Diamonds

What are diamonds?
Natural diamonds are pure carbon, formed into crystals deep below the earth’s crust many millions of years ago. Diamonds are found and mined in several parts of the world but predominantly in southern Africa where flows of volcanic lava, known as Kimberlite, have carried diamond deposits to the surface. These deposits can be mined or quarried to recover the diamonds within the Kimberlite. As the hardest natural substance known to man, diamonds brought to the surface in this way have survived the effects of geological erosion, often being washed down river valleys and into the sea. Diamonds can therefore be recovered from the alluvial deposits in rivers as well as from the sea bed and even from beaches. In their recovered or “rough” form they are far from the cut and polished gemstones which we prize today. Rough diamonds have to be sorted and graded before those which can be used for jewellery are shipped to specialist cutting and polishing centres around the world. Diamonds not suitable for jewellery are used for industrial cutting and drilling.

Diamond Cut
Many people confuse diamond cut with diamond shape. Most diamonds are cut with a full 58 facets and a good cut or make has more brilliance, fire and ultimate beauty. However, the shape you select is a matter of individual taste and today your choice is only limited by the skill and imagination of the craftsman.
It is the precision and delicacy of the cut that dictates the maximum amount of light that will be reflected through the diamond.
1. When a diamond is cut with good proportions light is reflected from one facet to another and then dispersed through the crown or the top of the stone.
2. If the cut of the diamond is too deep some light escapes through the opposite side of the pavilion or bottom.
3. If the cut is too shallow light escapes through the pavilion or bottom before it can be reflected.

Diamond Clarity
Diamonds more than any other gemstone have the capability to produce the maximum amount of brilliance. Whilst almost all diamonds contain minute traces of non-crystallised carbon or small non-diamond crystals, one that is virtually free of interior or exterior inclusions (commonly clawed flaws) will be of the highest quality. In such a diamond nothing interferes with the passage of light through it; thus it's clarity only serves to intensify it's beauty and fire.To determine a diamonds clarity it is viewed under a 10x magnification by a trained eye. What minute inclusions there are make every diamond quite unique. They are natures fingerprints and neither mar it's beauty nor endanger it's durability. However, the fewer seen, the rarer the stone will be.

Diamond Carat Weight
As with all precious stones, the weight and therefore the size of a diamond is expressed in carats.One carat is divided into 100 "points" so that a diamond of 25 points is described as quarter of a carat or 0.25 carats. Size is the most obvious factor in determining the value of a diamond but now you know that two diamonds of equal size can have very different values on their quality. However, remember diamonds of high quality can be found in all size ranges. Here are some other examples that show the approximate sizes of the diamonds in question.

What exactly are “conflict diamonds”?
In 1998, Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) Global Witness brought to the world’s attention that UNITA, a rebel group in Angola, was funding its war against the legitimate government by the control and sale of rough diamonds. These have since become known as conflict diamonds. We also now know that rebel groups in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo were also funding conflicts in this way. Although peace has since been restored in Angola and Sierra Leone, and a cease fire in the DRC, the diamond industry is determined to work with governments through the United Nations to ensure that future conflicts cannot be funded in this way. At its peak, the trade in conflict diamonds was estimated to be less than 4% of annual rough diamond production but the industry has declared that one diamond traded in this way is one too many. Since the introduction of Kimberley well over 99% of the worlds diamond supply is certified to be from sources that are free from conflict.

Conflict Diamonds – Jewellery.tv Policy and Procedures
The diamonds contained in our jewellery are millions of years old and may have been mined in parts of Africa, Canada, Russia or Australia. A few years ago the jewellery industry discovered that in some parts of Africa, small scale diamond mining was being exploited by illegal militias to support civil war and conflict. These diamonds have been referred to as “Conflict Diamonds”.As a member of the British Jewellers’ Association, Jewellery.tv supports the initiative of the United Nations and the World Diamond Council (The Kimberley Process) to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate supply chains of the jewellery industry. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme ensures that mining of diamonds is strictly supervised at government level and that legitimately mined diamonds, in their “rough” state (before cutting and polishing) are only transferred between participating countries under strictly monitored conditions, in tamper proof containers, and accompanied by the appropriate documentation. To ensure that only these legitimate diamonds, when cut and polished, pass into the jewellery manufacturing process, and therefore into the jewellery which we sell to our customers, we participate in the system of warranties and code of conduct issued by the World Diamond Council on 29 October 2002 and endorsed by the British Jewellers’ Association.Under the WDC Code of Conduct we will:
1. not buy diamonds from firms who will not put a conflict diamonds warranty on their invoices.
2. not buy diamonds from suspect or unknown sources or from countries not participating in the Kimberley Process.
3. not buy diamonds from a source found to have violated government regulations on conflict diamonds.
4. not buy diamonds from regions where government advice indicates that conflict diamonds are emanating or on sale unless they have been exported under the Kimberley Process.
5. not knowingly buy or sell or assist others to buy or sell conflict diamonds.
6. ensure that all company employees who buy and sell diamonds are well informed about the Kimberley process and industry self regulation.
All of our suppliers have been advised that each invoice they send us covering diamonds (or jewellery which contains diamonds), must carry the following warranty and that if they fail to supply this warranty, we will not place further orders with them.