(via Diamond Promotion Service) 6. Specific gravity: The diamond has a specific gravity of 3.52 because a diamond weights a little more than three and half times its equal volume of water. This means that it is a very compact gem. The specific gravity of ruby is 4.03; emerald is 2.74. This characteristic is important both for the location of diamond deposits by prospecting geologists and for the separation of diamonds from the other materials with which they are found in nature.
7. Thermal expansion: Many minerals expand and contract with heat and cold. The diamond doesn’t, and therefore is not affected by changes in temperature. A diamond will burn at 1444ºF, which is the range of a blowtorch. It will not melt until the heat reaches 6642ºF. This explains why diamonds can remain unscathed in even the most disastrous of fires.
8. Conductivity: Diamonds conduct very little heat. Most diamonds are non-conductors of electricity. Conductivity is a characteristic more important for industrial diamonds than for gems.
Where Diamonds Are Found
9. Diamonds were first found in India, more than 2500 years ago, along the banks and beds of ancient rivers. Golconda, which has always been a symbol for fabulous riches, was one of the great diamond-producing districts. Travelers brought diamonds from India into the Mediterranean world; diamonds are mentioned in the Old Testament, and they were well-known in Greek and Roman times. For many centuries India was the only source of diamonds, but today it accounts for less than one-tenth of one percent of the world’s natural diamond production.
10. Diamonds were discovered in Brazil in the 18th century, and this new source of supply helped meet the demand for diamonds by the increasingly affluent middle class in Europe. (Diamond had also been found in the East Indies by this time, but in very small numbers). South American diamonds, from Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela, account for a little more than one percent of the world’s production today.
11. The first diamond in South Africa was discovered in 1866, and the mines opened in the next 20 years made a tremendous increase in the supply of diamonds. While South African diamonds were treasured by princes and potentates, they also made it possible for almost every girl in Europe and America to have a diamond engagement ring. South Africa and South-West Africa (where diamonds were discovered in 1908) today account for about 20 percent of the world’s natural diamond production.
12. Later diamonds were discovered in other parts of Africa, and that continent is the largest producer of diamonds. Republic of Zaire (DR Congo) is the largest single diamond producing country, accounting for about 35 percent of the world’s production; but most of its diamonds are industrials rather than gems. Angola, the Central African Republic, Congo (Brazzaville), Ghana, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Tanzania together account for about 23 percent of the world’s diamonds. The newest of all diamond mines was opened in the new republic of Botswana in 1971.
13. Diamonds were discovered in eastern Siberia within our own time, in the Yakutia district above the Artic Circle. The Russians do not release their production figures, but estimates are that Russian diamonds account for about 20 percent of the annual world production today.
14. Diamonds have been found in many parts of the United States, but never in sufficient concentration for economic mining. At Murfreesboro, Arkansas, there is a diamond pipe which is worked by tourists, for fun—and they find diamonds.
Selling Diamonds (continued)
Monday, October 01, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
How To Be A Customer
Professor John Quelch explains how consumers can market themselves to influence vendors + tips to become a valuable customer @ http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5780.html
Blog: Marketing Know: How
Brilliant!
Blog: Marketing Know: How
Brilliant!
Billy Wilder's Rules Of Good Filmmaking
Billy Wilder's Screenwriting Tips
As told to Cameron Crowe:
1. The audience is fickle.
2. Grab 'em by the throat and never let 'em go.
3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
4. Know where you’re going.
5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
7. A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They'll love you forever.
8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’'e seeing.
9. The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then -- that's it. Don’t hang around.
Useful link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5503804
I think it should work in education + business as well.
As told to Cameron Crowe:
1. The audience is fickle.
2. Grab 'em by the throat and never let 'em go.
3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
4. Know where you’re going.
5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
7. A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They'll love you forever.
8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’'e seeing.
9. The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then -- that's it. Don’t hang around.
Useful link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5503804
I think it should work in education + business as well.
Acting Is The Most Natural Thing
The Guardian profiles Morgan Freeman + his experience (s) simulating unique characters on screen and real life + Feast of Love, an ensemble drama directed by Robert Benton about the impact of love, the loss of love, divorce, adultery and grief on a group of interconnected characters revolving around Freeman's college professor @ http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2178329,00.html
Morgan Freeman is an Academy Award-winning American actor, film director, and film narrator. When he acts he has that unique otherness + age and experience (s) works to his advantage too. He is a natural.
Morgan Freeman is an Academy Award-winning American actor, film director, and film narrator. When he acts he has that unique otherness + age and experience (s) works to his advantage too. He is a natural.
A Free Hand
(via The Guardian) Stuart Jeffries writes about Quentin Blake, Britain's - perhaps the world's - best loved illustrators + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2179032,00.html
The Case Of The Escaped Spirit
Michelle Falkenstein shares valuable info on how to handle artworks with care + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1487
Artworks are like gemstones. They should be handled with care.
Artworks are like gemstones. They should be handled with care.
Selling Diamonds
(via Diamond Promotion Service) Diamonds: The buying public today has more information about diamonds than ever before. The diamond is studied in science courses in schools and colleges. A great many articles about diamonds have appeared in magazines and newspapers. Both technical and non-technical books are published every year. Jewelers and others give many talks about diamonds, both to ‘live’ audiences and to the far larger audiences of television and radio programs. There is an increasing amount of diamond advertising.
All of this can be considered direct information. But human nature being what it is, the assimilation and retention of this information are always perfect. Therefore, the ‘pass-along’ or indirect information people get from other people is not always completely accurate. So the buying public also has a lot of misinformation about diamonds.
As a result, the customer who comes into your store has a definite interest in diamonds. He probably has some basic information, which may or may not be accurate. In most cases he will ask questions. These you must answer with the clarity, confidence and accuracy of an expert.
