Diamond inclusion are flaws inside of a diamond or other gemstone

Diamond inclusions are characteristics that occur inside the gemstone. They are usually called flaws, because their presence means the diamond is not perfect.
Inclusions are like fingerprints, a characteristic that gives us all a special signature. Getting to know your diamond inside and out makes the stone a more personal possession—and will help you describe and identify the gem if it is ever lost or stolen.

Some inclusions affect a diamond's clarity, making it less brilliant because they interfere with light as it passes through the stone. Other types of inclusions can make a diamond more vulnerable to shattering.

There are few perfect diamonds, and the ones that are perfect are quite expensive, so the diamonds we buy all have varying amounts of internal and external flaws. Most jewelers tell us not to worry about diamond inclusions if they do not affect the stone's strength or seriously impact its appearance.

Types of Diamond Inclusions

Crystals and Mineral Inclusions
Diamonds can have tiny crystals and minerals embedded in them, even other diamonds. Many cannot be seen without magnification, but a large chunk or grouping of crystals that detracts from a diamond's appearance lowers its clarity grade, and its value.

There are times that a small crystal can add character to a diamond. A diamond with a tiny garnet inside would be a conversation piece -- and a nice personal choice for someone whose birthstone is a garnet.

Pinpoint Inclusions

Pinpoints are tiny light or dark crystals in diamonds and other gemstones that can either appear by themselves or in clusters. Larger clusters of minute pinpoints can create a hazy area in the diamond, called a cloud, which affects the diamond's clarity.

Laser Lines

Laser lines are not a natural diamond inclusion. These vapor-like trails are left behind when lasers are used to remove dark inclusions from the diamond. The machine-made trails look like tiny strands of thread that begin at the diamond's surface and stretch inward, stopping at the point where the inclusion was removed.

Feathers

Feathers are cracks within the diamond that resemble, well... feathers. Small feathers do not usually affect a diamond's durability unless they reach the surface on the top of the stone, a location that's prone to accidental blows.

Cleavage

Diamond cleavage is a straight crack with no feathering. A cleavage has the potential to split the diamond apart along its length if it is hit at the correct angle.

Small cracks that are not visible when a diamond is viewed in a table-up (face up) position do not seriously affect clarity ratings.

Girdle Fringes, Bearding

Girdle fringes, or bearding, are hair-like lines that can occur around the girdle during the cutting process. Minimal bearding is usually not a problem, but extensive fringing is often polished away or removed by re-cutting the diamond.

Grain Lines, Growth Lines

Grain lines are created by irregular crystallization that takes place when a diamond is formed. Colorless grain lines do not usually affect diamond clarity unless they are present in large masses. White or colored grain lines can lower a diamond's clarity grade.

Always shop for diamonds at a jewelry store you trust and find someone who can answer your questions about the diamonds you are considering. Ask the jeweler to show you each diamond under magnification and explain its characteristics to you.

Emerald is The Best Birthstone For May

If the number of people who believe in the benefits of birthstones or precious stones, is reflected in reality, it would be very difficult, these beautiful stones with mystical properties seriously. As most people are aware of in the modern world very well, the concept of gemstones and birthstones are linked deeply into astrology. In addition, twelve zodiacal signs, each dedicated to one month, there are gems associated with each of these months. During the month of May is known for the astrological sign of Taurus and one of the finest jewels of humanity, which is a known emerald.

Identified in a word, the emeralds are the three principles of social and personal friendship, loyalty and fidelity. While some cultures believe the emerald to represent these three things, others that it represents success, hope and rebirth. However, the traditional virtues such as memory, belief, and vision are attributed to the emerald. As the traditional values ​​of the emerald, the birthstone is known to be particularly influential on the mental side of things and are known to increase the mental abilities of the user. In addition to all that the Emerald has betrayed over the centuries to the ability, true love for popular support.

