In this Issue - Diamondpriceofdiamonds.org/priceofdiamonds-newsletter-Apr-2013.pdf · 2013. 3. 28. · jewelry and diamonds. The price of their dia-monds is relatively cheap so you

April 2013 Volume 3 Number 4

Where the world comes to find out about diamonds

Newsletter

In this Issue

Diamond Dealer of the Month: Crown Jewelers. Who are they exactly? All the Jewelery Shows around the world for 2013!

Special feature: All About Opals And much More!

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Price of Diamonds

Newsletter of the Price of Diamonds website

Price of Diamonds Newsletter April 2013 Edition

Editor in Chief Michael Moore

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The PRICE OF DIAMONDS NEWSLETTER Is the Newsletter of the Price of Diamonds website and is available by subscription only. This Newsletter is provided subject to the condition that it shall not be circulated in any form without the publisher’s cover and acknowledgement of the mate-rial contained herein and is not to be sold, hired or otherwise disposed of for any fee or consideration other than by prior arrangement. It may be distributed online and passed along only in its current form and with the above proviso. Comments and articles pub-lished in the Price of Diamonds Newsletter are not necessarily the opinions of the Publishers or Editors and are offered solely for information purposes only. This publication is designed to provide accurate and informative information only in regard to the subject matter covered. This publication does not purport to offer any professional advice of any legal, financial or psychological service and is sold with the understand-ing that the publisher, editor and contributors are not engaged in rendering any legal, financial, psychologi-cal or any other professional service and is offered for information purposes only. If any legal, financial, psychological or any other professional advice or as-sistance is required, the services of a competent pro-fessional person should be sought. The reader is sole-ly responsible for his/her own actions. Copyright © 2013 By Technical Author Services Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. All copyrights and trademarks belong to their respec-tive owners

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Where the world comes to find out about diamonds

~ Editorial ~

Dear Reader, We have a interesting review of Crown Jewelers in this issue and an extensive article on Opals. Everything you always wanted to know about opals in fact. Did you know that most opals come from Australia? But not all, you would be sur-prised when many come from. There is more information about diamonds of course and much more. Do have a great month and happy reading! Michael Price of Diamonds

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~ Diamond Dealer of the Month ~

B efore you buy diamonds and jewelry from CrownJewelers.com, it is a good idea to

read this write up and find out all about the Crown Jewelers beforehand so that you know who you are really dealing with. And naturally, when buying any jewelry or diamonds, it is always a good idea to do your own due dili-gence

Who Are Crown Jewelers Crown Jewelers Inc. Are based in Fort Worth, Texas. They have been online since at least April 2001. There is virtually no infor-mation on Crown Jewelers and it is hard to find out exactly who they are. This is where practicing due diligence becomes important.

Crown Jewelers Customer Service The only information about their customer ser-vice I could find is some complaints about their tardiness in response to queries and com-plaints about the quality of some of their prod-ucts and that they will offer credit but this credit will turn out to be expensive. Example: www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/236/RipOff0236162.htm

Testimonials on their website from customers are all about how it was easy to get credit and improve their credit rating. Nothing about the products or the quality of the jewellery or dia-monds.

Crown Jewelers Products Products they offer include a wide range of jewelry and diamonds. The price of their dia-monds is relatively cheap so you would be

wise, if buying, to have the jewelry inspected as soon as it arrives to ensure it is as adver-tised.

Rings Anniversary Bands Bridal Sets Engagement Rings Men’s Rings Ring Wrap Solitaire Rings Trio Sets Wedding Bands Fashion Rings Gemstone Rings Silver Rings Classic Bands

Bracelets Anklets Diamond Bracelets Gemstone Bracelets Gold Bracelets Men’s Bracelets Silver Bracelets

Earrings Diamond Earrings Gemstone Earrings Gold Earrings Silver Earrings

Necklaces 16″ Length 18″ Length 20″ Length 24″ Length 30″ Length Silver Necklaces Pendants Diamond Pendants Gemstone Pendants Gold Pendants Silver Pendants


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Watches Men Fossil Women Fossil

Crown Jewelers Shipping Crown Jewelers do not guarantee the availabil-ity of every item when ordered so shipping can be anywhere from 2 days onwards. It seems the preferred option by CrownJewel-ers.com for payment is their own credit card for which one has to apply. Then there are var-ious conditions and costs involved, substantial late payment fees etc. For this one has to sign up for an account and get a card and ones de-tails are then registered with various credit agencies. Any slight default or perceived slight default can result in one’s credit history being tainted.

You can make payments by PayPal also by mail with a money order, cashier’s check or personal check as well as Credit cards such as MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Dis-cover.

For a 1/2 Carat Total Weight Diamond Heart Bracelet 14 karat Diamond Clarity I1-I2 color I-j the price was 799US dollars plus 14 dollars shipping. The shipping was rather expensive for the item.

Just as a test I placed in the shipping cart 20 1 carat diamond rings at 995 each. Plus the above item came to a total of 20,6099 US dol-lars. Interestingly the shipping came to a mas-sive $134.35 US Dollars.

Crown Jewelers Fees and Charges Crown Jewelers have a number of fees and charges which one should be aware of. These are quite expensive and more and many top ranking jewelers have. It should also be noted that Finance Charges can be compounded.

Here is a list of the fees and charges from their website:

A. RETURNED PAYMENT- If any payment is returned to us un-paid, we will charge the Account $25.00. B. LATE PAYMENT- If we do not receive the minimum periodic payment by the due date shown on your periodic billing statement, we will charge Account $25.00. C. MINIMUM FINANCE CHARGE- Minimum finance charge in any billing cycle is $1.00. D. UPDATE FEE- If we agree to update the Account from a delin-quent status to a current status, we will charge the Account $5.00. E. DOCUMENT FEE- If a copy of any statement, sales draft or similar document is provided by us at your request (except in con-nection with the billing error in-quires or resolution), we will charge the Account the following fee (s): (I) Statement Copy- $6.00 (II) Sales/Credit Draft Copy -$6.00 (III) Research Fee- $15.00 per hour (only applicable if extensive research is required) F. PAYMENTS USING A CRED-IT CARD. If you choose to make your payment (s) on your account using a credit card we accept, you will be charged an additional $2.00 or 5% of the payment amount whichever is more. G. CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELING SERVICE- If you participate in scheduling the Ac-count through Consumer Credit Counseling Service, we will charge the Account the fees that we are charged by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service.


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And alarmingly:

H. MISCELLANEOUS CHARG-ES You agree to pay any other charges incident to the application for and the opening, administra-tion , and termination of the Ac-count , including, but not limited to , taxes, charges or fees and any penalties or interest thereon, im-posed on this Agreement or on any transaction effected/conducted/made pursuant to this Agreement. We may advance any such tax charge or fee and any penalties or interest thereon for you and add said amount to the Account balance.

Which, of course, could be anything. The sky is the limit! It is well worth reading the Online Account Holder Agreement and Disclosure Statement before you embark on any contract with Crown Jewelers.

Crown Jewelers Returns Policy We could locate no returns policy on site.

Crown Jewelers Guarantee Their 30 day money back guarantee says noth-ing about any money back, only that the site is secure and they can guarantee you a better credit rating.

