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Where the world comes to find out about diamonds December 2012 Volume 2 Number 12

Newsletter

Price of Dia-monds

Would like to wish all our

readers

seasons

greetings!

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Price of Diamonds

Newsletter of the Price of Diamonds website

Price of Diamonds Newsletter December 2012 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 © 2012 By Technical Author Services Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. All copyrights and trademarks belong to their respec-tive owners

~oo00oo~

Where the world comes to find out about diamonds

~ Editorial ~ Dear Reader, The end of the year is upon us. I hope it was a great one for you. Here’s wishing you the very best for 2013. A Flourishing and Prosperous New Year! Michael Price of Diamonds

Contents

Editorial 2 Diamond Dealer of the Month 3 Jewelry Shows 5 Diamond Price Lists 6 Special Report: The Fact s About Rubies 8 Glossary 18 Front Page Picture. Anon

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~ Diamond Dealer of the Month ~

Barsky Diamonds

R ead this write up and find out who Barsky Diamonds really are before you

buy any diamonds online from them.

Always do due diligence and find out all about a diamond dealer before you pay their diamond price and buy any diamonds from them.

Who are Barsky Diamonds Barsky Diamonds is a family owned Philadel-phia based company that has been operating for over 25 years. Nathan Barsky is the owner and manager and works in the store with his family who have been in the diamond and jew-elry business for over 100 years and specializes in the online sales of diamonds and fine jewelry. Barsky diamonds is backed by a family that has been in the diamond and jewel-ry business for over 100 years.

Barsky Diamonds specialise in custom made jewellery at a reasonable price. The diamond prices at Barsky Diamonds are reasonable and affordable.

Their website is www.barskydiamonds.com and has been online since around April 2001. The shop is in Sansom St in Philadelphia, PA.

They are open 7 days a week normal shopping hours with reduced hours on Sundays.

Barsky Diamonds will ship to all USA from orders on their website but do not ship over-seas at this time.

All items shipped will require a signature from you to be fully delivered.

There are many reviews about Barsky Dia-monds on various sites such as Pricescope and Yahoo. Most of them are favourable with just a very few unfavorable.

All loose diamonds sold carry a diamond grad-ing report. This report contains detailed infor-mation specifically for that diamond. It helps to maintain the authenticity and value. Of the diamond and assists in giving a accurate dia-mond price.

Barsky Diamonds Products On their website, Barsky Diamonds list 2660 loose diamonds. There is a diamond matching facility also for locating the type of diamond you would like and if it is there you will be able to locate it and get a price for the diamond also.

There is also a ‘Design Your own’ jewellery section where you can pick the type of jewel-lery and specifications to some degree for it. Type of ring, precious metal, number of karats and the diamond to be set into the ring,. For example. This is part of the customised spe-cialization Barsky Diamonds provides.

Their range includes:

Wedding Bands Earrings

http://www.barskydiamonds.com


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Pendants Precious Gemstones Regency Designs Journey Collection Bracelet Collection Barsky Arsenia Collection Barsky Classic Collection

Barsky Diamonds Payment Options At the store, of course, Barsky Diamonds will accept the usually credit cards, cash and other forms of payment by agreement. On the web-site, when you order on line they will only ac-cept American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

All items that are shipped from Barsky Dia-monds are fully insured, and it is their policy that every item shipped to you require a signa-ture, regardless of any signature waivers you may have with UPS.

If you would like your order to be shipped to an address other than your billing address, they will require the alternate shipping address be on file with your credit card company other-wise the order is likely to be refused.

Barsky Diamonds Returns & Refunds If you need to return an item you will need to contact Barsky Diamonds for an RMA number and instructions on how to return the item. If

you do not get an RMA and return the item without it there is no guarantee you will see your item again or a refund.

You cannot return engraved or customised items but anything else can be returned within 30 days of purchase provided it is in its origi-nal condition. You will need to ensure you in-clude the original certificate that was supplied with the item

Ensure also that you include ALL the original packaging and materials. It is also a wise move to insure that package for the amount that was on the original invoice.

The Last Word on Barsky Diamonds Barsky Diamonds have been around for a long time and spend a lot of time working on their customer service.

