How Greatness Is Created

One of the most valuable substances on the planet essentially starts as a lump of coal. Apply tons of pressure for thousands of years, just the right mix of carbon and oxygen, place it where it can be found, and a diamond is born. But that’s just the beginning. It takes a keen eye and many smaller, but equally hard, diamonds to bring forth the gem’s ultimate value.

Many people only see a diamond on someone’s finger or around their neck and think nothing of what went into making ‘woman’s best friend’ (how come men are stuck with dogs?). Cubic Zirconia shine brilliantly, are often mistaken for diamonds by untrained eyes and can be produced in very little time.  However, the pretenders also have very little value.

A raw stone can be very large while a finished, polished stone is almost always a fraction the size of the piece of oar extracted from the ground. Its value has to do with both the quality of the uncut stone and the vision of the diamond cutter.

Diamonds often have inclusions.  Where they lay within the stone will determine whether they can be cut off or will remain in the finished imperfect stone.  Sometimes these imperfect stones can be sold to individuals who are less concerned with quality than in simply owning a diamond.  Other times, they will be chopped into much smaller pieces and used as part of tools used to shape higher quality stones.

Technology has made it possible to use computers and automated equipment to cut diamonds.  The efficiency with which these machines can turn out production grade stones has made it possible for jewelers to offer volume discounts on lower cost pieces with diamonds of identical cut and weight. This has brought ownership into the hands of many who would otherwise have only opted to purchase the cheap knock off, Cubic Zirconia.

However, there has yet to be a machine created which can duplicate quality of a Master Cutter who has spent decades in apprenticeship and cuts by hand.  Those with the training and a keen eye will look at each stone individually and work with meticulous deliberation to come up with a finished stone with the best possible cut, and will never cut any two diamonds the same. They don’t do production work and their judgment is rarely, if ever, questioned.

From beginning to end, the process that brings heirloom diamonds to the market is froth with luck, patience, discernment, and skill.  If any of the necessary ingredients are missing or mishandled, the value of the gem decreases. But when it all comes together just right, WOW!