On their website it clearly states at the top of the website, “No Credit Check”, yet in their conditions it states:

18. CREDIT INVESTIGATION: states: “You authorize us at any time to make whatever credit investigation we feel is proper to evalu-ate your credit, financial standing and employ-ment, and you authorize us to exchange your credit experience with credit bureaus and other creditors we reasonably believe are doing busi-

ness with you. You authorize your employer (past, present or future) and other references to release and/or verify information to us at any time. You also agree to furnish us with finan-cial statement we may request at any time and in such detail as we may require.”

And also states on their site when you apply for a credit, that: “Crown Jewelers and others on behalf of Crown Jewelers are authorized to verify any other information one has submitted to them, and check my credit and employment history”.

Last Word on Crown Jewelers On their website they state:

“If you have bad credit and are looking for a way to improve your credit score without hav-ing any credit approvals, please complete the following online application form to apply for your Crown Jeweler’s Credit Card. When ap-plying for one of our bad credit cards, all fields are required unless otherwise noted. We pro-vide instant online approvals. When you make regular payments, our positive credit bureau reporting will help you raise your score in no time! “

Which really gives the impression they are not there to sell good quality jewelry and dia-monds so much as to take advantage of low credit risk customer.

If you have bought any diamonds or jewelry from CrownJewelers.com, please feel free to give us your feedback on the quality of service and products of crownjewelers complaints and special attention or service given by www.crownjewelers.com online.

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Price of Diamonds

World's Most Famous Diamonds

T here are some very famous diamonds in the world and each has their own unique

story. Perhaps the largest diamond ever found was The Cullinan, and this enormous stone weighed 3,106 carats in the rough, about one and a half pounds. The Cullinan was cut into 9 major stones and 96 smaller stones. One of which was the Star of Africa. This stone is now among the British Crown Jewels. It weighs 530.20 carats and has 74 facets and is still the largest cut diamond in the world. The KOH-I-NOOR or Mountain of Light, is another very famous diamond. It was first heard of in 1304 and believed to have been owned by the Shah Jehan, who built the Taj Mahal, as one of the peacock's eyes in the pea-cock throne. It was recut during Queen Victo-ria's time and now forms part of the British Crown Jewels also. It weighs 108.93 carats. in 1969, A pear-shaped 69.42 carat diamond in was sold at an auction on the understanding that it may be re-named by the buyer. Cartier of

New York put in a successful bid for it and im-mediately christened it "Cartier." The next day Richard Burton bought the stone from Cartier for an undisclosed sum and renamed it, "Taylor-Burton." Miss Taylor then wore it as a pendant at a charity ball in Monaco later that year. Then later in 1978, Elizabeth Taylor decided to sell the diamond and use some of the funds to open a hospital in Botswana. In June 1979, it was eventually sold for almost $3 million and was last thought to be in Saudi Arabia. More infor-mation available on this interesting story at Taylor-Burton The Orloff is thought to have weighed about 300 carats when it was found. At one time it was confused with the Great Mogul, which was discovered in the 17th century. The great Mo-gul rough is said to have weighed 793 carats. It later disappeared and has never been found since. The Orloff is now held in the Diamond Treasury in Moscow. One story is that the Or-loff was stolen by a French soldier disguised as a Hindu from one of the Temples of Sri Rangen and was originally was set as the eye of a god.

Another famous diamond that was once set in the eye of an idol before it was stolen is called appropriately, the Idol's Eye. A flattened pear shaped stone the size of a small egg, it weighs around 70.20 carats. Legend has it that it was given as a ransom for Princess Rasheetah by the Sheik of Kashmir to the Sultan of Turkey who had abducted her.

The Regent is a diamond with a history. Dis-covered by a slave in 1701 it weighed 410 car-ats in the rough. Among it's owners has been William Pitt, the English Prime Minister and the Duke of Orleans. It was cut into a cushion shaped brilliant of 140.50 carats and prior to being sold to the Regent of France, was called The Pitt. It was then renamed The Regent and set in the crown Louis XV wore at his corona-tion. After the French revolution, it was owned


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by Napoleon Bonaparte who set it in the hilt of his sword. It is now on display in the Louvre.

Some diamonds seem to be bad luck or cursed. The Hope Diamond is such a beast. When it was owned by Louis XIV it was called "the blue diamond of the crown.". Stolen during the French Revolution it eventually reappeared in London around 1830. It was purchased by Henry Philip Hope after which the diamond was named and curiously it was while in his possession that it acquired the notoriety for bad luck.. Both the owners filmily and a subse-quent owner, Mr Edward Mclean, all died pov-erty stricken. It can be found in the Smithson-ian Institution in Washington.

The Hortensia is a peach colored stone of 20 carats and was named after Hortense de Beau-harnais, Queen of Holland, who was Jose-

phine's daughter and the stepdaughter of Napo-leon Bonaparte. The Hortensia had been part of the French Crown Jewels since Louis XIV bought it. Along with the Regent, it is now on display at the Louvre, Paris.

The Sancy was named after Seigneur de San-cy, a French Ambassador to Turkey in the late 16th century but it was first owned by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who lost it in bat-tle in 1477. Both king Henrys III and IV both borrowed the Sancy at one time but it was then sold to James the 1st of England in 1664. .It was pear shaped and weighed 55 carats. It dis-appeared during the French Revolution.

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Diamond Ring Tension Setting

A diamond ring tension setting is consid-ered new in the retail diamond world

these days despite being around for over 40 years. Although not as popular as the claw set-ting, tension ring settings have a lot going for them in terms of safety, design and stability. A tension design is a very simple ring setting in which the diamond or other hard gemstone appears to float in mid-air within the band of the ring itself. This setting was first designed in the mid 1960s and special metals are used that have an inherent "springiness" to hold the ring in place. Instead of the more common prongs or claws, the entire band of metal itself is used to hold the stone in place. The metal used in the ring is also harder and stronger than the metal used for prongs. Some people are not sure about the stability in a tension setting as the stone is only held in place at two points on

the stone instead of the usual four claws. But with the tensile strength of 65 to 95 pounds the stone is held very securely in place. Normally each tension ring is crafted for a spe-cific diamond as well as finger size and so is highly individualized. Because of the pressure of the tension, stones need to be a hardness on the MOS scale of 8 or more to be set in a tension setting. This means that diamonds, rubies and sapphires can be set but tanzanites and other softer stone cannot since they can easily shatter under the strain. Additionally any stone with a surface fracture would not be suitable for a tension set mount-ing. Diamond ring tension settings have to be cus-tomized for each individual client and are usu-ally only obtainable at exclusive jewelery de-signers. One can get tension rings from online jewelers of course but care must be take to en-


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sure these are bona fide and not just a cheap design with inferior metals and even stones. Tension setting are commonly available in 14 and 18 karat yellow and white gold and 18 kar-at Platinum and Platinum as well. Diamond tension settings are an excellent way of showing the brilliance of a stone and it can even en-hance the color by any-where up to two grades to give a very simple and somewhat sophisticated 'floating' appearance to the stone that is much admired. They are excellent also for tension set engagement rings. The classic designs are often the simplest. A round diamond held within the band is consid-ered the best by many but other options such as angled settings are becoming more popular. Metals used are commonly titanium due to its strength and durability as well as platinum, white and yellow gold. Pure 22 karat gold would likely not be suitable due to its softness and alloyed gold of around 18 or 14 karat would be more suitable. There are some issues to keep in mind with

tension settings. Only the very hardest gem-stones can withstand the pressure of a tension setting. This includes stones such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires. Cubic Zirconia and mois-sanite can be tension set also. But stones such as Turquoise and pearls of course are too soft.

