Where the world comes to find out about diamonds Newsletter October 2012 Volume 2 Number 10
Where the world comes to find out about diamonds Newsletter of the Price of Diamonds website Price of Diamonds Newsletter October 2012 Edition Editor in Chief Michael Moore Advertising Technical Author Services Pty Ltd 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 material 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 published 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 understanding that the publisher, editor and contributors are not engaged in rendering any legal, financial, psychological or any other professional service and is offered for information purposes only. If any legal, financial, psychological or any other professional advice or assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. The reader is solely responsible for his/her own actions. Dear Reader, ~ Editorial ~ This month we feature Diamonds on the Web. Plus a number of short articles on diamonds and the diamond industry. Plus the usual features. I do hope you have a great month! Michael Price of Diamonds Contents Editorial 2 Diamond Dealer of the Month 3 Diamonds the next gold? 5 Diamond News 8 Diamond World Events 12 Glossary 13 Copyright 2012 By Technical Author Services Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. All copyrights and trademarks belong to their respective owners ~oo00oo~ 2
~ Diamond Dealer of the Month ~ The staff members collectively have over 220 years experience in the jewelry and Diamond business and include GIA Graduate Gemologists. Sell My Diamonds R ead this write up and find out who Sell My Diamonds really are before you sell your any diamonds or gold to them. It may affect the diamond price you get from them. It is always a wise move to do some due diligence on a diamond dealer before you sell your diamonds to them. Who are Sell My Diamonds We-buy-diamonds.com and sell-mydiamonds.com domain names, both resolve to www.sell-my-diamonds.com which is website of Joden World Resources. Joden World Resources was Established in 1970 and is a family owned operation. They are based in Grove City, Pasadena, USA and are open Mon.-Thurs. 9-5, Fri. 9-8 and Sat. 9-5. The current president is one Joe Murawski. Joden World Resources II is listed as a wholesale trading company in the United States and for select European markets. It is also al member of the Jewelers Board of Trade and the Diamond Appraisers Guild and the Diamond Dealers Club of New York City. The websites are listed by the Wayback machine at www.archive.org, as being online from October 1999 and the Joden World Resources has been in business for over 38 years at the same location. What Does Sell My Diamonds Buy Sell My Diamonds are open to buy any of the following subject to appraisal and inspection of course. Certified diamonds Natural, colored diamonds; yellow, pink, blue, red Period and Antique Jewelry Georgian Period: 1714-1830 Victorian Period: 1837-1900 Arts and Crafts Movement: 1894-1923 Art Nouveau Period: 1890-1915 Edwardian Period: 1901-1910 Art Deco Period: 1920-1935 Retro Period: 1935-1949 Estate and Modern: 1950-Present Gold Chains Antique Gold Jewelry Gold Bracelets Gold Earrings Gold Rings Gold Necklaces White Gold Rings White Gold Pendants Yellow Gold items of every sort. Platinum Rings Diamonds Platinum Jewelry Color stones; sapphire, emerald, ruby. Rare colored stones; natural alexandrite, chrys- 3
oberyl cats eye Rolex Cartier Patek Philippe Van Cleef and Arpels Estate Jewelry Antique Jewelry Gold Tiffany and Company Faberge Sell My Diamonds Price Quoting To sell to Sell My Diamonds, you can enter the details about the items you have to sell in their form online to get a preliminary estimate of the value of your item. You can call their President by phone also and discuss what you want to sell. You can send your item in for appraisal also and get a quote from them. Sell My Diamonds bid on and buy estate jewelry and estate collections of any size and value. They also offer pre-packaged shipping boxes and items can be shipped to either, their attorney, bank or directly to Sell My Diamonds. Usually within one day of receipt (and it is recommended that registered postage and contents insured is used) of the package, Sell My Diamonds will either make a cash offer or ship the items back, fully insured. If the offer is accepted they will immediately send a check. If not the items are simply shipped back. They also have agents in many of the major cities who are able to review estate lots in person. How Much and When does Sell My Diamonds Pay Sell My Diamonds state, We are fully insured and have certified Gemologists on staff. We promise to appraise your items for their current fair market value. Our customers are often pleasantly surprised by the higher price of our Price of Diamonds bids when compared to other offers. We want you to become a regular customer. We make offers for your item on the price we would pay another dealer. We will also give you the appraisal value based upon what it would cost you to replace the item at retail. One should bear in mind that when selling jewelry, particularly diamonds, it is rare to get the full retail value unless there is something particularly interesting or striking about the diamonds. Bear in mind that one of the purposes of the Diamonds are Forever campaign by De Beers, was to reduce the secondary market in diamonds. Hence the price you get on the second hand market is substantially less than for a new diamond. More information on selling diamonds is available at How to Sell Diamonds and How Do I Best Sell My Vintage Diamonds. The last Word on Sell My Diamonds As was stated selling diamonds, jewelry or any similar item is not going to net you the original price of the item. The mark up or premium on jewelry and diamonds is a good 30 to 50 percent depending so this should be kept in mind. The advantage with a company such as Sell my Diamonds, is that they are quick and honest and give a fair price for the industry comparatively speaking. If you have sold any diamonds or jewelry to www.sell-my-diamonds.com, please feel free to leave your feedback on the quality of service of www.sell-my-diamonds.com including any complaints and special attention or service given by www.sell-my-diamonds.com online. ~oo00oo~ 4
