Cutting Diamonds

 Th­ere are special techniques that are used to cut and shape a diamond before it gets to the jewelry store. Diamond cutters use these four basic techniques:

Cleaving - To cut a rough diamond down to a manageable size, the cutter must cleave it along the diamond's tetrahedral plane, where it is the weakest. A wax or cement mold holds the diamond in place while the cutter carves a sharp groove along the plane. The cutter places a steel blade in the groove and forcefully strikes it, cutting the rough diamond in two.

Sawing - Sometimes, diamonds have to be cut where there is no plane of weakness, which cannot be done with cleaving. Instead, the cutter saws the diamond using a phosphor-bronze blade rotating at about 15,000 rpm. Lasers can also be used to saw diamonds, but the process takes hours. During the sawing step, the cutter decides which parts of the diamond will become the table (the flat top of the stone with the greatest surface area) and the girdle (the outside rim of the diamond at the point of largest diameter). Then, he proceeds to cutting.­

Bruiting/Cutting - This technique gives diamonds their shape. When diamonds are cut by hand, the technique is called bruiting -- cutting refers to bruiting by machine. When the cutter shapes diamonds by hand, he relies on the diamond's hardness as his tool -- he uses diamonds to cut diamonds. He uses a small, stick-like instrument with a cement-filled bowl at the tip to hold the diamond. The diamond is inserted in cement with just one corner exposed. Using one of these sticks in each hand, the cutter rubs the exposed diamond parts together to bruit them. In the mechanical process, the diamond is placed in a lathe, and another diamond in the lathe rubs against it to create the rough finish of the g­irdle.

Poli­shing - To create the diamond's finished look, the cutter places it onto the arm above a rotating polishing wheel. The wheel is coated with an abrasive diamond powder that smoothes the diamond as it is pressed against the wheel.

Courtesy of the fine folks at HowStuffWorks

Why A Free Quote Is Your Best Friend

Our company offers free quotes on diamonds, gold, watches, and any other luxury jewellery that you may have. All you need to do is give us a call, or submit a request on one of our websites. The best part of this process is that you get to have a one-on-one meeting with one of our fine jewellery appraisers. Our experts know that you want to shop around with a few agencies before deciding on who to sell to. With this in mind, we like to share our appraisal process with our clients. We keep the entire process transparent and honest! So if you want to know how much you can get for your item in a hurry, call us! With a free quote on diamonds from us you have nothing to lose, only cash to gain.

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10 Things You Should Know About Selling Your Diamond

10 Things You Should Know About Selling Your Diamond

Selling a diamond can be an intimidating process. There is much to know and much to account for in each and every diamond. Here is a guide that can hopefully give you more confidence in getting a great price for your items:

1. Your Diamond Is A Marvel Of Nature: The cut of the diamond is the only aspect that can be changed by a human. The weight, colour and clarity of a diamond are up to nature. A well cut diamond will have many facets which reflect the light, and with a well cut diamond the light reflects from one side to another to make it sparkle. A diamond that is cut too deep or too shallow will lose light and so won't sparkle as much. 
2. Diamonds Have Feelings Too: Despite diamond being an unbelievably hard substance, it is still important to take care of your diamonds. Diamonds can be chipped by a heavy impact, and can scratch other items (including other diamonds). Diamonds should also be cleaned regularly using jewellery cleaner.
3. Size Matters: Diamonds are sold by weight; thus the weight is also the size of the diamond. The term carat is used to measure the weight of a diamond, and is the equivalent of 0.2g. The term carat came to English from French and means "the fruit of the carob". It wasn't until 1914 that the carat was standardised to 0.2g in the United Kingdom; this is known as the "metric carat".
4. Take Care Of Your Diamond: Don't let your diamond come in contact with chlorine bleach when you're doing housework. It won't break the diamond, but it can pit or discolour the mounting holding it. Don't wear your diamond when you're doing rough work or doing the dishes. Even though a diamond is durable, it can be chipped by a heavy impact against its grain. Don't keep your diamond pieces in a drawer or jewellery case, because diamonds can scratch or chip each other!
5. Accept No Substitutes: A cubic zirconia is a man-made crystal with a different refractive index (the degree to which a substance can bend light, making the stone look more or less brilliant) than a diamond. Cubic zirconia is not as durable as a diamond. It also weighs 60% more.
6. Know What You Have: Just because a passed relative said their old diamond ring was valuable doesn't mean it is. It may not even be a diamond. Before you race to sell the gem, get an accurate picture of its quality and authenticity. A certified appraiser can give you an unbiased opinion of the stone’s characteristics and condition. They can inform you of the positive and negative attributes that could affect the gem's value. 
7. Be Prepared: Expecting the retail value for your pre-owned diamonds is the quickest way to be disappointed with your sale. There is a great difference between the retail and resale value; this needs to be considered when setting your price expectations. When a jeweller assesses your stone, they clean, evaluate, and prepare your diamond for auction to a network of professional diamond buyers. From this auction process the true market value is determined, directly showing the level of demand for your diamond. 
8. Are You Ready To Let Go? For most everyone, diamonds represent love and commitment. This can make them harder to let go of than any other type of jewellery. You may perceive the price of your diamond to be higher than it is, but diamond buyers and the market as a whole do not reflect the same sentiment as you. In such transactions, diamonds are a commodity. So before you make the first step in selling your diamond, ensure that you are fully prepared to let go of your old possession.
9. Investigate Your Goods: Understand that your diamond's value is not simply determined by the weight of the gold or the gemstones. If your piece was crafted by a well-known designer, it could be worth more than the projected weight of the gold alone.
10. Get Official: A certified diamond is a diamond that comes with documentation from an independent laboratory. The certificate records exact measurements of the diamond as well as the clarity, colour, and weight. All of this information enables your diamond to be verified as a certified diamond. The modern approach to ensure authenticity is to have the diamond sealed together with the certificate (microfilm). 

We hope that you have found this article informative in helping you sell your diamonds. Sell My Diamonds strives to keep the diamond selling process easy and transparent. Sell a diamond today!

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