Where you see such softer stones in a 'tension setting' be aware that it is very un-likely to be a tension set-ting and is more likely set with a strong adhesive with hidden prongs. All these can weaken the stone and

fractures and cracks can appear reducing the value of the stone. Stones used in tension set-tings must be of excellent quality with abso-lutely no cracks, fractures or faults. This is apart from the fact that any imperfections show up more in a tension setting due to the openness. Provided one can afford it, a diamond ring ten-sion setting would be an excellent way to dis-play a loose diamond. Be sure the jewelery is a professional and can provide a valid certificate of their work.

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Up and Coming Diamond & Jewelery

Shows in 2013

APRIL JIS - Jewelers International Showcase April Dates: 06/04/2013 - 08/04/2013 3 Days, Saturday To Monday Location: Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, FL, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-561-998-0205 Fax: +1-561-998-0209 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jisshow.com JOYA - April Dates: 09/04/2013 - 11/04/2013 3 Days, Tuesday To Thursday Location: Expo Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +52 (33) 3121-9238 ext.105 Fax: no details Email: [email protected] Website: www.expojoya.com.mx Chicago Antiques Jewelry & Watch Show Dates: 12/04/2013 - 14/04/2013 3 Days, Friday To Sunday Location: Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-239-732-6642 Fax: +1-239-732-6005 Email: [email protected] Website: www.chicagoantiquejewelryandwatchshow.com/ Jewelry Fair Korea 2013 Dates: 18/04/2013 - 21/04/2013 4 Days, Thursday To Sunday

Location: Coex, Seoul, South Korea CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: 82-2-6000-5137 Fax: 82-2-6000-5823 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jewelfair.com/main_en Malaysia International Jewellery Fair- Spring Edition Dates: 19/04/2013 - 22/04/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Malaysia CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +603 - 9058-8772 Fax: +603 - 9058-8773 Email: [email protected] MAY Website: elite.com.my/mijf_spring/index.php Baselworld - Watch & Jewelry Show IDI par-ticipation Dates: 25/04/2013 - 02/05/2013 8 Days, Thursday To Thursday Location: Exhibition Center Basel, Basel, Switzerland CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +41-58-200-2020 Fax: +41-58-206-2190 Email: [email protected] Website: www.baselworld.com International Jewelry & Watch Vietnam - Spring Fair Dates: 09/05/2013 - 12/05/2013 4 Days, Thursday To Sunday Location: Tan Binh Exhibition & Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam


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CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +852 - 8114 - 0868 Fax: +852 - 3020 - 6786 Email: [email protected] Website: www.vietnamjewelryshow.com Jeweller Expo Ukraine May Dates: 16/05/2013 - 19/05/2013 4 Days, Thursday To Sunday Location: Kyiv Expo Plaza CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +00-38-04-44-90-6337 Fax: +00-38-04-44-90-6337 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.jewellerexpo.kiev.ua/ IJK International Jewellery Kobe Dates: 22/05/2013 - 24/05/2013 3 Days, Wednesday To Friday Location: Kobe International Exhibition Hall, Kobe, Japan CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +81-3-3349-8503 Fax: +81-3-3345-7929 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ijk-fair.jp/en/Home/ Annual Las Vegas Gem & Jewelry Show Dates: 27/05/2013 - 30/05/2013 4 Days, Monday To Thursday Location: Mirage Casino Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-301-294-1640 Fax: +1-301-294-0034 Email: [email protected] Website: www.glda.com LUXURY at JCK Dates: 28/05/2013 - 03/06/2013 7 Days, Tuesday To Monday Location: Mandalay Bay ,Las Vegas, NV, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-800-257-3626 Fax: +1-203-840-5830 Email: [email protected]

Website: www.luxuryatjck.com/en/home/ Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show Dates: 30/05/2013 - 02/06/2013 4 Days, Thursday To Sunday Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-239-732-6642 Fax: +1-239-732-6652 Email: [email protected] Website: www.lasvegasantiquejewelryandwatchshow.com/ Couture Dates: 30/05/2013 - 03/06/2013 5 Days, Thursday To Monday Location: Wynn Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-646-654-4960 Fax: + 1-646-654-4919 Email: [email protected] Website: www.couturejeweler.com JCK Las Vegas IDI participation Dates: 31/05/2013 - 03/06/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-800-257-3626 Fax: +1-230-840-5684 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jcklasvegasshow.com/ JUNE Hyderabad Jewellery, Pearl & Gem Fair Dates: 07/06/2013 - 09/06/2013 3 Days, Friday To Sunday Location: HITEX Exhibition Centre, Hyder-abad, India CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +91 (022) 6612-2600


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Fax: +91 (022) 6612-2626/27 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jewelleryfair.in/hyderabad/home.asp Cambodia Gems & Jewellery Fair Dates: 13/06/2013 - 16/06/2013 4 Days, Thursday To Sunday Location: Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center, Cambodia CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +852 2365-8119 Fax: +852 6838-6168 Email: [email protected] Website: www.cambodiatradefair.org June Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair 2013 IDI participation Dates: 20/06/2013 - 23/06/2013 4 Days, Thursday To Sunday Location: Hong Kong Convention & Exhibi-tion Center CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: (852) 2516 1677 / 2585 6179 Fax: (852) 3749 7319 Email: [email protected] JULY Website: exhibi-tions.jewellerynetasia.com/6JG Jovella International Jewelry Exhibition Dates: 02/07/2013 - 03/07/2013 2 Days, Tuesday To Wednesday Location: Israeli Trade Fairs & Convention Center, Tel Aviv, Israel CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +972-3-562-6090 Fax: +972-3-561-5463 Email: [email protected] Website: www.stier-group.com/

fair_jovella.htm MIJF- Malaysia International Jewellery Fair Dates: 12/07/2013 - 15/07/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +603-9058-8772 Fax: +603-9058-8773 Email: [email protected] Website: www.elite.com.my InterJeweller Dates: 18/07/2013 - 24/07/2013 7 Days, Thursday To Wednesday Location: Sochi, Russia CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +33-1-4267-9912 Email: [email protected] Website: www.soud.ru/exhib/info.htm?id=303&yn=11 Beijing International Jewellery Fair Dates: 19/07/2013 - 22/07/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: China World Trade Center, Bei-jing, China CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +852-2561-5566 Fax: +852-2811-9156 Email: [email protected] Website: www.newayfairs.com/EN/EventCalender.asp Jewellers Association Show, Jaipur Dates: 19/07/2013 - 22/07/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: Birla Auditorium, Jaipur CONTACT DETAILS:

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Telephone: +91-141-2563829 Fax: +91-141-2560125 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jasjaipur.com New York Antique Jewelry & Watch Show Dates: 26/07/2013 - 29/07/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, NY, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-239-732-6642 Fax: +1-239-732-6652 Email: [email protected] Website: www.newyorkantiquejewelryandwatchshow.com/ JA New York Summer Show Dates: 28/07/2013 - 30/07/2013 3 Days, Sunday To Tuesday Location: Jacob Javits Convention Center, New York, NY, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-646-654-4983 Fax: +1-646-654-4919 Email: [email protected] Website: www.nationaljeweler.com/jany/jany-summer/ AUGUST Atlanta Jewelry Show Dates: 03/08/2013 - 05/08/2013 3 Days, Saturday To Monday Location: Cobb Galleria Center, Atlanta, GA, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-800-241-0399 Fax: +1-404-634-4663 Email: [email protected] Website: www.atlantajewelryshow.com Feninjer-Brazilian Gems and Jewellery Show Dates: 03/08/2013 - 06/08/2013