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

~oo00oo~

http://www.baskeydiamonds.com



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Up and Coming Diamond & Jewelery

Shows in 2013

Gemstone and jewellery show 'Sparkle 2013' January the 4th to the 7th Sparkle 2013, an exhibition showcasing Guja-rat's prowess in diamond and jewellery, will be held from January the 4th to the 7th, 2013 at Surat, a week ahead of the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. For the first time, traders and manufacturers of diamond jewellery from as far away as Dubai and Thailand will participate in the event. The exhibition will be spread across over 100,000 square feet of pillar-less space and will display modern and traditional jewellery designs under one roof. Besides jewellery, on display will be precious, semi-precious and coloured gemstones; pearl, silver, white gold and fine finish jewellery; software, machinery and equipment; packaging products and ser-vices.

~o0o~ Istanbul Jewelry Show March 21 - 24 CNR Expo Center Istanbul, Turkey The Istanbul Jewelry Show will be held at the CNR Expo Center in Istanbul, Turkey. It will bring together professionals related to jewel-lery industry from Middle & Near East, Rus-sia, CIS Nations, Eastern Europe and the Northern Coast of Africa. The event will dis-

play various products such as silver jewelry & households, diamonds, semi precious, pre-cious, pearls, synthetic stones machinery, equipment, fine gold jewelry and fancy gold jewelry. The show will witness a huge number of attendees which will figure up to 30,000. In this show, many exhibitors are going to partici-pate from all over the globe to showcase their latest products. The Istanbul Jewelery Show will invite partici-pation from more than 1,100 exhibitors. The event will be hosting top most experts related to this sector sharing ideas and skills with the attendees.

~o0o~ Precious Metals, Diamonds & Gemstones Summit 2013 April 2013 (No final dates as yet) Ironmongers Hall London, United Kingdom Objective Capital’s Precious Metals, Dia-monds and Gemstones Investment Summit brings together London’s financial community with precious metals producers. The Precious Metals, Diamonds & Gemstones Summit is dedicated to Precious Metals, Dia-monds & Gemstones issues such as: jewellery markets, investment, mining, gold and plati-num and more.

~o0o~ 20th Malaysia International Jewellery Festival


Price of Diamonds

Diamond Price Lists

The diamond price trend chart on the right shows the overall trend of diamond prices taking in to considera-tion the general movement of diamond prices, the various dealer and trade prices of diamonds, including and averaging out the various cut, color, clarity and so forth for the past year.

The price of diamonds can very considerably as there are many factors that influence the price of a diamond. The primarily consideration, however is the weight. It is the weight that is used as a benchmark for pricing diamonds on a week to week basis. The color, clarity and cut all play a part of course and then there is the premium or mark up added to the cost from the origi-nal producer right through to the jeweler who's shop you walk into to buy a diamond.

There are some charts at Diamond Price Charts that cover the main popular diamonds. These are listed in carat size from 5 carats down to half a carat. Each chart contains the main clarity gradings from the top IF through to S12 listed across the top as well as the color gradings from D, Pure White, down to M, light-ly yellowish/Tinted color-champagne. The figures in the squares are current estimated high cash asking

prices for diamonds. Of course prices do vary so this is more of a rough guide to give you an idea of what you can expect.

More detailed information about the Cut, Color, Clari-ty and carat weight are available from the links on the left.

There are two sets of charts, the first set on the left is for Round Whites and the second set on the right is for Fancy Colored Stones.

The Round is perhaps the most popular of the shapes available. This is a good indicator of the diamond price for the size and quality of most diamond rounds. Some shapes, such as the Princess and the more unu-sual cuts might be slightly lesser in price.

Each set has a table for each weight of .5 to .69ct, .70 to .89ct, .90 to .99ct, 1.00ct, 1.5ct, 2.00ct, 3.00ct, 4.00ct and 5ct.

How much you pay for a particular diamond can also vary from dealer to dealer. These are just the approxi-mate prices to give you some idea of the prices you would expect to pay for a typical diamond. The dia-mond prices given purely for information and guid-ance only. The actual price you pay is likely to be very different and could be anywhere up to 20 percent

http://priceofdiamonds.org/diamond-price-lists.shtml


Price of Diamonds

What about other gemstones

Amethysts

Emeralds

Garnets

Jade

Opals Pearls

Peridot

Rubies

Sapphires

Topaz

either side of the values given.

You might notice some inconsistences in each matrix. For example, you will note that the difference between a 1ct G color VS2 clarity diamond and a 1ct H color VS2 clarity diamond is $1000 dollars, yet between the same G VS2 and a 1 ct F VS2 is only $500. Much of this is to do with rarity at the time of pricing of these various stones. So using a professional diamond dealer can help here as there can be many ways to spot a good deal taking advantage of these inconsistences. It might require some research and due diligence but is well worth it if it can save you a few thousand dollars for what could be, very little difference in the actual diamonds.