The Emerald has a lot of historical significance to human civilization. In fact, the emerald accepted as important to many ancient civilizations of mankind. For example, suggest that the historian was used in ancient cultures of Egypt emerald and India, and its use dates back to 3000 BC. Emperors of Mughal India used to write on religious emeralds, which clearly shows its importance in this culture to anchor. In addition, the Emerald was still very important to the Roman Empire as Cleopatra was known for wearing.

Technically, a nothing more than the emerald green variety of beryl, a mineral known. This gives the green color is due to mineral impurities in the form of molecules of chromium and iron. The emerald perfect accordance with the criteria and standards is one that has a hexagonal crystal structure. The emerald was born curative properties for a person during the month of May. Emerald is said to affect the ability to positively associated with health problems of the spine, the problem of headache, the function of fertility and eyes.

Furthermore, from a practical point of view, emeralds, one of the jewels harder when it comes to wear on a daily basis. The reason is the vulnerability of emeralds. Emeralds are extremely easy to scratch, making it a problem for someone on them as a ring or a bracelet on a daily basis. This is the question of emeralds she recommended mainly in the form of semi-trailers for people who could benefit from wearing them. This means that emerald necklace and pendant is an ideal gift for someone with Birthdays in May

The country of Columbia is known that about 60 percent of the global market to keep emerald. Why Colombian emeralds is so highly regarded that they have a dark green that is difficult to find in emeralds from other regions of the planet comes from the show. In fact, one of the most remarkable aspects of Colombian emeralds that she found particularly in the very green jungles of the country. Other countries, which are found in emeralds include Brazil, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Emeralds, although not as exorbitant as diamonds tend to be on the expensive side, be the way they are in the hands of a privileged few celebrities and ordinary people. Here is a list of some celebrities whose birthdays fall in May, and would benefit greatly from wearing emeralds in one form or another.

The incredibly colors of famous and equally Diamonds

In late 2008 an enormous fancy deep grayish blue diamond that weighed in at a whopping 35.56 carats was auctioned for over sixteen million British pounds. That translates to over six hundred and eighty thousand dollars per carat. The “Wittlesbach” diamond, however, did not set the world’s record with its price. This was achieved by another blue stone in October of 2007. The 6.04 carat flawless blue diamond sold at auction in Hong Kong for six hundred and fifty thousand pounds (over $1million!) per carat set the world’s new record. When the hammer fell, the diamond had smashed a twenty year record held by the world’s most famous red diamond.

Out of all colored diamonds, red is the scarcest of all. The famous “Hancock Red” sold in the late 1980s for over $800,000 which gave it the record at the time for the highest price paid per carat.

So, an interested buyer might ask, how do colored diamonds get their hues and why are they worth more than colorless ones? Well, all diamonds get their color through the various chemical processes that take place while under the pressures of carbon crystallization that take more than millions of years to complete. In fact, it should be noted that scientists and even many gemologists insist that there are few to no “colorless” diamonds. There are roughly 300 shades of naturally colored diamonds recorded, and they range from “white” to “black”, and everywhere in between. The reason a diamond acquires a higher price tag because of its color has to do with the scarcity of its occurrence. Consider that among the world’s most famous diamonds are colored stones, in fact some of history’s most discussed, highly valued and notable diamonds are the colored stones:

The incredibly famous and equally notorious “Hope Diamond” is a deep-blue sapphire colored diamond currently housed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. It is known for its size, color and quality as well as its “colored” history full of legend and curses.

Red carpet watchers and movie fans might easily recognize the “Pumpkin Diamond”: a vivid orange five and a half carat stone set for actress Halle Berry who wore it the night of her Academy Award win for Best Actress. The stone’s color is so truly unique that it is currently valued at over $3 million.

No list of super-valuable and super-famous diamonds can be considered to be complete without a mention of the “Tiffany Diamond”, a 129 carat cushion shape diamond. It is a canary yellow diamond, and while white diamonds with a yellow hue tend to be of lower value, the intensity of the coloration of the “Tiffany Diamond” makes it incredibly valuable both for color and size.