4 Days, Saturday To Tuesday Location: Transamerica Expo Center Sao Paulo, Brazil CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +55-61-3326-3926 Fax: +55-61-3328-6721 Email: [email protected] Website: WWW.ibgm.com.br IIJS- India International Jewellery Show IDI participation Dates: 08/08/2013 - 12/08/2013 5 Days, Thursday To Monday Location: NSE Complex, Goregan, Mumbai, India CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +91-22-2652-4791 Fax: +91-22-2652-4764 Email: [email protected] Website: www.iijs.org Expo Prestige Dates: 25/08/2013 - 27/08/2013 3 Days, Sunday To Tuesday Location: Palais Des Congre's (Montreal Convention Center), Montreal, Quebec, Cana-da CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-514-485-3333 Fax: +1-450-649-8984 Email: [email protected] Website: www.cbq.qc.ca apan Jewellery Fair Dates: 27/08/2013 - 29/08/2013 3 Days, Tuesday To Thursday Location: Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Cen-ter, Tokyo, Japan CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +81-3-5296-1020 Fax: +81-3-5296-1018 Email: [email protected] Website: www.japanjewelleryfair.com/en/index.php


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SEPTEMBER International Jewellery London Dates: 01/09/2013 - 04/09/2013 4 Days, Sunday To Wednesday Location: Earls Court 2, London, UK CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +44 (0) 208-910-7198 Fax: +44 (0) 208-910-7930 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jewellerylondon.com JAA Australian Jewellery Fair Dates: 01/09/2013 - 03/09/2013 3 Days, Sunday To Tuesday Location: Sydney Exhibition Center, Sydney, NSW, Australia CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +61-2-9452-7575 Fax: +61-2-9975-3707 Email: [email protected] Website: www.internationaljewelleryfair.com.au/ Facets Sri Lanka International Gem & Jewel-lery Show Dates: 05/09/2013 - 08/09/2013 4 Days, Thursday To Sunday Location: BMICH Exhibition Center, Colom-bo, Sri Lanka CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +941-1259-7226 Fax: +941-1259-7250 Email: [email protected] Website: www.facetssrilanka.com VicenzaOro Fall Dates: 07/09/2013 - 11/09/2013 5 Days, Saturday To Wednesday Location: Vicenza Fairgrounds, Vicenza, Ita-ly CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +39-0444-969-111 Fax: +39-0444-969-000 Email: [email protected] Website: www.choicevent.it/nqcontent.cfm?

a_id=1207&lang=en September Hong Kong Jewellery & Gem Fair 2013 IDI participation Dates: 11/09/2013 - 15/09/2013 5 Days, Wednesday To Sunday Location: Hong Kong Convention Centre, Wanchai, & AWE airport, CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +852-2516-1677 Fax: +852-3749-7319 Email: [email protected] Website: exhibi-tions.jewellerynetasia.com/9JG/ Shenzhen International Jewellery Fair Dates: 13/09/2013 - 17/09/2013 5 Days, Friday To Tuesday Location: Shenzhen Convention & Exhibi-tion Center, Shenzhen, China CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +852-2561-5566 Fax: +852-2811-9156 Email: [email protected] Website: www.newayfairs.com Junwex Moscow International Jewelry Forum Dates: 14/09/2013 - 18/09/2013 5 Days, Saturday To Wednesday Location: All -Russian Exhibition Center,(VCC), Moscow, Russia CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +7-812 303 98 76 Fax: +7-812-320 80 90 Email: [email protected] Jewellery & Watches Exhibition 'PRETIOSA DIAMONDS' Dates: 20/09/2013 - 22/09/2013 3 Days, Friday To Sunday Location: Brandboxx Salzburg/Bergheim CONTACT DETAILS: Peter Lindpointner Telephone: +43-662-4687-101 Fax: +43-662-4687-125 Email: [email protected]


Price of Diamonds

Website: www.cmw.at/index.php?id=29&sprache=en OCTOBER Mideast Watch & Jewellery Show Dates: 01/10/2013 - 05/10/2013 5 Days, Tuesday To Saturday Location: Expo Center Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +971-6-577-0000 Fax: +971-6-577-0111 Email: [email protected] Website: www.mideastjewellery.com JIS - Jewelers International Showcase Dates: 04/10/2013 - 07/10/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, FL, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-561-998-0205 Fax: +1-561-998-0209 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jisshow.com Singapore Jewellery & Gem Fair Dates: 12/10/2013 - 15/10/2013 4 Days, Saturday To Tuesday Location: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +65 6592 0896 Fax: +65 6438 6090 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jewellerynetasia.com/en/fairs/singaporejewelleryfair.html Miami Beach Antique Jewelry & Watch Show Dates: 25/10/2013 - 27/10/2013 3 Days, Friday To Sunday Location: Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, FL, USA CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +1-239-732-6642 Fax: +1-239-732-6652

Email: [email protected] Website: www.miamibeachantiquejewelryandwatchshow.com/ NOVEMBER Vietnam International Jewelry Fair Dates: 07/11/2013 - 11/11/2013 5 Days, Thursday To Monday Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam CONTACT DETAILS: +848-39144056 Telephone: +848-39144057 Email: [email protected] Website: www.vietnamjewelryfair.com/en/ China International Gold, Jewellery & Gem Fair- Shanghai Dates: 08/11/2013 - 11/11/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai, China CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +852-2516-1677 Fax: +852-3749-7542 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jewelrynetasia.com Jeweller Expo Ukraine November Dates: 14/11/2013 - 16/11/2013 3 Days, Thursday To Saturday Location: Kyiv Expo Plaza Kyiv ,Ukraine CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +00-38-04-44-90-6337 Fax: +00-38-04-44-90-6337 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jewellerexpo.kiev.ua/ JUNWEX Ekaterinburg Dates: 21/11/2013 - 24/11/2013 4 Days, Thursday To Sunday Location: Atrium Palace Hotel Ekaterinburg CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +7-495-5443831 Fax: +7-495-5443838


Price of Diamonds

Email: [email protected] Website: http://eng.rjexpert.ru/content/view/214/195/ DECEMBER Dubai International Jewellery Week Dates: 04/12/2013 - 07/12/2013 4 Days, Wednesday To Saturday Location: Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center, Dubai CONTACT DETAILS: Nadeera Jayaratne Telephone: +971-4308-6477 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jewelleryshow.com/ KGJS Kerala Gem & Jewellery show Dates: 06/12/2013 - 08/12/2013 3 Days, Friday To Sunday Location: Le-Meridien Convention Centre, Cochin CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +32-3-2335313 Fax: +32-3-2336503 Email: [email protected] Website: www.kgjs.in

Best Adornments of Russia Dates: 11/12/2013 - 15/12/2013 5 Days, Wednesday To Sunday Location: All-Russian Exhibition Centre, Moscow CONTACT DETAILS: Mr. Alexey Poltavsky Telephone: +7-812-303-9876 Fax: +7-812-320-8090 Email: [email protected] Website: eng.rjexpert.ru/content/view/214/195/ Jaipur Jewellery Show Dates: 20/12/2013 - 23/12/2013 4 Days, Friday To Monday Location: Chamber Bhawan, Jaipur, Raja-sthan, India CONTACT DETAILS: Telephone: +91-141-510 4776/7 Fax: +91-141-510 4666 Email: [email protected] Website: www.jaipurjewelleryshow.org

~oo00oo~




Price of Diamonds

~ Diamond News Around the World ~

30 Million dollars for 5 minutes work!

E ight robbers in two vans with flashing blue lights broke through a security fence

at Antwerp airport recently and stole, accord-ing to some reports, 30 million dollars worth of diamonds from a Swiss plane in five minutes and speed off through the same hole in the security fence.