Diamonds the Next Gold? I s it possible that diamonds are going to be the next gold? Traditionally diamonds are not an investment due to the high premium placed on the sale of diamonds and the ready availability. In fact diamonds are not as rare as one might think. De Beers, a major diamond producer, has a very large diamond production business and has been known to stock pile surplus diamonds in order to maintain the price of its sales. As De Beers now have a whole chain from mining to retail shops across the world they are able to recoup virtually all the profit normally retained by wholesalers and retailers. Diamonds generally have a mark-up of anywhere from thirty to one hundred percent. The wholesaler and the retailer each want to make their cut and this adds to the retail price naturally. So when it comes to buying diamonds the closer one can get to the source the better. Another factor that affects the price of diamonds is that the majority of diamonds produced are industrial quality and only a small percentage are suitable for the jewelery business. Twenty percent of all diamonds mined are used in jewelery and the remaining eighty percent in industry such as for lasers and other cutting equipment. In view of the fact that cultured diamonds can now be produced through chemical vapour deposition for example, the diamond industry is no longer totally reliant on mined diamonds. All of this tends to reduce the potential of diamonds as an investment vehicle. However there are some exceptions. The price of diamonds varies with the quality and weight of the diamonds so there is no universal weight benchmark for diamonds as there is for precious metals such as gold and silver. A diamond is valued according to its own characteristics such as its color, clarity, the cut and weight of the diamond. This is as individual as the diamond itself. The Gemological Institute of America, the American Gemological Society and the International Gemological Institute are three major institutions which are used to ratify the value and quality of individual diamonds. When it comes to diamond investment there are basically two ways to invest in diamonds. The first is to buy and keep diamonds for a very long time and the other is to buy with the intention of selling at a higher price. The first option is the one that is open to most people and the question then becomes, where do I get diamonds and what type do I get that I can keep, at the best price? Firstly one would be looking for loose stones, not diamonds that have been set into any kind of jewelery. Buying wholesale or as close to it as possible would be the order of the day. Getting certificates to establish the quality and value of the stones, a certificate (Kimberley Certificate) to establish that they were not conflict diamonds would be required, and an insurance assessment to establish the value for insurance purposes. Then one would store or keep them in a safe place, such as a deposit box or bank vault for an extended period of time. Funds for this would be those that are not going to be used for a long time. In the long term the value of the diamonds stored would depend on two factors. The availability of diamonds worldwide and the eco- 5
nomic climate. There is no real shortage of diamonds in the world. DeBeers and Argyle Diamonds hoarding activities ensure that the supply of diamonds are regulated to maintain a specific price level. In practice diamonds price value tends to increase at around five percent per annum. Currently not a bad interest rate in today s climate. In the short term this is not a particularly attractive investment but in the long term, provided one has acquired diamonds at a good wholesale price, then the steady increase in value will, at least, counter inflation if not improve the value of one s asset. standard price. Everyone knows what the price of a bag of coffee or a bushel of corn is as they are easily accessible in the market. Diamonds, on the other hand, are all unique, making a standard pricing very difficult. In fact, you can often take the same stone to two different dealers and receive two different price quotes because it is so difficult to nail down a standard way to value these minerals. However a company called GemShares, a Chicago-based firm is expected to secure a patent to create an index for diamond pricing which can then be applied to futures contracts and ETFs and so on. So to either buy and keep or buy and sell diamonds, you should be looking to buy wholesale or even better, direct from source, if possible. Of course one should not put all ones eggs in one basket and some diversification, such as money in property, precious metals, the bank as well as diamonds would be prudent in this day and age. When it comes to diamond investment, it is possible to at least retain your investment if not make some money, but you will certainly need to do some work and research first. It was recently found that many wealthy investors own equal amounts of gold and diamonds. The difficult with using diamonds as a security is the pricing factor. Where as gold is simply gold you have the weight the size and fineness, but with diamonds you have such a diverse range of factors, the 4 Cs for example and the variable in price per carat as the size increases, makes it difficult to use a But that could all change with the new index, in which diamonds are arranged in 10 layers of comparable quality and value from cheapest at the bottom to most expensive at the top writes Jason Zweig. GemShares even has a plan to displace conspiracy theories that often plague GLD and SLV (along with other precious metals ETFs); they are contemplating picturing each diamond on their home website for all of the world to see. GemShares hopes to create as many tradeable units as the market can handle. So who would invest In diamonds? Well the existing investors no doubt and possibly some who were not sure how to invest, with an index such as this, would possibly feel more comfortable investing in diamonds. The return may not be a lot of course but, hey, with bonds returning a negative investment you can hardly go wrong. As Wealth Wire says, at first it may seem like a rather far-fetched scenario, but the use for a 6