Interestingly, the largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was a natural color diamond of pale brown, the “Uncle Sam Diamond” located in what is now the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. The 40 carat stone was emerald-cut in 1971 and sold for approximately $150,000. Another diamond, of the yellow variety, was found in the same location and worn to the presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton by his wife Hillary Clinton. This diamond is on permanent display in the Park’s museum.

The “Green Dresden” is a truly green diamond, which is incredibly rare. This alone, apart from size makes it astonishingly valuable. The stone is also special because of its treatment; it was cut and polished, although such a process often diminishes such a stone’s green tones. The “Green Dresden” however retains a remarkably distinct green coloration. It was taken by the Soviets at the end of World War II, but returned in 1958. Today it is housed in the Albertinium Museum in Dresden.

Though black is usually described in terms of an absence of color, the largest black diamond in the world is considered a colored stone. It is known as the “Spirit of de Grisogono”, and is believed to be the world’s fifth largest diamond overall. It weighs 312 carats and is set in a white gold ring with 702 smaller white diamonds surrounding it.

Anyone interested in acquiring a colored diamond should be wary of purchasing from any dealer who is selling at seriously discounted prices. There are now ways in which colorless or white diamonds can be altered in a laboratory setting. These are not valuable in the sense of the naturally colored stones and are best avoided. The popularity of colored diamonds is making prices rise, not decline, and a low price may be an indicator of fraud.

How to Judge a Diamond's Quality

When begin to search for a perfect diamond, We will certainly find that there is a big difference in price, and price is usually based on assessing the quality of the four Cs of diamonds, including cut, clarity, color, and carat.

Before we make a diamond purchase, we need to familiarize yourself with these terms, and we also need to find a reputable jewelry. Although we can examine the diamond yourself, we can ensure that we get value for the price only if we rely on the expertise of a specialist diamond.

Judging Cut
One of the most important factors in judging diamond quality is judging the cut of a diamond. It’s important because a quality cut diamond will be more brilliant and reflects light more beautifully, and yet the cut of a diamond has the least impact on the overall price of the diamond.

When judging diamond quality on the cut of a diamond, look at the stone in a well lit area. If the light seems to go into the stone and bounce back, showing a sparkling reflective surface, the diamond has a good cut. The angles and shapes of a diamond are important to judging diamond quality and the overall appearance of your diamond.

Not the shape of the stone, cut refers to how well a diamond’s facets are proportioned and aligned to maximize brilliance. According to Tiffany, an excellent diamond cut might sacrifice as much as 62 percent of a stone’s total weight.

Read more about Diamond Cut

Judging Color
Most diamonds are considered to be ideal if they are transparent, or colorless. Diamonds that are rated as colorless are the most expensive of diamonds.

There are two main ways that jewelers’ use when judging diamond quality based on color. They may pull out a set of reference stones, and find the closest match between the diamond and the reference stone to determine its letter grade. Alternatively, the jeweler may use a colorimeter, which can electronically measure the color of the stone and determine its grade within 1/3 of a grade.

When rating the color of a diamond, jewelers commonly use the letters D through Z. The more yellow or brown tint a diamond has, the less value it receives. The rating D represents a diamond that is colorless; while the rating Z has a yellow or light brown hue.

Read More about Diamond Color

Judging Clarity
The clarity of a diamond refers to whether or not the diamond is clear all the way through, or whether it has tiny flaws and cloudy areas within the gemstone. It’s actually very rare to have a diamond with absolute perfect clarity and no flaws, but most diamond flaws are not visible to the naked eye and can only be seen with a magnifying device.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) uses a magnification of about 10x when judging diamond quality based on the clarity. There are treatments available to make a diamond appear nicer than it actually is, and the treatments should lower the overall price of the diamond so it is important to do your research before purchasing a diamond to be sure you are not spending more money than you should.

Judging Carat Weight
Carat is the term we used to describe the weight of a diamond gemstone. One carat is equivalent to 200 milligrams of weight. A single diamond with a high amount of carat weight is more expensive than the equivalent amount of carats in multiple stones. This is because finding the larger diamonds is much more rare of an occurrence.

