Impact on Society
Diamond Grading
Diamonds are graded by their colour, clarity, cut and carat weight. These are often referred to as the 4 C's and mentioned in many diamond related discussions. Despite the ubiquity of information on the 4C's it does not often go beyond the simple presentation of relation between the grades and the diamond's price. Prices change, but a diamond's beauty stays for generations. It is important to understand which qualities of a diamond affect its appearance the most and how. Grading scales for colour and clarity, for example, are rather linear and reflect a linear increase in price of the stone, but it does not mean that the increase in beauty is just as linear. In fact, it is the cut that is the single most important property of a beautiful diamond. Unfortunately, it is also the single most subjective one.
The beauty of a diamond is a result of the interactions between light and the diamond crystal. These interactions are very complex (just think how many different rays of light hit the diamond from every direction), but still they can be accurately described using very simple laws of physics. Yet, cutting the diamonds and creating jewellery is not really a science, it is a form of art. This means that their beauty can be somewhat predicted, but never fully described from a scientific point of view. Only a conscious mind sees beauty and has the ability to create it. At the end, our world would be very uninspiring if every time one looked at a diamond, it was only seen as a E/VVS2 1.5 carat round brilliant that costs $25,000.
Official grades are assigned based on the appearance of a diamond under controlled laboratory conditions. These conditions almost always require the diamond to be loose, taken out of any context in which it will actually be worn. While this allows for equal treatment of all diamonds to be graded, it does not always represent the apparent grade of the stone as it is worn in its setting. There are certain things that can be done to make a diamond appear whiter and clearer, some are perfectly legitimate, as long as they are disclosed, while others are not. While shopping for a diamond, keep in mind the big picture, the fact that a diamond is just a part of a whole, and its full beauty is only revealed in combination with its setting and the events that lead to its acquisition.
