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While doing some research into diamonds I started looking into the subject of fluorescence – I thought you might be interested to read the results.

Fluorescence in diamonds is considered rare. 65 percent of diamonds exhibit no fluorescence at all yet it is often mentioned on diamond certificates. So what is it?

Fluorescence is the glowing colour (usually blue) that appears when some gem-quality diamonds are exposed to long-wave ultraviolet light. As soon as the ultraviolet light source is removed, they stop fluorescing. It is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon and is completely harmless, but for years it was thought that it was a negative attribute in a diamond.

In fact, fluorescence can actually be a good thing in diamonds of a lower colour grade (I or lower). Daylight is a source of ultra violet light, so if you look at a diamond of this quality with strong fluorescence the blue colour can cancel out the yellow body-colour, making it appear more colourless. This means that you can buy a stone of a lower colour quality than you would otherwise, for less money than you would pay for a higher quality gem.

The myth about fluorescence being a bad thing in diamonds of higher colour grades was disproved by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) when they conducted an extensive study of the affect of fluorescence in diamonds. They compared over 1000 stones, and the percentage of diamonds that it affected negatively was so small it was non-existent! It is known that good coloured diamonds with very strong blue fluorescence can display a cloudiness referred to as 'overblue' but it occurs so rarely that most jewellers will never encounter it in their life. The study also showed that the difference between varying levels of fluorescence was indistinguishable to most non-jewellery trade customers they asked, ie for most people buying jewellery, fluorescence had no visible effect on a diamond's colour appearance or transparency.

The diamond necklace and earrings set in the pictures below might help show how little difference there is between stones that fluoresce and those that don’t - In normal daylight (in the picture on the left) the diamonds all appear to be perfectly matched in colour; it’s impossible to guess which diamonds have no fluorescence and which diamonds have medium or even very strong fluorescence. The photo on the right shows the same necklace and earring set under an ultraviolet light – look at all those different colours!

Credits: Photos from Gems and Gemology, Winter 1997, Volume 33, Issue 4. Photos by Harold and Erica Van Pelt. Jewellery courtesy of Harry Winston, Inc.

Interestingly, blue diamonds like the famous Hope Diamond sometimes display an extremely rare and unusual red fluorescence, rather than the more normal blue. In the case of the Hope Diamond, this has probably added to the legend of its curse! This red fluorescence has been researched recently by Jeffrey Post (curator of the National Gem Collection and mineralogist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History) and the results have helped provide a ‘fingerprint’ to identify individual blue diamonds.

Gradations of fluorescence on certificates range from None or Inert (meaning no fluorescence at all) through Faint or Negligible (a very slight glow of colour that is difficult to see under ultraviolet light) to Medium (a light glow of colour under ultraviolet light) Strong (a deep, even glow that is evident under ultraviolet light) and Very Strong (a very deep, even glow that is very evident under ultraviolet light)

More information about the Hope Diamond http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/nmnh_Hope-Dia mond-research.htm/

The press release about the red fluorescence of blue diamondshttp://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/hope.htm/

Hi there,

I have just completed putting out all of our Valentine's jewellery and making sure the window display here in the Cambridge showroom is full of love hearts and gorgeous jewellery for those perfect Valentine's Day gifts. There are some stunning creamy white pearls as well as vibrant red jade and acrylic.

If you need some ideas for Valentine's gifts, we have selected some lovely items from our Purple label range for Valentine's Day and put them together on the website, you will find them here: http://www.purple-label.com/search/web/collection/Valentines

My favourites are:

So check it out now as February 14th will soon creep up on you! And the great thing about ordering your Valentine's gift from purple label is that it all comes beautifully gift wrapped with a hand written gift message of your choice.

Speak to you again soon!

Hi!

A belated Happy New Year to all our bloggers!