So if you want a 2-carat diamond ring, for example, you may decide to go with a half-carat diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds that add up to one and a half carats to give you the total of 2 carats! Judging diamond quality by the amount of carats is difficult, since different shaped gemstones, and stones with different levels of clarity will be priced differently even if they have the same amount of carats.

Read More about Diamond Carat Weight

How to Spot A Fake Diamond

For some people, a diamond is a diamond. For others, only a natural diamond is a diamond.

Diamonds are hard to replicate, due to their very particular set of qualities. However, some replicas can be very convincing.

Diamonds can be created in laboratories, and other materials can be used to create gems that resemble diamonds closely, such as cubic zirconia, moissanite, crystal, and rhinestones.

And for some people, even a natural diamond is a “fake” if it has been enhanced. With so many definitions of fake, it is best to break this question down to address each style of “fake” diamond. The only way of making certain a diamond is real is by having it examined by a professional appraiser.

As a buyer, we should be less afraid of “fake diamonds” and more cautious about the seller representing a diamond stone as accurately as possible. When the diamond is accompanied by a third-party certificate, it is more likely to be what the seller claims it to be. All other purchases are less certain.

If you don’t know much about diamonds. There are some steps that you can take to avoid buying a fake diamond.

First, only deal with reputable jewelers, and when you find a reputable jeweler, stick with them. Avoid buying diamonds or other jewelry from jewelers that you have never dealt with before in the past. Ask to see the certificate for the stone. If no certificate exists, walk away.

Look at the setting that the stone is in. Fake diamonds, such as zirconias, are usually set in low quality metals. Take a close look at the stone. Fake diamonds are not durable – natural diamonds, on the other hand, are the most durable stone on the planet. Look for scratches or nicks.

After purchasing a diamond, take it to another jeweler for appraisal. In fact, take it to two or three other jewelers for an appraisal to make sure that the appraisals are all fairly close. If you find that you have purchased a fake diamond, you may be accused of making a switch when you return to the store of your purchase; therefore, it is important to have a certificate for the diamond. No two stones are alike.

Internal Diamond Flaws and Inclusions

When you are looking for a diamond, be sure you find a jeweler whom you trust. A reliable jeweler should be willing and eager to point out various inclusions in each diamond. He should take the time to explain the make-up of that diamond and give you as much detail as possible, letting you look through his magnification tools to see for yourself.

Even with a trustworthy jeweler, however, it is wise to get an independent appraisal from a third party. Some sellers provide this service through a third party at no charge to customers buying a diamond. If not, many jewelers provide independent appraisals on pieces not sold in their store.

Diamonds flaws are common and most diamonds are not perfect and most of them consist of some inclusion or imperfections. These inclusions are also known as flaws and exist in various forms, exterior and interior. Inclusions are also classified in the manner in which they were formed. For example, syngenetic diamond inclusions are those inclusions which were formed while a diamond was being made. On the other hand, epigenetic inclusions were formed after a diamond was made.

Internal Diamond Flaws
When a diamond is considered to have a flaw, it is an imperfect gem stone. Something about the diamond did not form correctly, or there are tiny imperfections within the stone. Diamond flaws and inclusions are often not noticeable to the average person, and you need not worry about the small inclusions that occur in most diamonds. There are actually only very few diamonds which can be labeled “perfect”, and if they are placed in the category of no diamond flaws and inclusions, chances are the diamond will be extremely expensive!

There are some minor inclusions which cause a diamond to appear slightly dull. The inclusion within the diamond can affect the stone's clarity because as light passes through the stone, it is intercepted by the inclusion. Many of these flaws and inclusions can be reduced or fixed with the various forms of treatment processes that gemologists and jewelers have learned to do over the years.

Other diamond flaws and inclusions may be large enough to cause weakness within the gem stone, and the stone could shatter or break much more easily than a stone without the weakness. These are the flaws you want to be careful with, since they reduce the value of your stone.