It is worth mentioning that buying a diamond that is one or two points below a carat level can make a big differ-ence to the price you pay. In other words, instead of buy-ing a diamond that is exactly one or two carats say. May-be picking one that is ever so slightly below the one or two carat weight, even by just a point or two, can reduce the price by a few hundred dollars and the difference is barely discernible.

A recommended jeweler for accurate diamonds is James Allen Professional Jewelers as each diamond purchased comes with a GIA report and is certified conflict free.

~oo00oo~




Price of Diamonds

Special Report

The Facts about Rubies

A ccording to experts, there are different ruby cut grades. High quality rubies generally have a 65 to 80 percent

depth, say experts at Gemnation.com. Next to diamonds, rubies are the most prized gemstone out there. When you want top buy rubies, it is not neces-sary to know all about rubies to find the best ruby price. At one time, rubies were worth more than 7 times that of diamonds and rubies have always been considered highly valuable by kings and queens throughout the ages. However, when buying and selling rubies the more you know the better off you will be. Rubies come in various shades of red, red pur-ple and red orange. A medium toned red or red with slight purple is most desired. Clarity of the stone and inclusions are also taken into account to determined the stones value. A purple or or-ange stone is called a fancy sapphire. Some Ruby Facts Did you know that the word ruby comes from the Latin word, 'ruber', which means red? And in Sanskrit the ruby is called the 'king of pre-cious stones'. The ruby is a red gemstone. One of a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). The other well known corundum is the sapphire. The ref color is mainly as a result of chromium within the ruby. The name, ruby, comes from ruber, which is

Latin for red. Natural rubies are exceptionally rare, but synthetic rubies (sometimes called cre-ated ruby) are manufactured very cheaply. One has to be careful as these can be sold as 'genuine' rubies. The other variety of gem-quality corundum of course is the sapphire. To-gether with the sapphire, the ruby is considered one of the four precious gems together with the emerald and the diamond. Most rubies are mined in Africa, Asia, Austral-ia, and Greenland. The best and most sort after rubies are found in Sri Lanka, Kenya, Madagas-car, and Thailand, but some have also been found in the U.S. states of Montana as well as North and South Carolina. The Mogok Valley in Myanmar has produced some of the finest rubies but in recent years very few good rubies have been found there. In central Myanmar the area of Mong Hsu also produces rubies. The latest ruby deposit to be found in Myanmar is situated in Nam Ya.." Rubies are harvested at the start of monsoon season in Burma. This is a celebrated time, as the harvest rains begin. These rains help rubies grow, experts say. Mined in India, Kenya and Thailand, rubies can be translucent or transparent. If you’re looking to buy ruby jewelery, it helps to know all about rubies, before venturing online or out to the stores. Ruby Technical Information Rubies have a hardness of 9.0 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness just below that of dia-monds. For the technically minded here are some tech-nical specifications of the mineral ruby. Classification: Mineral Category: Mineral Composition: Aluminium chromium oxide Color/Spectrum: Red gamma Atomic (Crystal )Structure: Hexagonal

http://allaboutrubies.org


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Density (Relative): 2.65 - 2.68 Chemical formula: aluminium oxide with chromium, Al2O3::Cr Color: Red, may be brownish or purplish Crystal habit: Varies with locality. Terminat-ed tabular hexagonal prisms Crystal Shape: Prizmatic Crystal system: Hexagonal Cleavage: No true cleavage Mohs Scale hardness: 9.0 Molecular formula: Al2O3 Luster: Vitreous Refractive index: ~1.762-1.770 Pleochroism: Orangy Red, Purplish Red Streak: white Specific gravity: 4.0 Fusibility: perfectly Uses: Jewelry, ornamental The major variety is pink sapphire Caused by a color impurity that makes the stone appear pink. Buying Rubies It is a good idea to check and feel the ruby yourself when considering buying a stone. You can learn a lot just by the feel of a ruby. So with a ruby, the first thing to look at is the color. All rubies come in a wide variety of red tones with the darkest considered the best and most valuable. However your budget and taste will decide what quality and shade of ruby you buy. Such things as the color and texture of your skin, the type of body frame you have and the clothes you wear, all will have a bearing on what color and style of ru-by looks best on you. Like many gems rubies have inclusions or bubbles within the stone. The less inclusions the more you will have to pay for the stone. It is a good idea to spend at the top of your budget to get the best stone possible. You should get a certificate from an independent gem laboratory with the ruby to show what