This quick and efficient heist has caused seri-ous doubts on the security at Antwerp Airport which has a highly regarded reputation accord-ing to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC). AWDC stated that the ’stolen dia-monds were both polished and rough.’ It also indicated it ‘choose to transport goods via air-plane, precisely because of the safe and con-trolled nature of this means of transportation.’ However, this did not stop the quick and effec-tive theft.

The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) issued a statement; ‘Armed robbers took off with around US$ 50 million worth in diamonds, both rough and polished stones’. In the statement it was also added, ‘We find it

hard to understand how a robbery such as yes-terday’s heist could take place. We are current-ly awaiting the results of the investigation but we do fear the damage for Antwerp, the world’s leading trade centre, is significant. We choose to transport goods via airplane, precise-ly because of the safe and controlled nature of this means of transportation. We do hope addi-tional security measures can be put in place in order to safeguard a fluent and safe transport of diamonds.’

This is not the first time a theft of diamonds in the millions has been heisted from Antwerp. The Antwerp Diamond Heist, dubbed the “heist of the century”, was a theft of loose dia-monds, gold, and other jewellery valued at more than $100 million made during the week-end of February 15–16, 2003, in the Antwerp Diamond Centre, located in the centre of the gem district in Antwerp, Belgium. The Ant-werp centre heist was the largest diamond heist in history until surpassed by the Schiphol Air-port diamond heist on 25 February 2005 and estimated at $118 million.

Still, 50 million dollars is not to be sniffed at.

Belgium Police are searching for 8 masked gunmen but are unlikely to find then as it is a sure bet they have removed their masks and melted into the populace of Antwerp and pos-sibly beyond.

The Brussels airport heist has raised vital ques-tions on how the security fence could have been breached so fast but a Jan Van Der Crujs-se, an airport spokesperson said the ‘gunmen made a hole in the perimeter fence but could not explain how the area could be so vulnera-


Price of Diamonds

ble to theft. “We abide by the most stringent rules,” he said.

The Switzerland-bound plane the diamonds were loaded on to at Brussels international air-port.

According to the Guardian, “The men, who were armed with machine guns and dressed in police uniforms, broke through a hole they had made in the airport security fence in two vehi-cles, a Mercedes van and a car, and they made straight for a Swiss passenger plane operated by Helvetic Airways. Staff from a high-security van operated by Brinks had just finished unloading the dia-monds that were to be transported on the plane bound for Zurich. The men flashed machine guns but no shots were fired as they took 120 parcels from the plane’s hold, stacking them in their vehicles.

They fled at high speed through the hole in the security fence. The van believed to have been used in the raid was later found burnt out just outside Brussels.”

Ine Van Wymersch, spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor, said: “They were well prepared. There were passengers on the plane but they saw nothing of what was going on.”

The Antwerp World Diamond Centre, a trade body for Antwerp diamond businesses, esti-mated the value at close to £30m. “What we are talking about is obviously a gigantic sum,” its spokeswoman Caroline De Wolf told the Belgian VRT TV network. “In any case, it’s one of the biggest robberies we’ve seen,” she told Associated Press.

~oo00oo~

News in Short

T he Gem and Jewellery Export Pro-motion Council

The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s sixth edition of the IIJS Signature unfolded on February 22, 2013, in Mumbai. It will conclude on February 25. “KISNA” VVS real diamond Jewelry, a leading Indian brand of diamond jewellery has undergone shifting of its new head office at “The Capital” at Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai, on 13 February 2013.

DeBeers Diamond Robbery Jewellery worth between 1 million to 3 mil-lion euros was robbed from the De Beers counter at the Printemps department store in Paris, reports say. Reports add that two un-masked men wearing wigs, and carrying handguns and shielded with bullet proof

vests made their way into the store and head-ed to the De Beers counter on the first floor of the store. Rio Tinto Rio Tinto Diamonds plans to implement a number of initiatives throughout the year aimed at promoting fashion diamond jewel-lery in the US and continuing to educate con-sumers on the versatility and affordability of jewellery created using Argyle diamonds from the remote East Kimberley region of Australia. BHP Billiton At the close of six months ending December 31, 2012, BHP Billiton noted a 44 percent drop in its revenue from its diamond opera-tions, which valued $199 million. Underly-ing earnings before interest and tax dropped to a deficit of $37 million (the same stood in profit worth $120 million in the correspond-


Price of Diamonds

ing six months last year). Diamond production decreased 35 percent to 608,000 carats. The company owns 80 percent stake in the Ekati diamond mine, which it has agreed to sell to Harry Winston Diamond Corporation. Net op-erating assets of the diamond division valued t $487 million (the same was $815 million in the corresponding six months of last year). The group revenue decreased 14 percent to $32.2 billion.

Mila Kunis now with Gemfields Gemfields, the world’s leading coloured gem-stone producer, has signed on Mila Kunis as its new brand ambassador and the face of its latest advertis-ing campaign. Mila was cho-sen for her natural beauty, versatility, intelligence and love of rare coloured gems. “As a company we are pas-sionate about color and fully committed to ethics, transpar-ency and the sustainable de-velopment of the communities in which we operate, and find-ing the right partner who shares these values was vitally important,” said Gemfields CEO Ian Harebottle. “Mila has blown me away with her energy, enthusiasm and dedica-tion.” India to be a new rough diamond trading destination A Task Group report with the purpose of mak-ing India an international trading destination for rough diamonds was unveiled by Shri. Anand Sharma, Hon’ble Minister of Com-merce, The task group on diamonds compris-ing members from the Indian Government and Industry was constituted by the Minister of Commerce, Industries and Textiles under the Chairmanship of Director General of Foreign Trade, Dr.Anup K. Pujari, keeping in view the

slump in India’s diamond exports through the last few quarters. TAG Heuer Online Shopping The first TAG Heuer online shopping boutique has been launched. The boutique has been de-signed to mirror the ‘lifestyle lounge’ of the brand, thus giving the Tag Heuer customers an ‘exclusive shopping experience’ like its free-standing stores in the U.S. reports say. GIA Launches Smart Phone App GIA’s (Gemological Institute of America) has launched an interactive diamond app in Sim-

plified Chinese and English. This app is available on An-droid phones and tablets like the Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy and is free. “Bringing objective infor-mation about gems and jewel-ry to people when and where they want it is central to GIA’s public-benefit mis-sion,” said Kathryn Kimmel, GIA vice president and chief marketing officer. The app engages consumers with inter-active features, video content

and information on the GIA-created 4Cs (Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight) of dia-mond quality. Kimmel adds, “The Android 4Cs app puts GIA’s 82 years of innovation and research right on the screens of the most wide-ly used smart phones in the world.”

Users can explore diamond color across the GIA D-to-Z Color Scale, see typical inclusions on the GIA Clarity Scale, and how cuts influ-ence the look of a diamond. The app also ex-plains the GIA Diamond Grading Report, the recognized global credential for diamond qual-ity. It also provides direct access to GIA Re-port Check, a secure online database of GIA


Price of Diamonds

This space to Let!

