DIAMOND

 

Georgian Fancy Diamond Cluster Ring, Available Now.

 

 

In 1953, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) developed an internationally recognised standard to grade diamonds and evaluate their characteristics known as ‘The Four Cs’ of colour, cut, clarity, and carat weight. Colour refers to how close a diamond is to being completely colourless, with chemically pure and structurally perfect diamonds being perfectly transparent with no hue, although most natural stones contain slight imperfections caused by chemical impurities and/or structural defects. The GIA developed a rating system for colour in white diamonds which ranges from D to Z, with D being colourless and Z having a bright yellow colouration. Cut describes the manner in which a diamond has been shaped and polished, and is often considered the most important factor because it determines how effectively the stone reflects and refracts light, producing the diamond’s famous brilliance and inner fire. Clarity measures the presence of internal inclusions or external blemishes and is based on those visible to a trained professional when assessed under 10× magnification. Diamonds become increasingly rare when considering higher clarity gradings, with only about 20% of mined diamonds meeting the high clarity standards considered appropriate for use as a gemstone. Carat, meanwhile, indicates the diamond’s weight and contributes to its rarity and value. Beyond these four factors, additional characteristics such as fluorescence, origin, and overall cleanliness can also influence a diamond’s appearance and value, but it is the interplay of the four Cs that defines the diamond’s beauty and enduring reputation as King of Gems.

 

Diamond Colour Grading Chart.

Diamond mining has evolved over thousands of years, with archaeologists working in Yemen finding evidence of the stones being used for drilling ornamental beads as far back as the second millennium BC. However, the world’s love of diamonds actually had its start in India, where these gems were gathered from the country’s rivers and streams, with some historians estimating that India was trading in diamonds as early as the fourth century BC. For centuries, India remained the world’s only known source of diamonds, and their limited quantities created an equally limited market, meaning the stones were initially reserved for India’s very wealthy classes. Over time, however, changes in the distribution of global wealth and the establishment of maritime trade, particularly with Europe following Vasco da Gama’s voyage in 1498, meant that, soon enough, diamonds were being traded widely across eastern and western cultures for both decorative and industrial purposes.  

This monopoly ended with the discovery of diamonds in Brazil in 1725, at the same time as India’s supply was beginning to dwindle, allowing Brazil to take its place as the world’s leading diamond supplier for over 100 years. Then, in 1866, the diamond industry underwent a huge shift with the discovery of the gemstones in Kimberley, South Africa, and the opening of the first large-scale diamond mine. In a very short period of time, South Africa became the dominant global producer, with diamonds from this region accounting for over 90% of those on sale worldwide. Over time, new deposits were found in countries such as Botswana, Australia, and Canada, with improvements in mining techniques and yields increasing global output from around three million carats in the early 20th century to over 100 million annually by the 1990s. Today, much of the world’s diamond trade is centred in Antwerp, widely recognised as the diamond centre of the world, where a centuries-old tradition of cutting and polishing continues to support a vast international industry.

 

Mid-Century Yellow & White Diamond Earrings, Lost Owl Archive.

 

‘The most highly valued human possession, not only among gemstones, is the diamond, known for a long time only to kings, and then only very few of them’ - Pliny, 1st Century.

 

Diamonds have long been associated with love and commitment, with their use in engagement rings dating back to 15th century Europe. One of the earliest recorded examples occurred in 1475, when the Italian aristocrat Constanzo Sforza presented a diamond ring to Camilla d’Aragona, setting a precedent among European aristocracy. Their marriage was celebrated with a poem citing associations that would become universal and long lasting: ‘Two wills, two hearts, two passions / Are bonded in marriage by a diamond’. Although other gemstones like rubies and sapphires were once preferred, diamonds gradually came to symbolise enduring love, purity, and fidelity and, by the modern era, diamonds had become the dominant choice for engagement rings across the globe. In fact, it is estimated that over three-quarters of brides in the USA walk down the aisle wearing a diamond engagement ring.

However, this widespread cultural tradition was not simply the result of history’s gradual accumulation, but of powerful and deliberate marketing to uplift the diamond via the use of ‘propaganda in all forms’ - most notably by De Beers. As the company celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1938, De Beers partnered with the advertising firm N.W. Ayer to transform diamonds into essential symbols of romance and status. Together they produced some early results, with De Beers seeing a 55% increase in its retail success in the US by 1941, but it was not until 1947 that they really struck gold: the creation of the iconic slogan ‘A Diamond is Forever’, coined by Frances Gerety, which linked the gemstone’s physical durability to eternal love. Through strategic marketing campaigns, including the ‘two-month salary’ rule, placing diamonds on celebrities and royalty at marquee events, and the promotion of the 4 Cs to encourage even the smallest stones to be sold, De Beers successfully reshaped public perception of the diamond with ideas that have now become deeply ingrained in our minds. They even navigated the shifting diamond landscape, managing to present the constant impression that the often plentiful material was both rare and desirable. A genius example of this came with the discovery of the Soviet Union’s diamond mines in the 1950s which produced an abundance of smaller stones of which De Beers became the sole distributor. Their solution to this was the ‘eternity ring’, a jewel composed of tiny diamonds and marketed at married men as a gift for their wives as an expression of their enduring love. As a result, diamonds became not only a romantic tradition but one of the most successfully marketed luxury products in history, symbolising prestige, commitment, and timeless devotion.