inclusions there are. Do not just take a jewel-ers word for it. The cut of the ruby should be clean and give out an inner glow. Try to see the ruby in nat-ural light not artificial as the color will be different. This means taking it out of the shop to see it in daylight. Shops have a lot of unnatural light to make all gemstones spar-kle. The red should be lustrous and sparkling. Check the setting or mounting of the stone. The mounting should be a claw setting with 3 or 4 prongs holding the stone in. Ensure it is a tight fit and the stone is not lose or the prongs broken or bent. Look for possible cracks where the prongs are too tight and have cracked the stone. This is very possible for a fitter who was careless. Value of Rubies Natural rubies are rare, and most of the ru-bies you find in jewelry shops are synthetic. A natural ruby is often worth more than a diamond. It is important, therefore, when be-ing offered a 'natural' ruby to be able to tell the difference. A natural ruby has a much higher value of course. All rubies are valued according to their size, color, clarity and cut. Also all natural rubies will have imperfections in them, including color impurities and inclusions of rutile nee-dles known as 'silk'. If there is no silk in the stone, it will show that the stone has been heated at 3000 degrees C to give the ruby a better color of red. Usually the rough stone is heated prior to being cut. Synthetic rubies can only be identified using at least a 10x magnification microscope or a jewelers loupe or a light source such as a lamp or a penlight. One can then see curved growth lines and the ruby may also show in-cluded gas bubbles. Also curved growth lines, translucent to opaque crystals or liq-


Price of Diamonds

uids and wispy like veils (cloud like structure within a ruby) or wavy fingerprint-like inclu-sions may be seen. Other than fluorescence, magnification is real-ly the only way to differentiate between a syn-thetic and a natural ruby. sometimes pieces of red corundum have been found weighing many kilograms but these are generally of too low quality to be valuable as gemstones. As part of finding the value of a ruby, auction prices are a good indicator of a stone's true val-ue. Prices do not necessarily correlate with size however. In 2006, the record price paid at auction for a single stone was $5,860,000 for an unnamed 38.12 carat cabochon-cut ruby. It is likely however that other rubies with an even greater value may have been bought and sold private-ly. Loose Rubies Loose rubies are perhaps the best way of buy-ing rubies. You can check for flaws and cracks easier and get a more accurate picture of the quality of the stone. When you are looking for loose rubies probably the most important fac-tor to look at is color. Many people prefer the deeper rich almost blood red color. Other like the paler pink like quality of some rubies. As I said it can depend on skin color and other fac-tors. So one looks at the hue and the tone. The hue refers to the actual color of the stone. Tone refers to how deep the color goes. Also is the color even? Some stones can show a banding and this would lessen the value. Turning the stone around and looking at it from all angles, even upside down. This will tell you if the stone has banding under but not shown on the top if it has been cut to hide the banding. A banded stone is not worth as much as a full colored stone.

Other factors to consider are the clarity and cut of the stone. Especially when it comes to set-ting. Is the cut suitable for a ring setting? Or a pendant for example. Selecting loose rubies for a necklace or ring where more than one ruby is require is a little more difficult. You would most likely want all the same color and match-ing sizes. The color should complement your skin tone and even your nail varnish. All these points should be considered with choosing the color of loose rubies. Choosing colors general-ly requires a little more thought that colorless stones such as diamonds which tend to go with everything. Ruby Auctions It pays to study up on rubies before attending an auction. Usually you are competing against people that have considerable knowledge of rubies. It is fairly easy to locate auctions using google.com and typing in ruby auctions. Prob-ably eBay and www.bidz,com would be the most popular. Also keep a look out for local auctions in your town or city. Scouring the newspapers, you can sometimes find an auc-tion where rubies are up for sale. Jewelery and gem auctions are invariably the best. Some important points to remember when buy-ing rubies at auctions. If you intend buying from an auction you are attending, you will probably need to register with the auctioneers first. See if you can inspect the rubies that will be auctioned. There should be a certificate to accompany the ruby or rubies or at least some information about them. Quite often these are antique rubies and if so will be a good buy if the price is right. You only need to establish that they are true rubies and not some other lesser quality stone or not even a gem at all. You should have some understanding of the value and worth of rubies and also decide in advance what your bid is going to be. This will

