​​The Balance Of The 4Cs: Cut, Clarity, Color & Carat

The 4Cs: Cut, Clarity, Color & Carat are the age old standards for what is important to consider when selecting your diamond.  However, we live in a modern age that has made some remarkable advancements and we need to expand our consideration to accomadate the new information we have so readily available.

Diamond Source

What are these delightful dazzling sparkles that capture our eye?
Diamonds!  The hardest natural substance in the world brought to the Earth's surface by a special kind of explosive volcanic eruption called a kimberlite eruption.  Diamonds are blown up near the Earth's surface from the upper mantle by way of the expanding volcanic gasses under extreme pressure.  This isn't your everyday volcanic activity.  It is such a rare phenomenon that scientists believe that the last kimberlite eruption happened over 10 billion years ago.

Until the 1700s, most diamond mines were located in India.  Even in ancient times, diamonds were seen as precious gemstones, and are documented in trade history as far back as 1 A.D.  It wasn't until India's supply started to run short that miners began to look elsewhere.  Now there are only five countries that form the world's largest diamond market that accounts for nearly 90% of the world's natural diamond resource.  Botswana and Russia are the leading producers of  well over half of the world's natural diamond production.  South Africa, Canada, and Angola are home to nearly all of the remaining diamonds.

As if that were not enough to make that dazzling sparkle on your finger something precious and rare, most mined diamonds are not even used in jewelry. 
Diamonds are so durable and hard they also have many industrial uses.  Diamond drill bits, saw blades, and grinders are an excellent use of the durable diamond.  In fact, nearly 80% of mined diamonds are found to be unsuitable for use in jewelry and sent on their way to other industrial uses.

The scarcity of sources and the difficulty in moving the mountains of earth to find that rare jewelry quality rough natural diamond are factors that weigh heavily on it's end price.  Fortunately we have an afordable alternative with Grown Diamonds.

​HPHT vs. CVD Grown Diamonds: What’s the Difference?

Basically, there are two possible ways to alternatively create diamonds:  High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) or Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
Both methods begin with a small sliver of a natural diamond crystal to act as the starter seed for the new diamond they are growing.

(HPHT) High Pressure-High Temperature method creates diamonds by replicating the natural formation process.  Exposing the natural diamond crystal seed and natural elements to extreme heat (over 4500 degrees Fahrenheit) and extreme pressure that melts the carbon atoms and causes them to bond to the seed, which is how a diamond naturally grows.

(CVD) Chemical Vapor Deposition heats carbon-rich gas until it turns into a plasma vapor and in a vacuum chamber, those vapors crystalize around the natural diamond crystal seed.  The natural color of the CVD Diamond as-grown, that has not ungone additional HPHT treatment to stablize it's color, has been known to change colors.  It may discolor with age or exposure to certain light rays, such as black lights or the sun's rays.  The discoloration is typically a less than desirable yellowish or brownish color.  Sometimes the color change may be reversable with treatments to the diamond.

Whether you choose Natural Diamonds, HPHT Grown Diamonds, or CVD Grown Diamonds, they are all Diamonds.  

Cut

​Clarity

​Color

​Carat