Our fabulous Sale is coming to an end and if you are quick there are still some beautiful bargains to be had! Log onto our sale page on the website now, you have until the end of January unless all these lovely bargains are gone before that! http://www.purple-label.com/search/web/range/Special-Offer

My particular favourites are these

and if you are looking for something special for the man in your life for Valantines Day our hand made 9ct gold Celtic cufflinks have an incredible £100 off! How can you resist?!

We had a great year last year and are very excited about 2008, its already incredibly busy with commission appointments from all those romantic Christmas and New Year proposals! Also don’t forget to watch out for the series ‘Tales from the Country’ coming up on ITV primetime in Feb/March! Read our previous blog about the day that the TV cameras came to Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design

Grab those bargains and happy shopping!

Hi there - I just wanted to let you know that we know have some beautiful treated red and pale pink 1.5mm brilliant cut diamonds in stock! They are so pretty and will be perfect in eternity rings, wedding rings or as side stones for engagement rings. Hurrah!

What is a diamond?

Diamonds are an amazing mineral and being at least 990,000,000 years old and many around 3,200,000,000 years old (3.2 billion years)! I thought I'd share with you a little bit about them.

Diamond is a mineral found deep within the earth's surface, and is one of two crystalline forms of the element Carbon (the other being graphite). Diamonds are formed at depths of around 90 miles or more in volcanic pipes within the Earth's surface, at this depth the carbon is under pressures of approximately 5 gigapascals and a temperature of roughly 1200 degree Celsius transforming it into diamond. The longer a diamond is exposed to this intense heat and pressure, the larger the diamonds cubic crystal structure grows.

A diamonds crystal system is Isometric (cubic) and because of the uniform arrangement of their constituent carbon atoms, diamond crystals are well-formed - usually octahedral with rounded edges and slightly convex faces.

So how do the diamonds reach a depth at which they can be mined?

The magma found in the volcanic pipes where the diamonds are formed acts like a lift carrying the diamonds to the surface during a volcanic eruption, the magma, the formed rocks and crystals from this blast can be distributed over a large area. This volcanic layer or pipe is known as the primary source, and this is where the diamonds are mined from (diamond deposits in river gravels are classed as secondary sources).

Diamonds are essentially inclusions in the volcanic rock Kimberlite, the Kimberlite magma is usually much younger than the diamonds they carry.

The first country to mine for this amazing mineral was India, the most well know diamond discovered near Hyderabad being the Koh-i-noor, which means ' mountain of light', know since 1304. For the past 150 years the Koh-i-noor weighing 106 carats, has been part of the British Crown Jewels.

The Koh-i-nur diamond came from the Treasury at Lahore in the Punjab and was re-cut for Queen Victoria in 1852. Traditionally the Koh-i-nur is only worn by a queen or queen consort: it is said to bring bad luck to any man who wears it.

Where are diamonds mined?

Australia is the main diamond producer today, and if we look to our Diamond map we can see other producing countries include South Africa, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zaire, Botswana, Namibia, the former USSR, the USA, Canada and Brazil.

Also it is believed by some scientists that diamonds may exist in large quantities on Neptune and Uranus.

How did diamond get it's name?

The name diamond derives from the Greek asamas, which means invincible. The carbon atoms in a diamond are linked together as a three dimensional network giving it its amazing hardness, (unlike graphite where the carbon is linked into sheets therefore making graphite very soft and placing it right at the other end of the scale). With a hardness of ten on the moh's scale diamond is the hardest mineral on Earth, making it invaluable to industry and with its exceptional luster and incomparable fiery brilliance the most highly prized gem of all.

Their popularity has increased greatly since the 19th century due to better cutting and polishing techniques, improved supply and from their association with love. Also around this time gemologists developed the characteristics for a cut diamond which we know as the four C's - Cut, colour,Clarity and Carat.

Clarity- Out of the four C's, Clarity effects the cost of the stone more than anything (obviously in relation to the size), as the clearer the stone the better the stone sparkles due to more light able to pass through the stone, and bounce off its facets. A flawless diamond will have a lively play of light and high brilliance, at the other end of the scale the diamond will look dull and lifeless, as the light cannot pass through the stone easily due to the high number of inclusions, cracks, or natural features within the stone. We look for inclusions with the stone through a x10 loop - this magnify's the impurities in order to grade the stone.

