Shine Bright Like A Diamond

Diary Of A PawnbrokerFeatures

Diamonds are the birthstone for the month of April, meaning April born ladies have an extra reason to own these beautiful sparkling gemstones.

Diamonds are rare and unique, formed billions of years ago about 100 miles below ground and brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions.

They are made of a single element, carbon, and under intense heat and pressure the atoms bond into a beautiful rare crystal. This ‘rough diamond’ is then split and expertly cut into the sparkly gemstone we wear in our jewellery with a well cut diamond always having more sparkle than a poorly cut one.

Nearly all diamonds contain some impurities. These ‘inclusions’ give each diamond a unique natural fingerprint. The ‘perfect’ diamond is colourless (white) and contains no inclusions where as one containing a faint trace of yellow or brown is deemed as less precious as they are more commonly mined. However, if a diamond is found with an intense colour such as fancy yellow, pink or blue, it is due to the stone containing trace elements such as Boron and it can be very valuable indeed. A one carat blue diamond can be worth over £150,000 due to its rarity compared to the white equivalent being worth around £10,000.

Diamonds are measured in carats. This dates back to when diamond traders measured the weight of each stone by the seeds of the carob tree which were very uniform in weight with exactly 100 seeds making up the weight of 1 carat. Today a carat is equivalent to 0.2 grams which is equivalent to the weight of a small paperclip.

What makes some diamonds worth more than others can seem a mystery to many however it is purely a product of how rare it is to find a stone with each combination of properties. Therefore it makes sense that a diamond that is perfectly pure (with little or no inclusions), and perfectly white (with little or no colour), is worth more than one with either or both of these features present. It also stands to reason that you are more likely to find smaller stones with this purity than a large stone of over 1 carat, so the value of the diamond rises exponentially when it is larger due to the rarity of finding one with no imperfections.

Knowing this will hopefully help you make a decision on what quality of stone to buy within your budget. We cater for all tastes and budgets and buy many of our stones directly from the diamond cutters so we can make sure we get the best value and quality without traders adding their costs along the way. We also source many stones from pre-owned jewellery and this represents amazing value to the customer. When you consider that a diamond is already billions of years old, then buying one that has been ‘pre-loved’ and allowing you to get more for your money can make perfect sense.

Therefore if you are looking to treat yourself or a loved one to one of the most beautiful and rare gifts on earth, call into Brown and Gold at Seacroft or Batley or Christopher Brown Jewellers in York city centre, Shipley or Pontefract and let our experts help you make the right choice as the diamond will be yours for generations to come.

Finally, for those who like their diamond facts here is the most mind blowing diamond fact of them all….

Scientists have discovered a planet that they believe is composed mostly of carbon, and is one-third pure diamond!  Discovered in 2004, the planet orbits a nearby star in the Milky Way. They have also discovered a star that is essentially a diamond of ten billion trillion trillion carats.  They named the star ‘Lucy’ after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

On the assumption this won’t come crashing into the earth anytime soon, let us help you find your ‘perfect star’ at a sensible budget that will not be out of this world.

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