idea that when a stone is cut lots of little stones result is false.
Some people mistakenly think that the diamond ring they bought is a good investment. It looks pretty and of course expensive. Well it is not. Diamonds do not make a good investment unless you have bought high quality perfect diamonds and loose! Diamonds set in rings are usually not the best diamonds in the world and have been heavily inflated in price with a fat profit margin. When the time comes to see you would be looking at a loss as are only likely to get around 20-40 percent. of the diamonds value if it is worth anything. For a good quality loose diamond you can see, however, a steady increase in the value, perhaps 5-6 percent a year. But I would hardly call that an investment. If you want to invest in something physical and substantial, gold and silver can make a good investment.
Some diamonds are more difficult to cut than others. Not so. The cut of a diamond depends on the original shape. Usually it will be cut to preserve most of the diamond without too much ‘waste’. No shapes is any more harder to cut than any other. For example, sometimes people think that an emerald cut diamond is the most expensive shape to cut. Again not so! In fact it is the least expensive shape to cut.
Some people believe you can not tell the difference between a diamond and a cubic zirconia. Cubic zirconia has a more plastic feel to it and is considerably heavier than a diamond, over half as much again more Any jeweler can tell simply by weighting the stone.
Remember the song, “Diamonds are a girls best friend”. A great PR marketing campaign by DeBeers. It is all a matter of perception really. It certainly is true that diamonds are a jewelers best friend!
There are many other diamond myths but these are probably the most popular.