Contact [email protected]

For details.

grading reports, and a new social feature in “My Diamond Wish List,” where users can email, tweet, or share on Facebook the dia-monds they’ve saved in their personal wish list. The GIA app is also available for iPhone and iPad. A retailer version, designed for use at point of sale, is downloadable for free from GIA’s retailer support site www.retailer.gia.edu. GIA’s award-winning peer-reviewed quarterly Gems & Gemology is available on the iPad. Lloyd’s of London Facing claims up to 50 Million. According to a report in a leading media, Lloyd’s of London insurers including a carrier backed by American International Group Inc. (AIG) are facing claims on the diamond theft occurred at the Brussels airport runway this week, as mentioned by people with knowledge of the policies. The heist was of diamonds now

considered to be worth around $50 million. Reports also suggest that in the policy which was bought by Brink’s Co. (BCO), AIG’s As-cot was the lead insurer and Willis Group Holdings Plc (WSH) was the broker, according to the people, who asked not to be named, as mentioned by reports.

Ascot and Willis have sent loss adjusters to Belgium to investigate the heist, said the peo-ple, as reports say. Also, as mentioned in re-ports, Ed Cunningham, a Brink’s spokesman who declined to identify the companies provid-ing coverage or the size of the loss stated that statement by “We self-insure up to an amount we deem appropriate, and then we use third-party insurers,” and that “The entire incident is under investigation.”

~oo00oo~



Price of Diamonds

All About Opals

A n Opal is a gemstone over 90 percent of which are found in South Australia alt-

hough small deposits are also found in some other countries such as Mexico, The Nevada desert in the USA, Brazil and a few others.

It is a non crystal substance and formed from silica. It is related to quartz and agate and formed from ‘lumps’ of silica rather than the usual faceted crystals.

It can usually be found at the site of old ther-mal springs where the minerals have risen and lined caves, cracks in the earth and vents and then cooled down. Most of the opals you will find therefore are many millions of years old. Some say as old as the dinosaurs, alt-hough much more friendly of course. The quality about opals that makes them at-tractive and much sort after is their refractive and reflective qualities. The term opalescence was coined to describe this phenomenon where light is refracted within the stone as a result of imperfections and arrangements of silica within the stone. The size and arrange-ments of these bits of silica are what cause the interplay of light, similar to a rainbow effect caused by a prism breaking up the light

but much more dramatically.

Opals are a valuable gem and worth millions of dollars in exports for Australia. Every-where you go in the cities and tourist areas you will find heaps of Opal shops.

Choosing the right Opal There is no set price of opals. The price de-pends on such factors as, rarity, quality of the opal, international market forces such as sup-ply and demand etc.

The supply of opals depends basically on how many are dug up out of the ground. This varies year to year of course but the quantity does not vary very much. There is a fairly steady supply of opals year to year

Demand tends to relate, however to the en-thusiasm of the customer for opal, and may therefore be influenced by fashion and mar-ket trends.

An example being the demand for fine quali-ty opals by the Japanese has caused the prices of such opals to increase very well.

Choosing the right opal really depends, thought, on how you intend to wear the opal, Will it be a ring? Or a Broach, or in a neck-lace, for example. Some opals look better head on while others may show more color when viewed at an angle.

Valuing Opals Valuing opals depends on a number of fac-tors. The attractiveness and appeal of a par-ticular opal. The type, color, size as well as soundness of precious opal are also important factors in determining the price paid for the gemstone.


Price of Diamonds

The price of an opal is also based on the quali-ty of an opal. This is usually expressed as a per carat in weight. More on weight later but there is a real difference between an uncut unpol-ished opal and a cut and polished opal.

Some of the determining factors include:

Body Tone/Color. A Black or dark opal is usu-ally considered more valuable than a white or light opal. Opals are rated according to their Body Tone “N” Value from 9 (black) down to 1 (light transparent)

Play of Color. The coverage of the play of col-ors is important and there should be no patches of inferior colorless opal, called potch, in a gem class or high grade opal stone.

Colors in order of value for an Australian Opal are:

1. Red 2. Violet 3. Orange 4. Yellow 5. Green 6. Blue

Opal Weight Opals are sold by carat weight. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams in weight.

However, Rough Opal, in Australia is normally sold by the ounce:

1 Troy ounce = 31.103 grams or 20 pennyweights. 1 Pennyweight = 1.555 grams. 155.5 Carats to the Troy ounce.

The weight used in the USA is: 1 Avoirdupois ounce = 28.35 grams 1 Avoirdupois ounce = 0.9116

Troy ounces

Opal Dominant Fire Color As far as dominant fire color is concerned the clarity of the color is the critical issue when assessing the value of a opal. The most rare color is called Red Fire followed by the green/ orange, green blue and then blue. Red Fire is the most rare color, followed by green/orange, green/blue and blue. Red Fire is considered the most valuable followed by the rest in sequence.

Brilliance and the pattern of the colors also play a part. Here the intensity makes a differ-ence and can influence the price.

But the brilliance and clarity of an open pro-portioned pattern play the biggest part in deter-mining the price here. A brilliant blue/green can be worth more than a dull Red Fire or a lacklustre black opal.

Opal Brilliance So the degree of brightness is highly important in so far as an opal will have little value with-out it.

This is so important that a glowing average opal can be worth more than a dull stone with an excellent pattern, such as a harlequin.

Types of Opal One should have some knowledge of the types of opal. Most are listed on this site but basical-ly you have black boulder opals, black opals, white opals, solid opals and others.

It is noteworthy that solid opals are those which have been mined and presented in their natural state, after being cut and polished. They are not chemically treated as some opals are and cracks are not filled with cement.

An opal is made up of close packed aggregates of silica spheres with a water content between


Price of Diamonds

3-10 percent and in precious opal the arrange-ment of spheres is in orderly layers. Light passing through the spheres is diffracted at the void and layer interface to produce a vivid play of color associated commonly with opal.

The larger silica spheres are normally associ-ated with more sought after colors, such as red.

Opal Color Color is everything in Opals. The more color, the more expensive the opal. Reds, pink, yel-low and orange are harder to find than the green, blue or violet and therefore and there-fore more expensive.

A solid precious opal is more valuable than doublet or triplet opals.

A Black opal is more valuable than boulder opal is more valuable than light opal,

A good premise is, the darker the body color, the more valuable the gem.

A stone with strong color and a full spectrum range is generally more valuable than one with a predominant red fire, which is more valuable than one with predominantly green color which in turn is more valuable than a stone showing only blue color.

Opal Diffracted Color A lot of care should be taken when applying this factor to assessing an opal. Remember that brilliance overrides all other factors. A blue/green brilliant stone will usually be more valuable than a dull red stone. The dominant color has value in the order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The red orange colors are the more valued. This rule is more particular to black opal, “red on black” being the most valuable.

Opal Base Color This is determined by looking through the top of the Opal beyond the play of color. Using a jewelers loupe is a good idea here.

Opal Body Color When it comes to black opals or black boul-der opals, the degree of darkness in the body color should be taken into consideration. The more black the body color the more valuable the gem will be.

Opal Play of Color The play-of-color of the opal can be the most difficult factor to judge for any opal and it does make a difference to the price for the end user.

Brightness. How bright is the overall play-of-color?

Spectral range. What is the range of colors visible in the play-of-color ?

Saturation. How pure and vivid are the colors forming the play-of-color?

Pattern. What is the size, shape, regularity and rarity of the play-of-color?

Consistency. Is the play-of-color, pattern, brightness consistent or variable over the whole face of the opal?

Directionality. Is the play-of col-or visible from all directions as the opal is rotated?