This section is not intended as a short course on diamondology. Rather, it is intended to present briefly the principal facts about diamonds in which customers have shown the most interest.
What is a diamond?
1. A diamond is a transparent gem made of pure carbon (like the graphite in a lead pencil) which has been crystallized, in nature, by tremendous heat and pressure. It is the hardest, the most imperishable, and the most brilliant of all minerals.
Physical Properties Of Diamond
2. The physical properties are important for a complete understanding of the long-lived beauty of the diamond and of its value in comparison with other gems. These properties are usually expressed in technical terms, but you should explain them in terms that will be clear to the customer.
3. Hardness: Diamond, by a wide margin, is the hardest substance known to man. On a scale that measures resistance to abrasion, for example, diamond is 42, while corundum (ruby and sapphire) is 9 and tungsten carbide is 12. On a scale that measures resistance to indentation, diamond is 8500, while corundum is 2200, tungsten carbide is 1500, and topaz is 1250. On the Mohs scale, a measurement for hardness of gems, diamond has a hardness of 10. This is the top of the scale, and it means that diamond will scratch but will not be scratched by minerals lower on the scale: corundum—9; topaz—8; and so on. However, this is not a true measure of the relative hardness of diamonds because on this scale there is a vast disparity between 10 and the remaining numbers. In fact, diamond is almost 100 times more resistant to scratching than the next hardest substance.
Why is hardness one of diamond’s most desirable and unique features? The hardness of the diamond enables it to be cut with precise accuracy for maximum efficiency in the handling of light. Hardness gives the surface of the diamond a luster unsurpassed by any other transparent gem. Hardness enables the diamond to last forever, in a very literal sense. Hardness provides resistance to scratching and other damage.
4. Toughness: Many people equate hardness to toughness, or resistance to breakage, and to expect a diamond to be unbreakable. This is not true. A diamond’s crystal structure, like the grain in wood, had ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ directions. A blow of sufficient force, in a very exact direction, can crack, chip, split or even shatter a diamond. This characteristic is important for the cleaving step in the cutting process. It is also a warning for the wearing of diamond; a diamond ring shouldn’t be worn on hands that are doing rough work.
5. Refractive index: The refractive index indicates how much a ray of light bends when it passes from one medium into another. For example, when you put a pencil half way into water it seems to bend, because water has a refractive index of 1.333. The refractive index of diamond is 2.417, the highest of any precious gem. In general, the higher a gem’s refractive index, the greater its power of dispersion, or the ability to break up light into colors of the spectrum. Ruby has a refractive index of 1.770; emerald is 1.585.
Selling Diamonds (continued)
All of this can be considered direct information. But human nature being what it is, the assimilation and retention of this information are always perfect. Therefore, the ‘pass-along’ or indirect information people get from other people is not always completely accurate. So the buying public also has a lot of misinformation about diamonds.
As a result, the customer who comes into your store has a definite interest in diamonds. He probably has some basic information, which may or may not be accurate. In most cases he will ask questions. These you must answer with the clarity, confidence and accuracy of an expert.
This section is not intended as a short course on diamondology. Rather, it is intended to present briefly the principal facts about diamonds in which customers have shown the most interest.
What is a diamond?
1. A diamond is a transparent gem made of pure carbon (like the graphite in a lead pencil) which has been crystallized, in nature, by tremendous heat and pressure. It is the hardest, the most imperishable, and the most brilliant of all minerals.
Physical Properties Of Diamond
2. The physical properties are important for a complete understanding of the long-lived beauty of the diamond and of its value in comparison with other gems. These properties are usually expressed in technical terms, but you should explain them in terms that will be clear to the customer.
3. Hardness: Diamond, by a wide margin, is the hardest substance known to man. On a scale that measures resistance to abrasion, for example, diamond is 42, while corundum (ruby and sapphire) is 9 and tungsten carbide is 12. On a scale that measures resistance to indentation, diamond is 8500, while corundum is 2200, tungsten carbide is 1500, and topaz is 1250. On the Mohs scale, a measurement for hardness of gems, diamond has a hardness of 10. This is the top of the scale, and it means that diamond will scratch but will not be scratched by minerals lower on the scale: corundum—9; topaz—8; and so on. However, this is not a true measure of the relative hardness of diamonds because on this scale there is a vast disparity between 10 and the remaining numbers. In fact, diamond is almost 100 times more resistant to scratching than the next hardest substance.
Why is hardness one of diamond’s most desirable and unique features? The hardness of the diamond enables it to be cut with precise accuracy for maximum efficiency in the handling of light. Hardness gives the surface of the diamond a luster unsurpassed by any other transparent gem. Hardness enables the diamond to last forever, in a very literal sense. Hardness provides resistance to scratching and other damage.
4. Toughness: Many people equate hardness to toughness, or resistance to breakage, and to expect a diamond to be unbreakable. This is not true. A diamond’s crystal structure, like the grain in wood, had ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ directions. A blow of sufficient force, in a very exact direction, can crack, chip, split or even shatter a diamond. This characteristic is important for the cleaving step in the cutting process. It is also a warning for the wearing of diamond; a diamond ring shouldn’t be worn on hands that are doing rough work.
5. Refractive index: The refractive index indicates how much a ray of light bends when it passes from one medium into another. For example, when you put a pencil half way into water it seems to bend, because water has a refractive index of 1.333. The refractive index of diamond is 2.417, the highest of any precious gem. In general, the higher a gem’s refractive index, the greater its power of dispersion, or the ability to break up light into colors of the spectrum. Ruby has a refractive index of 1.770; emerald is 1.585.
Selling Diamonds (continued)
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