Diamonds are priceless. No other gem can compete with its grandeur and brilliant appeal. Ask any woman or man; they would both love to have diamonds. It does represent your stature, makes you stand out in the crowd, and attracts everyone’s attention. Over the years, they have also become an ultimate symbol of love. Diamonds are a major part of marriages all across the globe. Thanks to the De Beers advertising campaigns that made us see diamonds like we had never seen them before. The added symbolism, its unique properties, and other spiritual and mythological associations with diamonds have made it the king of gemstones.
The most sought after stone, the diamond, is April’s birthstone. Each month has been associated with a gemstone, and April babies should consider themselves lucky and honored to have a diamond as their birthstone.
Meaning Of April Birthstone
The name of the April birthstone, diamond, comes from the ancient Greek word "adamas," which means "invincible." Diamonds truly stand by that meaning and are one of the hardest and strongest gemstones. No other natural gemstone can give competition to its endurance. Only a diamond is capable of scratching and breaking another diamond. This is why they are unique and the most popular among people.
April people also have some of the same qualities. They are tough, ambitious, and shine in life after their share of burns and struggles. A diamond supports its wearer by bestowing him with needed strength and resilience. It protects you from evil eyes and plagues, does healing, and increases your beauty and happiness quotient in life.
Significance of April Birthstone
The value of diamonds has grown over time and has only increased since De Beers revolutionized the diamond industry with their various advertising campaigns. "Diamonds are Forever", the tag line that appeared everywhere from 1948-1999 and “How can you make two months' salary last forever?” which compelled men to think that a marriage is incomplete without diamonds and encouraged them to spend a huge amount happily on diamonds. They aimed at creating value for the diamond, as according to their research, not many people were interested in buying it before 1948. Suddenly, the diamond became one of the most significant stones, and it still continues to do so.
Therefore, since then, it has become a symbol of love. Its properties suggest that the relationship made with a diamond will be a bond that is strong, eternal, and lasts a lifetime.
Types of April Birthstone
Diamond types can be divided into different categories.
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Natural Diamonds
The diamonds are formed by crystallizing the carbon items naturally 100 miles below the earth’s surface under extreme heat and pressure. It takes over three billion years, 85 miles below the earth’s surface, for the formation of diamonds. After mining, refining, cutting, and polishing, they come onto the market for jewelry or industrial usage.
Original diamonds are what you usually see and imagine when you think of diamonds. Natural diamonds are rare and are known for their fire and brilliance. The colorless one and the one with the most clarity are the most expensive. Diamonds' rarity also makes them costlier than any other stone.
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Lab Grown Diamonds
With the advancement of technology, the world now has another form of diamond, which is man-made and grown in a lab. They are also known as synthetic diamonds. They are made in a factory using advanced technology and can thus be classified as gadgets. Also, one can grab them at a cheaper price in comparison to natural ones. Two diamonds, lab grown and natural, of the same carat, cut, and grading will differ in price. It is formed from the same chemicals and properties that natural diamonds use for their formation. To an untrained eye, both look the same. You cannot differentiate them, but experts can identify both with 100% certainty.
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Treated Diamonds
Treated diamonds, or you can say enhanced diamonds, are upgraded forms of natural diamonds. A small percentage of diamonds are not worth selling because of highly visible imperfections. They are treated in order to improve the quality by giving it improved clarity and color.
The treatments to enhance the clarity are: laser drilling to lighten the dark colored inclusions; fracture filling, to disguise features like surface breakage and cracks. Laser drilling can last a lifetime and fracture filling, if cared for properly, can also last for a long time, but there are chances of it getting faded away if repaired or cleaned with acids and steam.
To enhance the color, irradiation and annealing, strong radiation treatments are given to give it the desired color, like red, blue, pink, or green. This is usually done under 10 carats for diamonds that have a yellow or brown tint. This process makes diamonds sensitive to heat, so jewelry repair can change their color.
Coating, as a treatment, has been around for a long time, dating back to the Georgian and Victorian eras. Colored tinfoil is applied on the back surfaces of the diamond to lighten the color of the diamond. It is not easy to remove and can be detected only under high magnification.
The HPTH (High Pressure, High Temperature) treatment is also used for lightening the color or giving a new color to yellow or brown diamonds. HPTH diamonds are also natural diamonds, but the price of these diamonds is lower than other untreated diamonds. The treatment is permanent and lasts a lifetime. Hence, they are definitely a great option to go for.
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Natural Fancy Color Diamonds
Generally, natural diamonds range from grade D (colorless) to Z (light yellow). Fancy diamonds are of different colors and are beyond the grade Z range. The colored diamonds are found in almost every color: pink, yellow, brown, blue, green, and red. But unlike colorless diamonds, they are not valued on lighter tone. The more saturated and stronger the color is, the more desirable and priced it is.
Colored diamonds are extremely rare, making up almost 0.01% of the total diamonds that make up 1 in 10,000. With its increased usage among celebrities, the demand for it has also gone up.
They get the color naturally during the formation process. Due to impurities getting stuck in the diamond, it appears coloured. Sometimes, their color is enhanced with artificial procedures, but the most fancy ones are rare. Though they come in a wide spectrum, some of the most famous colors are; green, blue, pink, yellow, black, and champagne.
About black diamond
Formation and Properties
With the trend of offbeat and non traditional jewelry, black diamonds have been preferred all the more. Due to their high toughness, they are the most popular of all natural diamonds.
Made up of graphite, carbon and crystalline elements, it is an impure form of diamond. The small clusters of black crystals make them appear black in color. They don’t shine like other fancy and colorless diamonds. They are very rare and can’t be found everywhere around the world, but only in Central Africa and Brazil. They are quite hard, made of different combinations of graphite and carbon, which makes it very difficult to cut them.
Black diamonds hold different significance for different cultures. For ancient Indians, black diamonds were considered a curse and shouldn’t be part of happy occasions. The Italian people considered it a blessing for marriage. For medieval Europeans, it was a protection from evil. In modern times, it symbolizes purity, love, passion, power, wealth, and prosperity.
Like colorless and crystal clear diamonds, black diamonds also come in three types; natural ones, also known as carbonado, man-made black diamonds, and treated black diamonds. Its cost depends on whether it is a natural one or laboratory made. Natural black diamonds are extremely rare and, in comparison to white diamonds, they are priced less.
About Moissanite
The first discovery of moissanite happened in a meteorite crater in 1893 by the Nobel Prize-winning chemist, Dr. Henri Moissan. This microscopic particle was first misunderstood as a diamond, but later, after the lab test, it was realized it was a silicon carbide, and hence it was named Moissanite.
Moissanite is a stimulant of diamonds, or you can say, a unique form of diamond, but offers more sparkle and more heat resistance. Diamond comes from below the earth’s surface, whereas moissanite comes from the stars. They are very small in size and very rare. Natural moissanites are rarer than diamonds and the rarest of all jewels. Due to its rarity and smaller size, scientists, after a lot of research, came up with the thermal growing process of moissanite. So, now what you will see on the market is a lab-made moissanite. It comes at a lower price in comparison to diamonds. If you do not want to spend much money and need something to look like a diamond, then moissanite is definitely a great choice.
If you are someone who honors and believes in the power of miraculous gemstones, then a diamond is definitely for you. Buddhists believe diamonds can give deep insight and realization of truth. A number of poems are written about diamonds in appreciation of their uniqueness and beauty. Also, the Greeks and Romans saw diamonds as ‘tears of God." Many people believe it is spiritually, physically, and emotionally beneficial. A must-have in your collection, spending on diamonds is always going to be an investment rather than an expenditure.