We here at Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design tend to use SI clarity diamonds as we find these are a good sparkly stone where any inclusions aren't visible to the naked eye, so unless looked at by a gemologist the stone looks both beautiful and isn't so high up the grading scale that it breaks the bank. Harriet herself has H SI quality diamonds in her engagement ring, and she works with diamonds every day.

FL = Flawless (a diamond completely free of inclusions)

IF = Internally Flawless (the table of the stone is completely clear)

VVS1 and VVS2 = Very Very Slight inclusions (very, very small inclusions are only visible with very considerable to great difficulty when looked at through a x10 loop by an experienced gemologist. The distinction between VVS1 and VVS2 is determined by the number, size and position of inclusions)

VS1 and VS2 = Very Slight inclusions (very small inclusions ranging from not too difficult to easy to spot through a x10 loop by an experienced gemologist. The distinction between VS1 and VS2 is determined by the number, size and position of inclusions)

Sl1 and SI2 =Slight inclusions (small inclusions which are easy to spot through a x10 loop by an experienced gemologist. The distinction between SI1 and SI2 is determined by the number, size and position of inclusions)

I1 = Included or also know as "first pique"(inclusions which are difficult for an experienced gemologist to spot with the naked eye when examining through the crown of the stone, but very easy to see when using a x10 loop)

I2 = Included or second "pique" (large and or numerous inclusions which are easy to spot by an expert with the naked eye. These inclusions will effect the brilliance/sparkle of the stone)

I3 = Included or "third pique" (large and or numerous inclusions which are very easy to spot with the naked eye. These inclusions will effect the brilliance/sparkle of the stone).

Colour - Diamond colour grading starts at D (D being the whitest) right the way down the alphabet to Z, the lower down the alphabet the yellowier or browner the stone, this is usually due to the presence of Nitrogen the most common impurity present, which replaces a very small amount of atoms in the diamonds structure and causes the discoloration from blueish-white to white to silver to yellow etc. Most high street jewellers use I colour, we at HKJD tend to go up a grade to H colour diamonds, but anything above an I is classed as a nice white stone that doesn't draw colour. To the untrained eye it isn't easy to tell the difference unless the colour graded diamonds are lined up next to each other making the difference more obvious.

As well as the traditional white you can also buy coloured "Fancy" diamonds, most have been heat treated to enhance their colour, but coloured diamonds do occur naturally but are generally a lot more expensive, especially pink or red diamonds which are extremely rare.

Examples of pink and red diamonds can be seen in both of our showrooms is a pink diamond ring we have at our Cambridge shop or see which is here at our Halls Green studio.

Cognac diamonds are popular as they have warmth as well as the all important sparkle. Other available diamond colours are black, ocean blue, sky blue, ice blue, (natural blue diamonds contain the element boron (B), which changes the conductivity of the diamond) forest green, apple green, olive, orange, cognac, gold, canary yellow, natural canary (natural yellow diamonds contain the element nitrogen (N)).See Harriett's blog for more information www.hkjewellery.co.uk/blog/default.asp?Entry=19> and examples of coloured diamonds used in jewellery.

Cut - Refers to the brilliance of the diamond and how it has been facetted and polished from its original rough form to the final gem stone proportions, and the angle the stone is cut which is often confused with shape. The cut facets are positioned in order to maximize the fire and brilliance of the stone. The fire within a diamond refers to the dispersion of light which is a result of the placement of the faces on the crown of the diamond taking advantage of the prism effect which is seen as rainbows and glints of colour.

The most well know cut today is the round brilliant, developed in 1919 by Belgin born Marcel Tolkowsky a mathematician and gem enthusiast. He calculated the ideal shape a diamond should be to return and scatter the light when the stone is looked at from above. The modern day brilliant cut diamond has 57 polished facets, 33 of these are on the crown of the stone, and 24 on the pavilion, see diagram below. The crown's function is to distribute the light, while the pavilions' purpose is to reflect the light back through the top of the diamond to create maximum sparkle.