http://www.bidz


Price of Diamonds

depend on your budget and how much you want the rubies of course. By doing this you will impose some discipline and not pay more for the rubies than you should. When bidding it is better not to bid at all until the very last minute when all the bidding ap-pears to be done. Provided the price is still within your budget you can then jump in with a bid and not start a bidding war (which only benefits the seller and the auction house not the buyer). Online auctions are different. You cannot see the rubies but only a picture of them. It is diffi-cult to asses the quality of an ruby in this case and you would be more interest in seeing a cer-tificate of authenticity which you could com-pare the ruby with if you did bid and win the bid. Ensure the auction house has provision for misrepresentation of product and a protection system for the buyer. You don't want to bid and win an expensive ruby to find when it ar-rives that you have just got at best a poor quali-ty ruby and at worse a worthless piece of glass. Buying rubies at ruby auctions can be fun but there is no substitute for doing your due dili-gence. Ruby Jewelry Just a few pointers about ruby jewelry. Always ensure, firstly, that you buy your rubies from a trustworthy dealer or jeweler. Preferably one who specializes in precious gemstones and ru-bies in particular if possible. Many gemstones are heat treated, including

rubies. This brings out the colors more and sometimes even changes the color of a stone. This may or ,may not be suitable for you. But at least you want to know if this has been done so find out if the stone has been heat treated in anyway. Also if it has been irradiated, coated or dyed. Sometimes these treatments will de-value the stone but other times may even in-crease the value. Check the color of the stone. Generally speak-ing the deeper the color or hue the more valua-ble the stone will be. The gemstone should be near perfect with no visible flaws visible to the naked eye. The surface should reflect light and the stone have perfect clarity. There should be no visible flaws or scratches on the surface of the stone. Make sure you can examine the stone from all sides and angles. Turn it over in your hand. Also try and get the opportunity to examine the stone in natural light. Many gemstones will change tone or even color in artificial light. Pure genuine rubies are not cheap. If you are offered cheap 'genuine' ruby jewelry, it is more than likely not genuine but a fake. If possible get a certificate stating the type, quality and details of the stone from the dealer. Make sure it is very specific. If at anytime you discover the stone is not as described you want to be able to return it and get a refund so en-sure the dealer has a returns policy that allows for this. If the stone has been set in a ring or other met-al ensure that you can see the back of the stone. This is important as if the back is

http://goldmoney.com/?gmrefcode=goldtoday


Price of Diamonds

blocked off then there will be limited light able to shine through and the stone will not look as good. A stone should have a prong or claw set-ting and not be glued in place. Glue can deteri-orate over time and the stone be lost. Keep in mind also that the prongs or claws are some-times used to hide flaws as well. Probably antique ruby jewelry is the best. Usu-ally the stone are sure to be real and not syn-thetic and there can be an 'antique' value as well. Cleaning Your Ruby Jewelry It is very important to understand how to clean your rubies. Rubies may be almost as hard as diamonds but can still be damaged. Although a ruby is a relatively hard stone, care still needs to be take to ensure it is cleaned properly and that no damage is done. It is a good idea not to wear rubies when doing rough or strenuous work. It can be easy to scratch a ruby or dislodge it from it's mount-ing. Take a ring or what ever the jewelery piece is off and store Safely away from other jewelery when not in use. Gems such as dia-monds and rubies are quite hard gems and can scratch precious metals or even other gems if stored or lumped together. Be very careful using chemicals to clean any gemstones. While diamonds are, for the most part, unaffected by chemicals, rubies may be, so knowing what one can and cannot use is vital to ensure you keep your rubies in pristine condition and keep them sparkling. The best way to clean your ruby is to use a warm soapy solution in a large bowl (not over the sink as you don't want to slip and lose your precious gemstone down the plug hole) and rub with a old toothbrush to get out any resi-

due between the stone and the jewelery. Brush-ing underneath as well as the top and in be-tween the crevasses is important (rather like brushing teeth). Ensure you brush gently as, although the gemstone may be quite hard, the precious metal it is set in may be soft and the claws that hold the gemstone may be easily snapped off. 24 karat gold is particularly soft so extra care should be taken with that metal. Make sure the piece is rinsed really well so that the is no soap caught between the ruby and the metal. Pat dry with a soft cloth. And allow to dry completely before storing or wearing again. A hair dryer can also be used with the setting on low so you don't blow the jewelery piece away off and onto the floor and have to spend hours frantically searching for it. If your jewelery is pure gold an ammonia solu-tion could be used. It is not advisable with oth-er metals, such as silver or a lower carat gold of 14 or 10 karat, as they also contain other metals which can react with the ammonia and cause it to go black. Some people let their gems soak in the solution for a half hour or so. To loosen any grime wedged in. Using the above tips for cleaning your ruby jewelery will help to keep them sparkling clean. Treatment of Rubies The treatments of rubies to improve their look and feel has been fairly common practice for a long time. The level and type of treatment however has differed and impacts upon the price of the gemstone accordingly. Some treatments occur in almost all cases and are (therefore) considered 'acceptable' practic-es. A good example is heat treatment. Alt-


