(via Diamond Promotion Service): The Value Of A Diamond: 40. The assessment of the value of a diamond is very complex. One basic factor is its enduring beauty, which as kept the diamond in demand all through the centuries. Another is its rarity; all the rough gem diamonds found in the world in a single year would fit into just one 2½ ton truck. A third is its durability; a diamond never changes, never wears out, needs no maintenance. A fourth is its symbolism; in modern times, the diamond has become the symbol of love and affection, and in some quarters it is still a status symbol, as it has been from time immemorial.
All these factors give a diamond a value that, for some owners, is beyond price. But for the more practical operation of establishing the price of a diamond, the four C’s are the determining factors: carat weight, color, clarity and cut. The first measures the size of a diamond; the other three, its quality. The infinite combinations of degrees of size and quality, and the rarity of some of these combinations, give the diamond a very complex price structure.
Prices of average diamonds have followed fairly closely the increase of the general price index through the years. This is reasonable, because all the costs of mining and cutting have also shown comparable increases. However, increasing demands for the larger and rare stones have increased their prices at a greater rate than the average.
Diamonds are an investment in beauty and sentiment. As a financial investment they have limitations. The average persons buys diamonds at retail prices, but he can get only wholesale prices when he has to (or wants to) sell; profits in such transactions are rare. But because of its durability, a diamond always has a basic and cashable value. For this reason, diamonds have been the financial salvation of many refugees who could carry no other property with them into exile.
41. Carat weight. Originally the carat was the weight of the carob seed with which ancient lapidaries balanced their scales. For centuries, carat weights differed slightly from market to market, but in this century the carat was standardized according to the metric system as 200 milligrams, or one-fifth of a gram. In the American system of weights, this means there are 142 carats to the avoirdupois ounce.
The carat is further divided into 100 points, and a point is about the weight of three fine breadcrumbs. This means that diamonds must be weighed very carefully; even a breath of air can tip the sensitive scales.
A diamond is usually priced on a per carat basis, according to its size and quality. Where two diamonds have exactly the same carat weight, the one of better quality will command a higher price per carat. Because the rarity of diamonds increases with their size, so does their price per carat; a two carat diamond will cost more than twice as much as a one carat diamond of the same quality.
42. Color. Most diamonds are transparently clear, or white, but with a tinge of body color that can be seen when one looks through the side of the diamond against a white background. Completely colorless, icy white diamonds are very rare, only a very small percentage of all gem diamonds. Because of this rarity, ‘top color’ diamond command premium prices.
Not as rare are diamonds with a tinge of color so faint that it is discernible only to the eye of an expert. Nevertheless, such diamonds command higher prices than those in which the body color is easily seen. For some reason, diamonds with a tinge of color seem to have more fire, a warmer beauty, than icy white stones.
Although white diamonds are most common, there are diamonds in virtually all colors of the spectrum. Most of these are shades of yellow or brown, but there are also shades of pink, orange, green and blue. These diamonds are called fancies and are valued for their rarity. The deeper colors have great beauty, but they do not have the brilliance of the lighter colors.
43. Clarity. Because Nature is rarely perfect, most diamonds show imperfections of crystallization. These are called inclusions because they are within the stone—tiny bubbles, specks of uncrystallized carbon, hairlines or feathers. Such inclusions are not structural weaknesses. But they affect the clarity of the diamond to the degree that they interfere with the passage of light through the stone.
In some diamonds, there are inclusions visible to the naked eye. The brilliance and fire of these stones is less than that of diamonds whose inclusions are not visible, and so they have a lesser degree of clarity.
A flawless diamond has top clarity. By Federal Commission standards, a flawless diamond is one in which no inclusions are visible to a trained eye using 10-power magnification in good light.
A diamond does not have to be flawless to be beautiful. In a sense, the inclusions in a diamond are its fingerprints, because the number, type and location of inclusions in one diamond are rarely duplicated in another.
Selling Diamonds (continued)
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