Diamond

Apart from being a girl’s best friend, diamonds are also the hardest natural material known to mankind. It’s hardness makes it useful in industrial applications, while its high dispersion of light makes it a popular choice in jewellery and watches. Post the 19th century, the popularity of diamonds witnessed a surge primarily on account of factors like increased supplies, enhancements in cutting and polishing techniques, as well as growth in the world economy. One can also find diamonds in yellow, brown, grey and even black colour.

Diamond is used extensively in crafting jewellery. One can find diamond bracelets, diamond earrings, diamond rings, diamond necklaces, diamond pendants, diamond encrusted watches, etc. Diamonds are popular choices for engagement rings also.

The parameters for measuring diamond quality includes four C’s namely carat, clarity, colour and cut. Diamonds need to be polished and cut for enhancing its ability of manipulating light. Diamond’s light performance in effect would be determined by the skill of the cutter, as well as the time and efforts expended on it. The colour of the diamond makes a significant difference to its value, as the increase in shades of yellow lead to a decrease in the value of a diamond. Clarity refers to both internal and external characteristics like inclusions or blemishes. Carat is the unit to measure the diamond weight and is equal to 1/5 of a gram.