Price of Diamonds

hough heat treatment affects the price of a top quality ruby, most if not all rubies at the lower end of the market are heat treated. Heat treat-ment is performed on the rough stones to im-prove color, remove purple tingle, blue patches and silk. These heat treatments typically occur around temperatures of 1800 degrees C (3272 degrees F). Some rubies undergo a process of low tube heat, when the stone is heated over charcoal of a temperature of about 1300 de-grees C (2372 degrees F) for 20 to 30 minutes. The silk is only partially broken as the color is improved. A less acceptable treatment, but one which has gained notoriety in recent years, is 'Lead Glass Filling' of Rubies. By filling the fractures in-side the ruby with so-called 'lead glass' the transparency of the stone is dramatically im-proved making previously unsuited rubies now fit for applications in jewelry. The process is typically split into 4 steps: 1. Rough stones are pre-polished to eradi-

cate all surface impurities that may affect the process.

2. Rough is cleaned with Hydrogen Fluo-ride.

3. First heating process whereby no fillers are added. The heating process eradicates impurities inside the fractures. Although this can be done at temperatures up to 1400 degrees C (2552 degrees F) it most likely occurs at a temperature of around 900 degrees C (1636 degrees F) since the Rutile silk is still intact.

4. Second heating process in an electrical oven with different chemical additives.

Different solutions and mixes have shown to

be successful, however lead-containing glass-powder is mostly used at present. The Ruby is dipped into oil, then covered with powder, em-bedded on a tile and placed in the over where it is heated at around 900 degrees C (1636 de-grees F) for one hour in an oxidizing atmos-phere. The Orange colored powder transforms upon heating into a transparent to yellow-colored paste, which fills all fractures. After cooling the color of the paste is fully transpar-ent, that dramatically improves the overall transparency of the Ruby. In case a color needs to be added, the glass powder can be 'enhanced' with Copper or other Metal Oxides as well as elements such as Sodi-um, Calcium, Kalium etc. The Second heating process can be repeated three to four times consecutively, even apply-ing different mixtures. Loose Burma Rubies These are the best rubies you can buy. They are the highest quality and also the highest in price. Burma is the world's largest provider of the highest quality Rubies. In Burma, Rubies from the Mogok Valley are considered to be the world's finest of these rubies and are highly sought after. other providers of fine quality ru-bies are Vietnam, Kenya, Tanzania, India and Sri Lanka. Thailand rubies tend to have a dark-er color and less intensity than the Burmese. African Rubies have more heavy inclusions and India is famous for the Indian Star Ruby. The two main sources of Burma rubies today are Mogok and Mong Hsu. Mogok is the tradi-tional source and their goods are considered

http://www.swissmetalassets.com/michael-moore


Price of Diamonds

the very best of the Burma gemstones. For hundreds of years, The Mogok Stone Tract has been producing gem quality ruby, sapphire, and spinel. Recently, in 1992-1993, another location was discovered in Mong Hsu, Burma. However, unlike Mogok, these stones look ra-ther like a bad garnet until they are heated, at which point they turn into bright, lively red rubies. Of course, very few dealers actually travel to the source. Most dealers buy stones directly from Mogok dealers but most of the gems end up in Bangkok after being smuggled across Thailand at Mae Sot or Mae Sai. These stones are usually recut and often heat treated in Bangkok. However, despite a call for a boycott from the US, NGOs and some human rights groups, Gem Dealers still buy Burma Rubies at auction in Myanmar. Although many counties including the USA have imposed bans on rubies from Myanmar somehow they still seem to filter through. Perhaps a Kimberly style process is needed to control these 'blood Rubies.' Rubies Luster The ruby is a red gemstone that can vary from a light pink to a deep blood red. The red color or luster is caused by chromium contained within the ruby. All natural rubies have imperfections in them, including color impurities and inclusions of rutile needles known as 'silk'. Gemologists use the needle inclusions found in natural rubies to distinguish them from synthetics, stimulants, or substitutes. Usually the rough stone is heat-ed before cutting. Almost all rubies today are treated in some form (of which heat treatment is the most common practice), and rubies which are completely untreated and still of ex-