diamond security has the potential to be very high. First, there are all of the producers and miners who could utilize the diamond-based products to hedge against unforeseen issues in production. But more importantly, the average investor would be able to invest in these ultra-expensive minerals with (presumably) a much lower cost, allowing even the average Joe to add diamond exposure to their portfolio. The introduction of the first futures or ETFs investing in diamonds is expected to be around mid-2013 but that might change with regulation issues, set ups etc. We will keep you tuned. ~oo00oo~ This space to Let! Contact michael@priceofdiamonds.org For details. 7
~ ~ Diamond News ~ ~ What is the Popigai Crater? About 35 million years ago an asteroid about 5 to 8 kilometers in diameter, travelling at a speed of about 15 to 20 kilometers per second slammed into the area that is now known as the Tamyr Peninsula of northern Siberia, Russia. The energy delivered by this hypervelocity impact was powerful enough to instantly melt thousands of cubic kilometers of rock and blast millions of metric tons of ejecta high into the air. Some of that ejecta landed on other continents. The explosion produced a 100 kilometre-wide impact crater with a rim of deformed rock up to 20 kilometres wide. [We now know this feature as "Popigai Crater" or "Popigai Astroblem", the seventh largest impact crater that has been identified on Earth. Evidence of Enormous Heat and Pressure impact greatly exceeded what is required for the formation of diamonds at the impact point. A hypervelocity impact of a 5 kilometer wide object would produce an energy burst equivalent to millions of nuclear weapons and temperatures hotter than the sun s surface. Today, 35 million years later, researchers have found hundreds of cubic kilometres of tagamite (rock melted as a result of the impact) in the crater. They believe that originally about 1750 cubic kilometers of rock was melted but about half of that left the crater as ejecta. There are also extensive suevite deposits (breccia formed from fragments of target rock) up to 600 meters thick at the impact site. A layer of suevite covers an area of about 5000 cubic kilometers. The heat and pressure produced by this What Happened at the Point-of-Impact? The impact occurred where Archean graphitegarnet gneiss basement rock was overlain by about 1.5 kilometers of sedimentary cover. Rock at the point of impact was instantly vaporized and a 8 to 10 kilometre deep crater was blasted through the sedimentary cover and into the underlying gneiss. The intensity of heat and pressure decreased with distance from the impact point. At a dis- 8
~ ~ Diamond News ~ ~ tance of about 12 kilometers out from the point of impact the conditions were still too severe for the formation and survival of diamonds. [5] Diamonds formed and survived in a thin zone of rock located about 12 to 13.6 kilometres out from the point of impact. This created a shell of diamond-bearing rock about 1.6 kilometres thick in the shape of a hemisphere around the point of impact. In this zone flakes of graphite in the Archean graphite-garnet gneiss were instantly converted into diamond. Researchers estimate that this shell of diamond-bearing rock has a volume of about 1600 cubic kilometres and contains more diamonds than all of the Earth's other known deposits combined. Will these Diamonds be Mined? The diamonds beneath Popigai Crater are probably not a priority mining target. Today, most of the world s industrial diamonds are synthetic stones. For calendar year 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey reported... Natural diamond accounts for about 1.4% of all industrial diamond used, while synthetic diamond accounts for the remainder. The efficiency and cost of producing synthetic diamonds has steadily improved over the past few decades. It is now cheaper to "make industrial diamonds" than it is to mine them. In 2010 the worldwide production of synthetic industrial diamond was about 4.38 billion carats valued between $1.65 billion and $2.50 billion. This is an average price of about 50 cents per carat or less. Chinese companies produced over 90% of the world's synthetic diamond. The Popigai Crater is in a remote location, in a difficult environment, with no infrastructure and no local source of employees and support. For the deposit to be mined the diamonds must: 1) be large enough to be recovered and used in industry; 2) have physical properties that are useful to industry; and, 3) be present in high enough concentrations to be economically mined. The Russians have not released any information to confirm that the deposit is minable. Overhyped in the News Lots of news stories have reported Popigai Crater as a major diamond deposit containing trillions of carats of gemstone-quality diamonds that Russia has kept secret. This is not true. This diamond deposit has been known to researchers throughout the world since the early 1990s when many of them visited Popigai Crater with permission and support from the Russian government. There are no public documents showing that Popigai is a minable deposit of gemstone-quality diamonds. Popigai is an unlikely threat to other diamond mining operations because the deposit it thought to contain small industrial-quality diamonds. About 98% of today's industrial diamonds are produced in laboratories because it is more economical to "make industrial diamonds" than it is to mine them. Source: http://geology.com/articles/popigaicrater-diamonds/ ~oo00oo~ 9
