Wedding Rings
Diamonds

Diamonds all during history have been admired and feared, so it is not surprising that they have found their way into not only as the centre piece of an engagement ring but also more commonly now in wedding rings. They are said to represent love and spirituality as well as prosperity! Mentioned in the bible and thought by the Romans to be a love enhancer, the arrow that Cupid holds was always said to have a diamond at the end.

The Italians in the medieval era thought that the diamond was created in the flames of love but it is certainly true that they come into being at great temperatures and pressures in the earth's crust! This heat ends up in an arrangement of closely bonded crystals each with four sides that give them their amazing hardness.

India was the main source from ancient times until around 1850 when this was rivalled by Brazil and then, in 1867, South Africa when diamonds started to be found in blue clay "pipes". The South African was a massive find and the result was that after about 1867 diamonds dropped in price and became affordable for the wedding rings or jewellery of all but the super rich. Nowadays it is more than likely that the diamond in your wedding ring has come from South Africa, the world's largest exporter.

Diamonds have a very high reflective index (2.42), far greater than, for example, glass (around 1.6). This accounts for their brilliant apprearance. However, much of an ring's sparkle is down to the skill of the stone cutter and a poorly cut stone will appear dull and lifeless. The craft of stone cutting was first practised in Bruges in around 1476 and now is a huge industry centred around both Amsterdam and New York.

Perhaps the most famous diamond is the Koh-i-nur that was presented to Queen Victoria in 1850 and is now the centre piece of the British crown jewels. Other well known stones are the Cullinan (discovered in 1905) and the Excelsior, a huge 971 carats.

Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design has built up a network of diamond dealers that guarantee that any stone sourced for your wedding ring will be of the finest possible quality and value for money. We are particularly keen to ensure that all the stones that we use are "conflict free" - ie have not been sold to fund terrorism. Together with the British Jeweller's Association we are working to eliminate these stones from the market completely.