Face-up Display This term is used to indicate if an


Price of Diamonds

opal, when viewed face on, pre-sents its color directly to the viewer. The value of the stone will be less if its’ splendour is only visible from an acute angle.

Yet there are many opals, particularly those with broad flashes of color, that are at their best when viewed from a slight angle. These can have special appeal as pendants or ring stones.

Opal Brightness of Fire Here is a list of the various levels of bright-ness.

1. Faint = Only just shows a play of color under direct sunlight. 2. Dull = Some color shown under low light, but still dull. 3. Bright = Fair color under low light and very nice fire under indirect light. 4. Very Bright = good color under low light and sharp crisp color under 5. Brilliant = Shows exceptional-ly bright crisp color under light.

Opal Consistency The consistency or sameness in all the charac-teristics of an opal, including color, pattern, density of fire and color of the background.

Opal Pattern Variety Although no two opals are the same, there are many excellent patterns of the diffracted col-ors and when these are combined with the right brilliance it can have a big impact on the price. Generally speaking the pinfire and small type patterns are not as desirable as the

broad patterns or large flashes.

Some distinct patterns, such as rolling flash, straw pattern, Chinese writing, ribbon and harlequin are very rare and are collectors’ items. Almost all opal displays some form of pattern but you will never find two opals that are exactly the same.

It’s the amount of color and its intensity that makes one better than another.

In particular, many of the top quality pieces of black opal from Lightning Ridge show their

strength through a distinct recognizable pattern play of strong colors, some of the various patterns are listed below.

Opal Harlequin Pattern The opal harlequin pattern is the most prized of all patterns and the rarest. The colors in this pattern are usually arranged like checker board squares.

Opal Floral Pattern The opal floral pattern is a very popular pat-tern and possibly the most common of all nice patterns Its name is derived from its likeness to floral dress material, this pattern covers a broad range of design and color.

Opal Pinfire Pattern The opal pinfire pattern closely resembles a mass of pinheads in different colors. Another popular pattern.

Opal Palette Pattern The opal palette pattern looks like an like an artist’s palette.


Price of Diamonds

Opal Rolling Flash The opal rolling flash usually consists of one color traveling across all or part of the stone. Noticed mostly when the stone is moved.

Opal Transparency Rare, a transparent or semi-transparent opal is also known as a crystal opal.

Crystal Opal The crystal opal is a solid transparent opal which shows a play of color but no base color. However this opal will show little color when on a white background unless the colors are very strong and vibrant in it.

Crystal Opals from Coober Pedy and Lighting Ridge, in Australia, are very rare and beautiful and command very high prices.

Thickness of the Color Bar in Opals Some black opals and black boulder opals, with a thin color bar can be worth many thousands of dollars per carat. The thick-ness of bar sometimes enables a cabochon to be cut from the rough, thereby increasing value. Opal Shape and Polish The most common shape for an Opal is a domed oval, the length of which is around 40 percent greater than the width, and the height or dome equal to about 60 percent of the width. Of course, this is very difficult to find, as Opals are formed irregularly by nature and not by man.

Consequently, perfectly-shaped ovals will command a premium price as some opal has to be sacrificed when cutting and polishing. In fact over half the actual stone can be cut away to produce the finished opal

The quality of the work performed by the opal

cutter, of course, can significantly affect the value of the Opal. It should be polished so that no scratches or imperfections are visible to the eye.

Opal Clarity When inspecting an opal, it should be visually assessed for the face up clarity as well as any visible inclusions, patches of potch or lines, webbing scratching or any other imperfections. Any imperfections can seriously affect the val-ue and therefore the price of the stone. It is important to note that any crazing such as surface-reaching cracks and fractures, on any opal will render it worthless.

Opal Appeal For the consumer it is all about eye appeal.

opals are unlike diamonds or other gemstones and eye appeal can weight more heavily than many other considerations.

Opal Character Some opals are described as having that elusive quality called character,

It is a fact that every opal presents different characteristic and is very important. Unlike other gemstones such as sapphires, rubies or emeralds for example, each opal will show its unique color combinations. It is very rare to see two similar stones, and impossible to find two which are identical.

Opals with more attractive and appealing color combinations have higher values, the color patterns of many Opals appear as though they could have been painted on.

Opal Size Like diamonds and other gem stones, the smaller sized opals are worth less per carat than the larger stones. This is most particularly


Price of Diamonds

true with the black opals. As with any other gem stones, the larger the stone the more rare it will be and the more value per carat it will have.

Opal Imperfections There are a number of imperfections which can affect the value. Although sand, “cotton” and other impurities which are not clearly visi-ble from the top of the stone will have little impact. Indeed, many collection quality opals will have sand in the back of the stones.

Cracks will drastically reduce value. A cracked or crazed opal has little, if any, commercial value unless the stone can be recut top remove the cracks or craze. Cracks can be distin-guished from inclusions and vertical color bars by examining the opal with a strong light be-hind the gem.

When the stone is slowly tilted, the examiner should see a glint of light reflecting from the crack, (except where a crack is silt filled) sometimes it looks like a small brown fan in-side, this is what is called a ginger whisker in Coober Pedy.

Another tip is to inspect the stone with a jewel-ers 10x loupe and if a mark breaks the pol-ished surface, then it is a crack.

Conclusion

Opals are a beautiful gem stone and, in the right setting, can look exceptionally beautiful. Having some understanding all about opals can make a big difference to getting a ordinary opal and an opal that will light your fire! For more information on Opals go to: http://allaboutopals.org/

~oo00oo~



Price of Diamonds

Diamond Glossary

H ere are some common words used in the Diamond Industry and in this newsletter.

4Cs Diamonds are graded and priced according to what is universally referred to as the "4C's". They are Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight. Below an explanation of each of the 4Cs: Appraisal A valuation of property by the estimate of an authorized person. With diamonds the apprais-al is a written estimate of the approximate re-tail replacement value of diamond jewelry, which may be used for insurance coverage or other purposes. It is not the same as a grading report, which evaluates a diamond's character-istics (such as cut, clarity, carat, symmetry, etc.) only. Blemish A scratch or abrasion on the surface of a dia-mond. Provided they do not interfere with the symmetry of the stone and do not interfere with light in the stone they are not considered important. Brilliance brilliance is the white light that is reflected through the top of a diamond. This can be in-crease by the diamond being cut to the correct proportions to take advantage of the reflection of light from the facets to the brilliance. Brilliant Cut A Brilliant Cut, sometimes called the Ameri-can Brilliant, is a 58-facet round diamond,

This shape and faceting arrangement is de-signed for maximum brilliance, sparkle and beauty and is perhaps the most popular shape. Carat Perhaps everyone know the term carat. The basic unit of weight for a diamond. A carat is equal to 200 milligrams, or one-fifth of a gram. It is said that the word is derived from the word carob. In early India the carob bean was used for measuring the weight of gems as eve-ry carob seed weighs exactly the same. Clarity Clarity is the term given to indicate the purity of a diamond. Most diamonds have minute im-perfections and the clarity is the way of grad-ing the purity depending on the number of im-perfections the diamond has or does not have. Cloud A cluster of very small inclusions inside a dia-mond that give a cloud effect. Tiny clouds will not interfere with the flow of light, but large or numerous clouds can affect brilliance. Color Diamonds are traditionally thought of as white or clear. But diamonds in fact do have color and this can be graded. Crown The crown is the top section of a diamond, above its widest point, or girdle, that compris-es the table, and the star-, bezel- and upper-girdle facets. Culet A facet on the very bottom of a diamond. It is best to have a small or medium culet. A large culet will make it look like there is a hole in the bottom of the stone due to leakage of light. Absence of a culet makes the point of the dia-mond more easily damaged or chipped.


