Diamonds
The sparkle of a diamond has always been a magical attraction. The "king of all gemstones" owes its popularity to the values that are directly associated with it: Rarity, history and love. The customer who decides to buy a diamond rightly expects a miracle of nature.
All diamonds on Fischer rings are of selected high quality. Every diamond is a fascinating and highly complex natural product. In addition to its extreme hardness, its properties also include its cleavage. It is therefore very rarely possible for a diamond to be damaged or even break.
The diamond, one of mankind's greatest temptations, is a modification of pure carbon and usually forms transparent or colorless crystals. A diamond takes millions of years to form. It is formed when carbon is solidified under high temperature and pressure conditions at depths of up to 150 km below the earth's surface. But diamonds can also be formed from carbon from meteorite impacts and the accompanying force of the impact.
Quality criteria for diamonds
(Carat, Color, Clarity, Cut - and also recently Conflict).
Carat
The first "C" - carat - is used to measure the total weight of the diamond or of gemstones in general. One (metric) carat is exactly 0.2 grams. The common abbreviation is ct. The historical background: in the past, the seeds of the carob tree were used as a unit of measurement due to their approximately equal weight of approx. 0.2 g and their uniform size.
It is important to differentiate between carat and carat as a unit of measurement for the fineness of gold.
Carat can therefore provide information about the total weight of a diamond, but also about the proportion of gold in a gold alloy, for example.
Color
The most desirablecolor of a diamond would be absolute colorlessness and transparency. However, this "perfect" diamond does not occur in nature. In practice, diamonds are therefore divided into the following color categories (excerpt):
- Ultrafine white (River)
- Fine white (Top Wesselton)
- White (Wesselton)
- Lightly tinted white (Top Crystal)
- Tinted white (Crystal)
- Tinted 1 (Top Cape)
Clarity
Clarity stands for purity. This is influenced by inclusions, which can be of a solid, gaseous or liquid nature. The following terms are used by experts to describe purity (excerpt):
if - internally flawless - flawless except for possible surface marks from processing
vs1 /vsi - very small inclusions - Inclusions are difficult to recognize at ten times magnification.
si1 - small inclusions - Inclusions are easily recognizable at ten times magnification.
(Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamant)
Fischer Trauringe uses brilliant-cut diamonds of quality TW/si (Top Wesselton / small inclusions) as standard.
Cut
Thecut of a diamond is decisive for its so-called fire. Different types of diamond cut make the stone sparkle to different degrees: Brilliant cut, princess cut, etc.
The most commonly used cut is the brilliant cut. A brilliant always refers to a diamond that has been cut with a specific cut - the brilliant cut. Other gemstones or artificial stones with a brilliant cut must be designated differently, e.g. cubic zirconia with a brilliant cut.
Conflict
A more recent characteristic of a diamond is its origin. Diamonds that are associated with "conflicts" are now condemned by the majority. The trade in these so-called "blood diamonds" or "conflict diamonds" is banned and largely prevented.
Due to the very high prices paid for diamonds, diamond mining takes place under catastrophic circumstances, particularly in underdeveloped regions and conflict-ridden (crisis) areas. Life-threatening working conditions and the poorest conditions can be found in these areas. Diamonds mined in this way are often used to finance civil wars.
For this reason, diamonds are only considered "conflict-free" if they have been checked by means of precise origin details and a Kimberly certificate. At Fischer, we only process stones where human rights and environmental protection are guaranteed to be a high priority and are certified accordingly.
