Today, we'll just lightly discuss four common misconceptions believed about diamonds in the jewelry industry. We'll briefly offer counterpoints to these statements in order to provide helpful information from our own experiences and point-of-view.



1.) Some say that diamonds are nearly indestructible?

Diamonds are not indestructible. Even if they are the hardest naturally occurring mineral on the planet, hardness is understood by definition as 'resistant to scratches or abrasion' rather than being impervious to breakage or splitting. Diamonds are actually able to 'chip' and break, especially at the thinnest points of their physical structure- the girdle edge and the culet. Chipped diamonds obviously become lower in value, as this does affect their clarity grade. Likewise, diamonds also have certain crystallographic directions where the bonds between atoms are weaker, causing them to possibly or potentially 'split apart' in clean breaks if hit with enough force along those directions. These are called cleavage planes. Furthermore, diamonds are made of carbon. Carbon can burn. Which is why diamonds can be altered significantly by intensely high temperature fires, and can also be 'cut' or separated using lasers.

2.) There are some people who say that 'lab-grown diamonds' are not diamonds at all? (specifically referring to CVD and HPHT produced LG diamonds)

Actually, by chemical definition- a diamond is essentially made-up of carbon atoms crystallized in the isometric / cubic crystal lattice system. By this definition, a lab-grown diamond is a diamond. The difference between natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds mainly relates to two things: market price value and how they grew. Natural diamonds take billions of years to form, and this results in the presence of minor trace-elements and certain atomic defects when compared to lab-grown diamonds, which allow properly equipped gemological laboratories to differentiate between the two. Trace elements are very small percentages of elements that are non-essential to a diamond's basic chemistry, but form along with it during growth. The present-day selling prices / value of natural diamonds are higher than those of artificially grown or man-made diamonds due to the rarity factors involved, as well as the idea that lab-grown diamonds can simply be produced over and over again (despite manufacturing technologies still being expensive). Be very careful of using terms like 'real' or 'genuine' when buying or selling a lab-grown diamond. These terms are very subjective and can have different meanings and interpretations for different people. For ethical transparency you should always say 'lab-grown diamond', if your stone is indeed a man-made diamond. You can always further differentiate it from imitation materials like moissanite or cubic zirconia as well, and say that its essential chemistry is composed of carbon.

(Note: Lab-grown diamonds are different from lab-grown imitation materials like cubic zirconia or moissanite. This article refers specifically to lab-grown diamonds grown from the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process or the High-Pressure, High-Temperature (HPHT) process. We are only talking about man-made diamonds themselves (carbon chemistry), not about any kind of simulant or lookalike gem material.)

Taking its name from the legendary ballet "Firebird" (1910 - Grand Opera, Paris), this 20.69 carat asscher-cut diamond now makes its way into the possession of Lawrence Graff, who previously also obtained the 'Lesedi La Rona' diamond (302.37 carat D-color) and had it cut into the world's largest square emerald-cut diamond.



Fancy-colored diamonds have been making headway into the world's auction scene for the past couple of decades, with major color hues including pinks, blues and vivid reds. Yellow diamonds, although traditionally lower in the hierarchy of color values for the diamond species, boasts a widespread appreciation for their 'Canary yellow' saturations. Many of them are now receiving heightened reception from international collectors and connoisseurs.



The choice to create the finished piece in a square-shaped step cut helps to bring out its uniquely stark honey-yellow hues. Many deep bodied fancy-cut shapes are a strategic selection for the final form of such fancy-colored diamonds, as proportions allow for more material (carat weight) to be kept- meaning a greater amount of light can then be selectively absorbed by the diamond's mass. This consequentially results in a stronger color, which is the desired effect for this kind of gemstone (as opposed to the case of colorless-to-near-colorless diamonds).

Round brilliant diamonds are the cornerstone of the fine jewellery industry today. Many collectors invest in stones that belong to the 'magic sizes' of 1, 2, 2.5 or even 5 carats. To those of you who've been to some of the most prestigious jewellery fairs across different continents, perhaps you may have even seen larger stones being exhibited by many of the international design houses.

Jewelry auctions however, tend to showcase those rare exceptional stones that come around once in a lifetime. Just a few years back, Sotheby's released such a stone that made headlines across nearly every jewelry news portal. The unveiling of a 102.34 carat natural round brilliant diamond.

The stone was a colorless gem with no clarity characteristics, and was touted to be the largest D-flawless round brilliant cut diamond in the world at the time. Its exceptional quality made it even more rare and sought after by thousands of luxury collectors.

The original rough came from Botswanna, a locality very well known for diamond production. It weighed about 425 carats, and master cutters took over half a year to correctly create the finished cut stone from its material.

More rough diamond materials of high carat weight have also been unearthed since then. One of which in particular was acquired by Graff, and contained the potential for a new record-holder in this classic category.



In 2019, the recently unveiled 102.79 carat Graff Constellation was said to beat the previous record by a very narrow margin.

This stone was cut from the 'Light of Letseng' rough diamond originally found in Lesotho mines. It is now considered as the largest D-flawless natural round brilliant cut diamond graded by the Gemological Institute of America at the date of this article.

The photo above depicts the said stone in the hand of Graff Chairman; Lawrence Graff- a pioneer in the global diamond retail trade, and an avid collector record-breaking precious gems.

Among all the fancy-cut shapes you'd normally hear about at auctions, it's sometimes quite interesting to see such a traditional or classic shape like the round brilliant, come in such large and elusive carat weights. One may wonder if any more will be unveiled at auctions in the years to come.

While some jewellers have their own proprietary ways of visually evaluating a diamond for clarity (the presence or absence of blemishes and inclusions), most gemological laboratories around the world employ a magnification standard of 10x when performing this task.



This can be done with a standard gemological triplet loupe, however a proper microscope aids in defining the types and traits of inclusions present within a stone. It's a common saying among many jewellers and collectors that stones of SI2 clarity and below more commonly show eye-visible inclusions that you can view with unaided vision, however this is just a general observation and there are always exceptions.

The stone above shows some prominent feather inclusions to the lower left side, which may be spotted by eye if careful or keen enough. The tiny inclusions at the center though would be thoroughly missed unless you were making proper use of a loupe or microscope. Certain inclusions weigh more heavily compared to others in the hierarchy of quality grading. Pinpoints for example, pose no durability threat, however feathers- which are essentially fractures or breaks in the stone, if large enough can compromise some areas of the stone's durability.