Price of Diamonds

Cut This describes the shape of the diamond. There are basically eight cuts of diamond.

Round Brilliant Emerald Cut Princess Cut Heart Cut Oval Cut Marquise Cut Pear Cut Round Brilliant

Some of the most popular diamond cuts in-clude Heart, Emerald, Marquise (Oval with pointed ends), Oval, Pear, and Princess with the Round Brilliant (R/B) probably being the most popular. Depth % (percentage) The height of a diamond (measured from the culet to the table) divided by the width of the diamond. The depth % is critical to creating brilliance and fire in a diamond. A depth % that is too low or too high will cause light to leak out of the stone, causing the diamond to lose sparkle. Depth The height of a diamond (measured from the culet at the very bottom to the large table facet on the top). Diamond The simplest of all the gemstones consisting of pure crystallized carbon. A diamond crystalliz-es under enormous pressure deep beneath the earth's surface Diamonds can be from 1 to 3 billion years old--more than two-thirds the age of the Earth itself. Diamond is also the hardest substance known to man. In fact, it can only be cut and polished by another diamond. Despite its hardness, however, it is not indestructible. If a diamond is struck at the right angle, it can chip or break.

Eye-clean A diamond that has no inclusions visible to the naked eye -- flawless to the naked eye. This is normally true of all diamonds with a grade of about SI-1 or higher on the clarity scale. Facet The polished flat surfaces on a diamond. For example, a round brilliant diamond has 58 fac-ets including the culet. Fair Cut Diamonds cut to less than perfect proportions. They have been cut to maximize the weight of the stone instead of enhancing the brilliance and sacrifice fire and brilliance. The less ex-pensive stones may have good and very good cuts but will not have the same brilliance and fire that people would expect from a diamond. Fire Fire is the colored light that is reflected from inside the diamond. Colored light reflected from within a diamond. As in a prism light en-tering a diamond is divided up into the spec-trum. The better quality diamond with better proportions the better the 'fire' of the diamond. This is called "refraction" or "dispersion" in the diamond trade. Fluorescence A glow, usually of a bluish color, which ema-nates from certain diamonds when exposed to ultraviolet light. Two thirds of all diamonds fluoresce to some degree but how they do so depends very much on the type of ultra violet light they are under. Girdle this is the narrow band around the outer cir-cumference of a diamond. This is where a jew-elry setting holds the diamond in a ring. Good Cut Diamonds cut with acceptable, but not perfect,


Price of Diamonds

proportions. They generally have very good brilliance and fire and make excellent jewelry. Ice A colloquial word for diamonds, much favored by Hollywood in movies about gangsters. Ideal Cut Ideal Cut diamonds are usually more expen-sive than all other cut grades. This is due to three major factors: 1) extra time and skill are required to cut to such precision; 2) they are in great demand, and perhaps most importantly, 3) more of the original rough diamond must be sacrificed to achieve ideal proportions. Ideal Cut diamonds are also round diamonds that are perfectly proportioned (having depth percent-ages and table percentages that some people feel produce a "perfect" balance of fire and brilliance). They almost always have the high-est grades on polish and symmetry as well, in-dicating the great care taken in the overall fashioning of the stone. These diamonds have had the finest craftsmanship to maximize the beauty of the diamond. Inclusion An impurity within a diamond, such as a spot or irregularity in the crystal structure of the stone. These can include a cloud, a fracture, another diamond inside the bigger one, liquid, etc. Inclusions can either be visible with the naked eye (usually SI-3 clarity and below) or visible only under magnification. Fewer inclu-sions means a finer clarity grade, increased rarity, and increased value. Kimberlite Kimberlite is a mica peridotite and a source of rich deposits of diamonds. The deposits occur-ring at Kimberley, South Africa were the first recognized and the source of the name. The Kimberly diamonds were originally found in decomposed kimberlite which was colored yel-low by limonite, and so was called "yellow ground." Deeper workings encountered less

altered rock, undecomposed kimberlite, which miners call "blue ground. Loupe A loupe is a small magnifying glass used to view gemstones. Usually 10x, or ten-power, magnification. The FTC requires all diamond grading be done under 10-power magnifica-tion; any flaws not detected under this magni-fication are considered to be non-existent by some dealers. Make Make describes the quality of the finish and proportions of a diamond. A good make will have proportions that maximize brilliance and fire. A poor make will decrease sparkle and fire due to the loss of light as it travels through the stone. The cutter is responsible for the make of a diamond as he is the one that cuts it to achieve the maximum brilliance and fire. Mohs Scale The Mohs scale is a table of relative hardness that ranks a mineral's strength and durability on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being talc and 10 being diamond. Developed over 100 years ago by Frederic Mohs. Moissanite Moissanite is silicon carbide and is manufac-tured in a laboratory. It is virtually indistin-guishable from diamonds and it takes a real expert with special equipment to be able to tell the difference. Pavilion This is the bottom half of a diamond, from the lower girdle to the culet tip at the bottom. The pavilion should be neither too deep or too shal-low otherwise light will leak out and the dia-mond will lose fire and brilliance. Peridotite Any of a group of igneous rocks having a granite like texture.


Price of Diamonds

Point A measure of diamond weight. One point equals 1/100th of a carat. A diamond that weighs 0.50 carat is said to weigh 50 points. Polish A grade given to the external finish of a stone. The polish grades are from poor to excellent. Good polish is crucial for maximum brilliance of a diamond, but it takes a trained eye to dis-tinguish between polish grades. Poor Cut Poorly cut diamonds with proportions and fin-ish that make them look relatively lifeless to the eye. Such stones are ok for industry but not for jewelry. Sparkle The 'sparkle' of a diamond is the combination of fire and brilliance. The light that reflects out of a diamond as it moves. Sometimes called "scintillation" by older dealers. Stones A word for diamonds and other precious gems. Symmetry A diamond should by symmetrical. Symmetry is the grade used to describe the uniformity of the cut of the diamond. This can range from excellent down to poor. The un-symmetrical a diamond is the poorer will be the quality of light through the stone. Table The top or large flat face of the diamond is

called the table. It should be in proportion to the rest of the diamond to gain the best fire and brilliance. Tourngat Diamonds cut to fit very strict requirements for depth percentage and table percentage. These outstanding proportions maximize fire and brilliance in the diamond. Also a region of northern Quebec. Weight the weight of a diamond is measured in car-ats.A carat is .2 grams. A gram of diamond would be a massive 5 carats. Very large in dia-mond terms although the actual diamond is physically small. Wholesale Wholesale prices are listed PER CARAT to show this price difference. For instance, a 1/2-carat round brilliant diamond of G/VS2 quality may sell for $3,600 per carat ($1,800 for the stone), whereas a 1-carat stone of the same quality would likely cost $6,300 per carat ($6,300 for the stone) because it is twice the size and more rare. Zirconia Also known as Cubic Zirconia, this is a sub-stance often used as a substitute to genuine dia-monds. It is a carborundum substance and easi-ly told from diamonds due to being heavier than diamonds.

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Documents

In this Issue - Diamondpriceofdiamonds.org/priceofdiamonds-newsletter-Apr-2013.pdf · 2013. 3. 28. · jewelry and diamonds. The price of their dia-monds is relatively cheap so you