Up and Coming World Diamond Congress In Mumbai in 2012 in October 2012 Malaysia MIJ Exhibition Sdn Bhd 19th Malaysia International Jewellery Festival 2012 (Autumn Edition) [Malaysia] October 5,2012 To October 8,2012 A special feature of the event is the miniconference within the Congress that will discuss several crucial issues confronting the diamond industry, which is at a significant turning point today. This is the first time that the Congress is being held in India. Mumbai, India The 35th World Diamond Congress is being held in Mumbai, the vibrant financial capital of India and a key centre of the global diamond trade, from October 14-17, 2012. The Congress is the General Assembly of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA). A bi-annual event, it is the ultimate authority for decisions of a crucial nature and will be attended by delegations from 28 bourses affiliated to the WFDB and the 16 associations that are constituents of IDMA, together covering virtually all the key centres where diamond trading or manufacturing takes place. Hosts of the Mumbai Congress are the Bharat Diamond Bourse and The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, the two Indian bodies affiliated to the WFDB and IDMA respectively. Taj Land s End The Congress is being held in Taj Lands End, Mumbai, one of the leading hotels of the well known Taj Luxury Hotels. Located in the heart of the new Bandra, which buzzes with activity day and night, it offers breathtaking views of the sea and the energy of city life. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, Taj Lands End offers some of the city's finest accommodation, dining experiences, and comprehensive conferencing and banqueting facilities, so patrons can blend business with leisure. It is easily accessible to the Bandra-Kurla, Andheri and Worli business districts as well as the domestic and international airport. Like all Taj hotels, it is modern, yet reflects India's warm and heartfelt traditions of hospitality. http://www.diamondcongress2012.com/ WDC/index.aspx ~oo00oo~ 10
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 appraisal is a written estimate of the approximate retail 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 characteristics (such as cut, clarity, carat, symmetry, etc.) only. Blemish A scratch or abrasion on the surface of a diamond. 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 increase 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 American Brilliant, is a 58-facet round diamond, This shape and faceting arrangement is designed 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 every carob seed weighs exactly the same. Clarity Clarity is the term given to indicate the purity of a diamond. Most diamonds have minute imperfections and the clarity is the way of grading the purity depending on the number of imperfections the diamond has or does not have. Cloud A cluster of very small inclusions inside a diamond 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- 11
es the table, and the star-, bezel- and uppergirdle 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 diamond more easily damaged or chipped. 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 include 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 crystallizes 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 facets 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 expensive 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 entering a diamond is divided up into the spectrum. 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- 12
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 circumference of a diamond. This is where a jewelry setting holds the diamond in a ring. Good Cut Diamonds cut with acceptable, but not perfect, 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 expensive 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 percentages and table percentages that some people feel produce a "perfect" balance of fire and brilliance). They almost always have the highest grades on polish and symmetry as well, indicating 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 inclusions 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 occurring 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 yellow 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 magnification; any flaws not detected under this magnification 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 13
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 manufactured in a laboratory. It is virtually indistinguishable 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 shallow otherwise light will leak out and the diamond will lose fire and brilliance. Peridotite Any of a group of igneous rocks having a granite like texture. 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 distinguish between polish grades. Poor Cut Poorly cut diamonds with proportions and finish 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 dia- 14
mond 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. Price of Diamonds 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 substance often used as a substitute to genuine diamonds. It is a carborundum substance and easily told from diamonds due to being heavier than diamonds. Weight the weight of a diamond is measured in carats.a carat is.2 grams. A gram of diamond would be a massive 5 carats. Very large in diamond terms although the actual diamond is physically small. ~oo00oo~ Wholesale 15