cellent quality command a large premium. In general we can list the following types of im-provements: color alteration, improving trans-parency by dissolving Rutile inclusions, heal-ing of fractures (cracks) or even completely filling them. See the section on Treatments. Prices of rubies are primarily determined by color (the brightest and best 'red' called Pigeon Blood Red, command a huge premium over other Rubies of similar quality). After Color follows clarity: similar to Diamonds, a clear stone will command a premium, but a Ruby without any needle like Rutile inclusions will indicate the stone has been treated one way or another. Cut and Carat also determine the price more or less to a similar extent as does the lus-ter or clarity. Some Interesting Ruby Facts Despite some pieces of red corundum weigh-ing many kilograms, they are generally not of sufficient quality to be valuable as gemstones. The best way therefore to find out the present day value of any gemstone is to check out auc-tion prices as a good indicator of a stone's true value. Prices do not necessarily correlate with size of course. the larger the stone, the more rare and the more per carat it is going to cost. In 2006, the record price paid at auction for a single stone was $5,860,000 for an unnamed 38.12 carat cabochon-cut ruby. However, it is quite probable that other stones with potential-ly greater value exist but have never have been sold at auction. A synthetic ruby crystal was used to create the first laser According to Rebbenu Bachya, and the New International Version, the word odem means 'ruby' in the verse Exodus 28:17 (referring to a stone on the Hoshen), and was the stone representing the tribe of Reuben. Modern Hebrew has taken this meaning. How-ever, odem actually means earth, and is cog-nate with Adam, in the middle east, the earth it


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refers to is certainly reddish, but the Septuagint translates the term as Sard (which also means red), which is also the name of an incredibly common somewhat opaque gem. Scholars think the stone intended is probably a Sard, as does the King James Version, some scholars think that if not a Sard it may possibly be the related gem carnelian. It is also thought possible that Sard and Odem here just means the colour of the stone, and red Jasper could therefore also be a possibility. There is a wide range of views among traditional sources about which tribe the stone refers to. Ruby is the most commonly named precious stone in English translations of the Bible; an example being Proverbs 31: 'A virtuous wife is worth more than rubies.' The underlying Maso-retic text doesn't necessarily refer to rubies, however. Not only are there issues such as that mentioned with odem, but in the case of Prov-erbs 31, the Masoretic text merely states jew-els, and the Septuagint makes Proverbs 31 re-fer to precious stones (estin lithon ); some Eng-lish versions of the bible believe that pearls is a better translation here. The famous lighted 'Red Stars' mounted above Kremlin spires, thought to be giant rubies mined in Siberia, are actually colored glass. Ruby is the birthstone associated with July and of the zodiac sign Leo. Ruby is associated with the Sun in vedic astrol-ogy. Ruby symbolizes passionate love. Although their names bear some similarity, rubies are not related to rubidium, and they don't contain this chemical element. Both names derive from the same Latin word, ruber, meaning red, in reference to the red color of

the ruby, and the red resonance line of rubidi-um vapor, respectively. There are many more interesting ruby facts and these are but some of them Synthetic and Imitation Rubies Synthetic or artificial rubies are not genuine rubies but are an actual creation, by artificial means, of a real gemstone so that the product is identical, chemically, physically and optically, with the one found in nature. The terms synthetic, laboratory-created, and man-made are all pretty well synonymous. Di-amonds, ruby, sapphires, opals, and emeralds that have been manufactured in labs and which possess very nearly identical chemical and physical characteristics to the genuine article are called synthetic corundums. Synthetic co-rundums, including ruby and sapphire, are very common and they cost only a fraction of the natural stones. Smaller synthetic diamonds have been manufactured in large quantities as industrial abrasives for many years. Only re-cently, larger synthetic diamonds of gemstone quality, especially of the colored variety, have been manufactured. Synthetic rubies have been made since the late 19th century. They have become more com-mon since the work of Auguste Verneuil and the introduction of the flame fusion process. Other processes in which synthetic rubies can be produced are through the Pulling process, flux process, and the hydrothermal process. Most synthetic rubies originate from flame fu-sion, due to the low costs involved. Synthetic rubies may have no imperfections visible to the naked eye but magnification may reveal curves striae and gas bubbles. The fewer the number and the less obvious the imperfections, the more valuable the ruby is; unless there are no imperfections (i.e., a 'perfect' ruby), in which case it will be suspected of being artificial. Do-


