Have you ever questioned what it is about diamonds that makes them so valuable and expensive? Here are some interesting misconceptions about diamonds and their price, so we can work out the truth behind their value:
Myth 1 – Diamonds are expensive because of their rarity
We often believe that diamonds are very rare and that explains their high cost, but they are not very rare at all. Compared to the frequency of other gem finds, diamonds are a fairly common find. The price of a gem per carat is based on its rarity, therefore emeralds, rubies and sapphires command a higher price as they are rarer.
Myth 2 – The diamond supply is being depleted
Many people cite the depletion of the world’s diamond supply as the reason for the high cost of diamonds. While it is true that coloured diamonds are in shorter supply, white diamonds are not suffering from a shortage.
So, why are diamonds so valuable?
The simple answer is market demand. Diamonds are the pinnacle of desirability and have been for centuries. They represent wealth, power, status and elegance. In the past, mining was harder, and diamonds were thought of as rarer and so this pushed up the price of the stones.
However, during the 19th century, a large diamond mine was discovered in Kimberly, South Africa. There was so much potential for a glut of diamonds to flood the market and drastically bring down the price of the gems. To counter this potential problem, De Beers bought up the entire mine, so they could keep strict control of the number entering the global market. De Beers have only ever released enough to satisfy yearly demand, maintaining the inflated price of diamonds and giving the illusion that they rare than they are. Some of the price tag is associated with the work adn risk that is involved in mining these gems as well as cutting and cleaning them. Specialist equipment like a large ultrasonic cleaner that you can find from https://www.hilsonic.co.uk/ may be used to help clean equipment or even large batches of gems.
To add to this, criminal cartels would stockpile diamonds which further limited availability of the stones and drove prices up even further.
It was in the best interests of De Beers to push aside the existing tradition of sapphire and ruby engagement rings, so they began a strong marketing campaign to convince consumers that a diamond engagement ring was the most desirable piece of jewellery to own.
The value that we place on diamonds isn’t all down to clever tactics and smart marketing though. Diamonds have long been seen as a precious and valuable gem. The Ancient Greek culture revered the stone and believed it had mystical powers. Diamond engagement rings have also been traced back to the late 15th century. The fervour for diamonds is nothing new then and doesn’t seem to be abating any time soon either.
How laboratory-grown crystals came about
Man-made crystal goes back to the 16th century, and the term now covers anything grown in a laboratory, whether or not it also occurs in nature. Early attempts used water-soluble substances. In the early 20th century the Russian scientist A. V. Shubnikov set out the principles for growing crystals from solutions and melts and helped found the first crystal factory.
Growing a crystal is slow and needs precise conditions. Quartz can reach 15kg over several months, while the purest stones may take years, which is why relatively few types are produced at scale. Synthetic quartz is valued because natural quartz often holds impurities that rule it out for optical devices.
Rubies, sapphires and diamonds are now made this way as well. Synthetic diamonds are put to hard practical work in drill bits and in the drilling and mining industries, and grown crystals are used in precision work such as watchmaking. That industrial demand is quite separate from the jewellery trade.
How carat, cut, colour and clarity set value
Much of a diamond’s price comes down to four qualities. Carat is a measure of weight rather than size, with 100 points making one carat, so a 50 point stone is half a carat. Larger carat weights are rarer and priced to match. On a cluster piece, the weight is quoted as a total for all the stones.
Cut refers to the finish and proportions of the facets, the small flat surfaces that reflect light and create sparkle. Polish, symmetry and proportion all decide the quality of a cut, and a skilled cut can even hide small flaws.
Colour is graded on the GIA scale from D, the rarest and most colourless, down to Z, which has a slight yellow tinge. Clarity measures inclusions, the tiny natural crystals, feathers or cloudy patches inside a stone. Fewer inclusions mean higher clarity and greater value, and they are judged under a magnifying loupe.
How lab-grown stones affect the picture
Part of a diamond’s value has always rested on the idea that it comes from deep in the ground. Lab-grown diamonds challenge that. They have existed since the 1950s, but only in recent years has it become possible to grow stones of real quality. In a high-pressure, high-temperature chamber heated with plasma, a hydrocarbon gas mixture is broken down and the diamond forms over a few weeks.
The result looks identical to a mined diamond and is chemically and physically the same. Even long-established names in the mined diamond trade now sell lab-grown stones, and they generally cost less than mined ones.
For many younger buyers, the environmental and ethical side matters as much as price. Mining moves huge amounts of earth, and some mines are so large they can be seen from space. There are human costs too. In Surat in India, where most of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished, young workers put in long shifts and can develop breathing problems from inhaling diamond dust.