Discovered in India, in the 1700s, natural diamond is one of the most marketable gemstones. It is regarded as the hardest substance on earth, making it all the more exclusive. In less than no time, diamond got renowned for its gemological and industrial purposes. Thus, commencing the diamond trading business between the east and the west. Diamond has been used as an embellishing item since then. The 1860s decade is tagged as the ‘Modern Era of Diamond Mining’ bearing in mind the fact that the ‘Eureka Diamond’ or First Diamond to be found on the banks of the Orange River in South Africa was discovered in 1866.
The characteristics of a diamond can be determined by the following 4 Cs:
- Carat: Mass of the diamond
- Clarity: Extent of internal irregularities called inclusions, which can be structural imperfections or residues of other diamond crystals. These inclusions can be whitish and obscure.
- Color: According to the Grading Scale, the most premium quality of diamond is the one which is colorless and is denoted as D globally. D here refers to being absolutely free from any color.
- Cut: Techniques used in shaping and polishing a diamond from its rough precursor to the final proportions of the gem
Another distinctive feature of the diamond is that it exhibits fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet light. Fluorescence may occur at different intensities depending on the diamond being examined. Significantly emitting a blue color, but shades of red, yellow, white or green have also been noticed.
Presence of fluorescence can either enhance or detract the worth of a diamond. For instance, if a high colored diamond, graded between D-F exhibits the property of fluorescence, value of the aforementioned diamond decreases. But if a low colored diamond, graded somewhere between J-M reveals to have fluorescence, the value of the diamond may increase as the bluish hue of fluorescence may end up transforming the initial faint yellow color of the diamond into colorless.