Price of Diamonds

pants are added to some manufactured rubies so they can be identified as synthetic, but most need gemmological testing to determine their origin. Imitation rubies have also been present in the gemstone market for some time. Red spinel, red garnet and even glass have been falsely named as rubies. Trade terms such as balas ruby for red spinel and rubellite for red tour-maline can mislead unsuspecting buyers. Such terms are discouraged from being used by most of the gemmological associations such as the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Any purchase of a ruby should be accompa-nied by a proper certificate that validates the stone as being a natural ruby, otherwise it is safe to assume it is a synthetic of imitation ruby. Ruby Charts Ruby charts are extremely useful when it comes to grading and rubies. Ruby Gemstone Grades Grade Description B Included, light pinkish red, good cut, good polish A Slightly included medium pinkish red, good cut, good polish A+ Eye clean, medium dark pinkish red, good cut, good polish AA Eye clean, medium dark pinkish red, brilliance, good cut, good polish AAA Eye clean, medium dark pinkish red to red, brilliance, excellent cut and polish The birthstones for the month of July are prin-cipally ruby but also onyx, carnelian, sapphire and diamond. Modern - Ruby Traditional - Ruby Mystical - Ruby

Ayurvedic - Ruby Hebrew - Onyx Roman - Onyx Arabic - Carnelian Hindu - Sapphire Polish - Ruby Russian - Ruby, Sardonyx Italian - Onyx Zodiac (Leo) - Onyx Talismanic (Leo) - Diamond Selling Rubies Rubies is probably one of the better stones to sell. There is always a demand and you can get a reasonable price for a ruby which you may not for other gemstones or a diamond even. The best place to sell a ruby is of course pri-vately or through an auction. If you sell to a dealer you will not get a good price as the dealer will also want to on sell the stone and make his money and often they do not sell re-tail but to another dealer who may then sell retail. If you have an antique ruby then you could get an even better price for it due to its antique-ness and the fact that the quality of the ruby could also be very good and will be, more than likely genuine. If you think you have a top quality ruby, such as a deep red, then it is a prudent idea to get the ruby valued by an independent gemologi-cal laboratory and the quality details issued on a certificate. This certificate can then be presented with the ruby and command the top price for that par-ticular quality ruby. Selling by auction is one of the best ways to sell a ruby. Do ensure that you set a reserve price of course. One of the aspects of selling


Price of Diamonds

by auction that people overlook is the fact that your buyer or the person who wants the ruby most may not even be looking at the auction at the time your ruby is being offered. You might even need to list it several times, especially if it is an expensive one. The more expensive the ruby the longer it may take to sell as the less people would be in the market for it. eBay and Bidz.com are the two most popular auction houses that come to mind but if your ruby is a large 'rock' then you might even con-sider Sotheby's or Christies auction houses. One would then auction with other gems at a 'gem' auction and would more likely find a buyer. In this case a proper evaluation is very im-portant. No buyer is going to buy a large ruby without it. Keeping the above in mind will go a long way to ensuring that you get a satisfactory price for your ruby. Auctions are often the best places to sell rubies. Especially the larger and more ex-pensive ones. The ruby with the deepest color is termed a pigeon blood red ruby, experts say. Still, some rubies are an orange color, and may have some yellow spots. Most rubies have some inclu-sions. If you find one that is flawless, it may have been treated with polish or a cleaning so-lution, which may decrease its value.

Be sure to ask your jeweler, before you pur-chase a flawless ruby. Large rubies and those with fancy cuts are also significantly more ex-pensive than less elaborate ones. If you know all about rubies, you are more likely to make a wise and informed decision about what ruby to buy. Ruby jewelery is often paired with diamonds to create a dressier look. Ruby pieces featuring diamonds are generally more expensive than those without. However, you can buy diamond and ruby rings, though they are harder to find. Prices of sterling and ruby pieces are usually lower than rubies without diamonds. You can sometimes find ruby jewelery on sale at a discount retailer. Prices at such stores are usually much lower than those at standard, commercial retailers. A price comparison to the retail value is usually listed at bulk retail-ers, so you know how much you save. All About Rubies So, there you have it. A comprehensive guide to rubies. Hopefully this will enable you to have a greater understanding of rubies and how to buy and sell them.

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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.


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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.


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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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