The Jerusalem Post - The Jerusalem Post Magazine
12. Diamonds really are forever
‘A kiss on the hand may be quite continental, but diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” sang Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. “A kiss may be grand but it won’t pay the rental on your humble flat or help you at the automat,” she went on to sing.
Indeed, diamonds have long been revered as the most prized and precious gemstones. The rarest and most expensive gemstone in the world is a natural blue diamond. The gem is estimated to cost $3.93 million (NIS 13.88 million) per carat.
Blue diamonds were discovered in India and later displayed in a London collection in 1839. Traces of the chemical element boron are what give blue diamonds their distinctive color.
Color is one of the four C’s that constitute the criteria for grading and classifying diamonds. The other three are cut, clarity and carat weight.
Diamonds occur naturally in a range of colors. Some are rarer and more valuable than others, such as the blue diamond. However, while colored diamonds are graded on their intensity of color, the white diamond is prized, in fact, for its lack of color.
A diamond’s clarity grade is based on the presence or absence of identifying characteristics in or on the diamond. The rarest of diamonds have perfect clarity, meaning they are internally and externally flawless. Most diamonds have some degree of imperfections, but the gems used in jewelry typically have very small or unnoticeable flaws.
A diamond’s weight is measured in carats. One carat is a unit of mass equal to 200 milligrams. A carat can be divided into 100 points, each weighing two milligrams. The word “carat” is derived from “carob.” For centuries, carob seeds were used as a means to measure gems.
Cut is the most complicated of the diamond characteristics. Essentially, it refers to how well a diamond’s facets interact with light. Cut is determined by three factors: brilliance, fire and scintillation.
Brilliance is the reflection of the white light after it hits a diamond’s facets. It is the contrast between the white light flashes and the shadows created by the diamond’s cut. The greater the contrast, the greater a diamond’s brilliance.
Fire refers to the colors that a diamond’s interior reflects. They are the flashes of color on the visible spectrum that result from the diamond scattering white light into the colors of the rainbow.
Scintillation is the amount of sparkle a diamond produces, and the pattern of light and dark areas caused by reflections within the diamond.
The “cut” grade refers to the diamond’s ability to produce all three factors with maximum results based on its proportions.
Since the 1940s, diamond rings have become the mainstay of engagement rings. A massive ad campaign by the De Beers mining company sought to promote the sale of diamonds. In 1947, an advertising copywriter came up with the slogan “A diamond is forever,” associating the rock-solid gem with eternal love. Sales soared, and the slogan is still used to this day.
While a diamond may last forever, an engagement may not. According to the law, if the marriage does not take place, the woman is obliged to return the engagement ring to her fiancé, as the ring was given on the condition that the marriage takes place.
In that regard, Zsa Zsa Gabor came up with a line that is as memorable as the De Beers slogan. The epitome of glamour, the Hungarian-born Hollywood star and socialite – who was married nine times – had a massive collection of fabulous jewelry. When a woman asked her, “If my engagement is broken, do I have to give back the ring?” Gabor famously replied, “Yes, darling, you give back the ring – but you keep the diamond.”