Where Diamonds come from

It is said that diamonds are eternal. They have been formed billions of years ago and passed through he hands of kings and power brokers. Let us introduce you to the fascinating world of diamonds. 

The Origins of Diamonds

Diamonds are the hardest material on earth and consist of only one element: carbon. They have been formed billions of years ago in the hot inner core of our planet by enormous amounts of pressure and heat. Transported to the surface by volcanic eruptions around hundreds of millions of years ago, they are primarily found in so-called „kimberlites“ – cooled-out chambers of magma. Most common are very small stones, larger and pure stones are rare. As the discovery of new kimberlites seems unlikely, supply of new natural diamonds is limited.

King of stones, gem of kings

The sparkle of a skilfully cut diamond is of such a beauty and intensity that soon after cutting gemstones had become fashionable, diamonds quickly developed into the most sought-after stones for royal and upper class jewellery. The more rare the diamond, the higher the esteem and value of the stone. This is still true today: A rare stone (e.g. of vivid blue colour) can be a hundred times more valuable than his “common” counterpart of the same size (e.g. in perfect white).

When a diamond-bearing kimberlite is economically mined, most of the found stones might be too small for further elaboration but are used as cutting material for industrial purposes („diamond dust“). The bigger stones are send to the diamond cutter, who assesses the structure of the stone and its suitability for jewellry, determining the cut producing the highest sparkling effect.

The most common cut is the „brilliant“ cut as this is a great cut for round stones, but a variety of other cuts exist. The cut stone, now officially called a „brilliant“, is graded by a grading institute noting the stone´s characteristic specifications and then sent to the major diamond burses for traders to buy.

The 5 C's

Diamonds are as unique as you, so there is not one stone equalling the other. They differ on 4 dimensions: Carat, Clarity, Colour, and Cut. We would like to add the fifth "C", as it has an impact on the stone´s tradability: the Certificate. The 5 C´s of your stone are explained below.

Carat

This dimension is the stone´s weight. One carat equals 0.2 grams. Diamonds are essentially „light-weighted“ – but not in the investment sense. Quite to the contrary!

Clarity

This dimension is the stone´s purity. Many natural stones have small inclusions of graphite (also pure carbon) that show in black spots, sometimes not even visible for the human eye. Any inclusion of carbon reduces the clarity of the stone and diminishes its value. Inclusion-free and perfectly pure diamonds fetch the highest market prices.

Colour

This dimension is the stone´s appearance to the human eye. Not all natural diamonds are white (colourless), but most come with small inclusions of chemicals that give them a certain colour taint. Some of these colours are highly sought after and others are regarded as undesirable. Blue, red and pink are for instance highly priced colours trading well above the white diamond, whereas brown or yellow often trade below. The more intense a colour, the more rare and valuable.

Cut

This dimension refers to the mastery of a stone´s elaboration by the cutter. There exist differently degrees of craftmanship, so cuts might be uneven, a facette be missing or a spliss be appearing. However, only the perfect cut „cuts it“ and fetches the highest market price.

The fifth C: Certificate

A freshly cut diamond can be sent to different independent grading institutes to receive a grading report. This report specifies a stone´s characteristics in the above 4 C dimensions. We believe in the trusted market leader of the grading institutes: GIA (Gemological Institute of America). Therefore, Pundia only sells Investment Diamonds with an official GIA grading report (see Only GIA certified stones).

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