Diamond’s are Forever

We love diamonds here at Coleman Douglas Pearls it is the birthstone for those lucky enough to be born in April! Pearls and diamond are such a classic combination, we adore the pairing which exudes timeless elegance. We have a popular diamond and pearl range here at Coleman Douglas Pearls which includes pearl earrings similar to those worn by the Queen.

Diamond comes from the Greek “Adamas” meaning unbreakable, a fitting name for the hardest natural substance on Earth! Diamonds are made up of pure carbon and have been formed through ancient volcanic eruptions. There are four main categories when it comes to valuing your diamond, these are known as the 4 C’s; Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat.

Diamond colour can result from a number of different processes, the most common is having Nitrogen as an impurity in the crystal structure. Nitrogen gives diamonds a yellow colour which can vary in intensity, so a grading scale was devised to grade diamonds so consumers knew the value of the stone. Diamond can be blue if boron is present in the crystal structure, or green if it has undergone radiation – either natural or artificial. Diamond can be brown, pink or red in colour if its structure has been subject to plastic deformation. Red is the rarest colour a diamond can be.

The amount of inclusions a diamond does or does not have is known as it’s clarity. The less inclusions a diamond has increases its beauty therefore making it a rarer stone. Like with colour grading a scale was introduced to aide consumers when buying diamonds. All diamonds used in our designs are G in colour and VS clarity.

Diamond can be cut into many different shapes the most common being the classic round brilliant cut, Baguette or emerald cut, and the square princess cut. The last category is diamond carat or how large a diamond is. If all other categories are equal a larger diamond will be more valuable due to its increased rarity as large diamonds are less common than smaller ones.

Our pearl jewellery store in Beauchamp Place is open Monday-Saturday, 11am-7pm and if you pop in one of our team will be on hand to show you our stock or talk through designing a bespoke piece with you. We also run a range of pearl and gemstone talks throughout the year – please enquire about booking a place.