Most diamonds are cut in Amsterdam; examples are of the most popular cuts used: Round, Oval, Pear, Marquise, Heart, Princess, Asscher, Emerald, Radiant

Carat - Carat refers to how much the diamond weighs i.e. its mass, the value of a diamond increases dramatically the heavier the stone is and its subsequent rise in carat weigh. Very sensitive weighing scales are used to measure carat weight.

Some of the most famous diamonds in history are the previously mentioned Koh-I-Noor weighing 186 carats and took 38 days to cut.

The Hope Diamond was a blue diamond weighing 44carats

And last but not least The Taylor-Burton Diamond originally known as the Cartier weighing in at a mere 69 carats

Other interesting facts about diamond: Diamond is reputed to promote prosperity, generosity, love and spirituality. Only 20% of diamonds mined are gem quality the remainder are used in industry.

Diamonds are such a huge subject I have only skimmed the surface but I hope what I have covered you have found interesting!

Hi there and happy new year!

Hey Jodie - I loved your blog on jewellery storage ideas - some great ideas there. Here are a couple of mine to add too...

I have some hooks above my dressing table (little brass ones - a bit like mug hooks) and on these I hang the few necklaces that I am wearing as I tend to wear about 5 and rotate them for a week or two and then change them over for others in my jewellery box. This is great as they look really decorative on the wall too and it helps me get my jewellery right in a hurry whilst dealing with a cheeky toddler at my heels too.

When I was younger (what EVEN younger? Surely not POSSIBLE?!)...I used to have an old decorative Chinese birdcage and I used to hang the earrings and necklaces that I was wearing that season all around the outside of it. It looked really pretty.

I used to drape several lengths of cream, brown and black lace across my dressing table mirror and hook my earrings onto it (or put my studs through) - this looked really pretty and sort of boudoir-ey (is that a word?). The only trouble is that these are rather attractive to my naughty 2 year old too so they have had to come down now!

I recently found an old wooden A4 set of 6 drawers in an antique fair very cheaply - it is designed for paper storage I think but it is great for laying out your necklaces in so that they don't all get tangled together and you can easily see what you have. Somebody I know saves nice chocolate box inserts for earrings - a bit like the ice cube tray idea.

When buying proper designer jewellery too, it is always best to keep your jewellery in the boxes that you bought it in if possible too. In the future - if you manage to choose a designer who becomes collected, then the boxes will add value to the pieces for future generations.

Alice (Rochester) says that Muji is a good place to buy clear trays and boxes for jewellery storage.

Happy organizing!

Customers often come into the shop with tangled chains, broken clasps and missing earrings! I think the problem is that most of us simply don't know how to store our treasures and we all too often make the mistake of throwing everything into our dressing table drawer.

I have mountains upon mountains of jewellery ranging from precious rings to costume brooches and I thought I would share with you just a few little ideas that I use to keep everything in order.

Ice cube trays are fantastic for keeping earrings in because they all have their own little space and you can see everything so easily which saves massive amounts of time when getting ready to go out!

Find large, clear, round, stacking bead containers that screw together. These are fantastic for rings, beaded bracelets, etc., as you can see exactly what you want - and if you don't wear something for a while it doesn't get dusty. Nothing gets tangled either!

Store each piece of gemstone jewellery separately so that harder stones don't scratch softer ones. A lot of gemstones are much harder than the metal they are set in. Diamonds and gemstones can scratch the finish on your platinum, gold or silver if you just throw your jewellery together in a heap.

I hope I've inspired you to sort out your dressing table and maybe helped save a few precious things also. Have a look through our past blogs as Harriet has written some great advice on how to care for and clean jewellery. And of course please feel free to ask when buying jewellery the best way to store and look after it, as each piece is different.

Best Wishes,