When I go to parties and someone asks what I do for a living, I say, “I’m a gemologist”. Often the response is “You are a Gymnast?” or “You are a Geologist?” I tell them “No, I play with diamonds and rubies for a living. It is a tough job, but someone has to do it. It beats digging ditches for a living.
Just about the time I was ready to graduate high school, my parents opened a jewelry store in Northridge, CA. They hired me to clean jewelry and do errands. After being exposed to all these sparkling gems, I had many questions. And so began my quest for gem knowledge. I began my gemology studies at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) in Santa Monica in September of 1979. I was hooked! I excelled quickly and became top of my class. I graduated in February of 1980 and thought I knew everything about gems. I enjoyed my studies so much that I applied for a job at the Gem Trade Laboratory, which is a subsidiary of the GIA. The GIA’s Gem Trade Laboratory is known as the world’s authority for diamond analysis and gem identification. After being hired by Gem Trade Lab, I was retrained in diamond grading and analysis and found out just how much I didn’t know.
Twenty-eight years later, I thought I could share my years of being a gemologist with people who love gems like I do. I don’t claim to be perfect or know it all but I do have many years in the jewelry & gem industry and would be happy to answer questions that readers might have.
As a gemologist at Beauchamp jewelers I’m here to serve you by ensuring Beauchamp Jewelers has the highest quality and most beautiful diamonds in Albuquerque, as well as provide you with accurate insurance appraisals for your precious jewelry.
So where do I start? I thought that I would go over diamond basics and share some pictures with you.
The Four C’s
You may have already heard about the four C’s: Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat. Today’s topic is Color.
Color actually measures the lack of color. That lack of color makes a diamond more valuable. There are a number of scales available from different organizations that help to label or identify the color of a diamond. Many of you may be familiar with the Gemological Institute of America’s color scale. The best color is D. There is no A, B or C in this scale. Why you ask? I was told that diamonds weren’t so pure as to be an A, B or C. But the main reason is so not to confuse the GIA scale with another scale that might have an A+ or a triple A (AAA) as their best quality. (Some independent jewelry chains have their own scales, to sell more diamonds. The only problem is that an A+ or AAA might only be a G on the GIA color scale.) So… D, E and F are colorless which means no visible yellow or gray or brown to the unaided eye. G, H, I, J, K are near colorless which means that the diamond would “face up” white to the unaided eye. L through Z colors continue to show progressive levels of color which should become obvious to the unaided eye. When you get as low as Z color the diamond will appear yellow but not so much yellow as to appear attractive and become a fancy yellow diamond. Fancy color diamonds are not on the D through Z scale and will be covered in the future.
A color grade is assigned to a diamond when it is clean and loose. It is very difficult to assign an accurate color grade to a diamond if it is in a jewelry setting because shadows and the color of the metal used for the jewelry may cast color into the diamond.
The proper way to color grade a diamond is to compare the unknown diamond to a group of diamonds that have already been graded for color. This group of diamonds is known as a Master Color Set of diamonds or Master Stones.
Master stones must be graded by a laboratory such as GIA or AGS (American Gem Society) for color accuracy. A master stone must be in the middle of the indicated color and not too far to one side or the other. It does not have to be flawless but must be free from inclusions that may impart color into the diamond or make it difficult to compare to another diamond. A master stone cannot be fluorescent. Fluorescence is a unique characteristic that only some diamonds possess. It may change a diamond’s color appearance in different light. Strong blue fluorescence may mask yellow in a diamond when viewed in daylight, however strong blue fluorescence may cause a colorless diamond to appear milky in daylight.
In any case, fluorescence may influence color.
was a table cut with the addition of four corner facets top and bottom. About the mid 16th century the Rose cut 
diamond was introduced. It had triangle facets arranged in a symmetrical radiating pattern with a flat bottom. The first brilliant cuts were known as Mazarins and were welcomed in the mid 17th century. They were cushion shape and had 17 facets on the crown as well as 17 facets below. Also in the 17th century came the Peruzzi cut. It has 58 facets like most modern round brilliant cut diamonds today. It had 33 facets on top and 25 below the girdle. Because bruting had not been developed yet all of these cutting styles had square or rectangular outlines. These were given a general name of cushions also known as Mine cuts. 
Bruting is the rounding of the diamonds girdle with a lathe. Sometime in the mid to late 18th century came the Old European Cut which also had 58 facets but a shallower pavilion, rounded outline and a different facet arrangement. The old European cut 
was the forerunner to our modern cut round brilliant cut diamond and was used throughout most of the 19th century. In 1919 Marcel Tolkowsky developed the model of today’s ideal cut diamond.