Pinpoint Inclusions
When a diamond has speckles of dark crystals in groups or scattered throughout the stone, it is said to havea form of diamond flaws and inclusions called pinpoint inclusions. If the dark crystals are all clustered together in the stone, the clarity of the diamond is effected, and it appears to have a “cloud” inside the stone. These types of diamond flaws and inclusions may cause the diamond to be worth less, as it greatly effects the appearance.

Problems from Laser Treatments
When an imperfect diamond is treated with lasers to remove dark diamond flaws and inclusions from within the gemstone, sometimes a line is left through the diamond that looks much like a thread. The laser line begins at the outer edge of the diamond, and moves inward to the area where the dark inclusion was treated by the laser. These diamond flaws and inclusions are unsightly and easily spotted by most people, making the diamond less desirable.

Mineral and Crystal Inclusions
While most diamond flaws and inclusions are negative, there are instances when the diamond flaws and inclusions are actually an eye catching aspect of your diamond! For example, diamonds typically have smaller crystals inside the diamond, often so tiny they cannot be seen without some sort of magnifying device. The clarity of the diamond can be effected by these crystals, if there are enough of them and if they are all grouped together in one area of the diamond.

There are a few rare instances when another gem stone is actually inside a diamond, and could certainly not be seen as a diamond flaw or inclusion. For example, if you had a ruby or emerald that was surrounded by a diamond, you would see that as a special piece of jewelry- not a flawed one!

Evaluating Diamond Color, Diamonds Graded, And Fluorescence of Diamonds

Evaluating Diamond Color

What exactly is diamond color? While most people think of the classic, transparent diamond, which happens to be the most rare and valuable, the colors of diamonds actually range from transparent all the way to a brownish color. There are different saturations of diamond color, and tones.

The Gemological Institute of America, known as the GIA for short, is the most commonly used system for evaluating diamond color. They've created something known as the “GIA Color Grade Scale”, and it has placed a grading system on the many different colors and shades of diamonds, classifying into 22 letter grades.

How Diamonds are Graded
The Gemological Institute of America has certified diamond color grades as “master color comparison” diamonds. When a diamond is being graded, it is compared against these master color comparison grades, to find the shades that match it most closely. The diamond that is being graded must be thoroughly cleaned and all oil must be removed from the surface before being examined, since even small amounts of dirt or oils on the surface of the diamond can alter the color.

A line of master color comparison diamonds or shade chart is set up, with each grade placed about one inch apart, ranging from the lightest and highest graded D shade, to the darkest, graded Z diamonds. The diamond color that is being graded is moved from the left side of the comparison units to the right, until it matches one of the shades.

Diamond grading should take place in a colorless environment, using a balanced fluorescent light source that has a filtered, cool white sun like ray. The room where the grading takes place is dark, all except for the special grading light, in order to obtain the most accurate grading of the diamond color.

Fluorescence of Diamonds
Yet another consideration when considering the diamond color is diamond fluorescence, and how it will effect the actual appearance in the diamond color. Fluorescence causes some diamonds to change color when viewed in our everyday, ultraviolet lighting, as well as under fluorescent light bulbs.

When a diamond color is graded, the strength of the fluorescence of that diamond must also be indicated. It may be considered to be strong, moderate, or weak fluorescence, and the reports must also indicate what color the diamond will change to due to the fluorescence. The reason for this is when people are in the jewelry store, looking at diamonds in the special lighting of the store, they may all appear to be the colorless, transparent diamonds. When you purchase a diamond and get it home under normal lighting, you could find your diamond is yellowish in color!

You can ask your jeweler to provide grading documentation and information about the fluorescent value of a particular diamond before purchasing, to make sure that you will be happy with the diamond you buy. Many jewelers also can show you the diamond under different lighting conditions, which will enable you to fully appreciate the beauty of the diamond before you buy it. Some individuals like a diamond color with a darker shade, while others are insistent on the transparent diamond color. The diamond color is one of personal preference, so be sure to do a little research before making your final selection.