The Best Blog
May’s Birthstone - EmeraldApril 30, 2010
Who first beholds the light of day
In Spring’s sweet, flower month of May
And wears an Emerald all her life
Shall be a loved and loving wife
It’s amazing how quickly time passes sometimes, it seems only a day ago i was writing about April’s birthstone and suddenly we’re in May which means it’s time to shed some light on May’s birthstone, the beautiful, ancient and traditional Emerald.
The name Emerald derives from the Greek smaragdos, which translates as “green stone”. Classed as a precious stone it’s part of the beryl family. It’s green is incomparable , and is therefore called “Emerald green”. Innumerable fantastic stories have grown up around this magnificent gem. The Incas and Aztecs of South America, where the best emeralds are still found today, regarded the emerald as a holy gemstone. However, probably the oldest known finds were once made near the Red Sea in Egypt. Having said that, these gemstone mines, already exploited by Egyptian pharaohs between 3000 and 1500 B.C. and later referred to as ‘Cleopatra’s Mines’, had already been exhausted by the time they were rediscovered in the early 19th century.
To see some of our emerald pieces please click here
The 4Cs
Earlier in the month we introduced you to April’s birth stone, the everlasting and timeless beauty of the diamond. We mentioned then that we would go into further detail about the all important crucial term the “4Cs”, so here we are.
Due to the value of diamonds it is essential to have a universal grading system in order to determine and compare their quality. Back in the 1940’s and 50’s the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) developed the 4Cs to do just this. So first up is…
Carat - A carat is divided into 100 points, so a 50 point diamond weighs 0.50ct. The weighing of diamonds is very specific, they are weighed to the hundred thousandths of a carat and then rounded to the nearest hundreth. The carat takes its name from the carob seed, because these small seeds had a fairly uniform weight, early gem traders used them as counterweights in their balance scales!
Colour - The industry measures diamonds in a letter scale ranging from D - Z, D being colourless and then increasing in colour to Z. Each letter grade is very specific in terms of its colour, and while many colour changes might not be visible to the untrained eye they can have a large impact on quality and price. There are no A, B or C grades simply because when this scale was implemented it did not want to be associated with other inaccurate grading systems around at the time.
Clarity - Because diamonds are formed deep beneath the earth, under extreme heat and pressure, they often contain unique birthmarks, either internal (inclusions) or external (blemishes), a diamonds clarity refers to the absence of both. Every diamond is unique and none are absolutely perfect although some, Flawless diamonds, come very close, these however are extremely rare. Please see our clarity information below…
Flawless (FL) - No inclusions or blemishes are visible to a skilled grader using 10× magnification
Internally Flawless (IF) - No inclusions and only blemishes are visible to a skilled grader using 10× magnification
Very, Very Slightly Included (VVS1 and VVS2) - Inclusions are difficult for a skilled grader to see under 10× magnification
Very Slightly Included (VS1 and VS2) - Inclusions are clearly visible under 10× magnification but can be characterized as minor
Slightly Included (SI1 and SI2) - Inclusions are noticeable to a skilled grader using 10× magnification
Included (I1, I2, and I3) - Inclusions are obvious under 10× magnification and may affect transparency and brilliance.
Cut - Last but by no means least is the cut of a diamond, the most popular round stone, the brilliant cut, contains 58 facets each precisely cut and defined - each are as small as 2 millimetres in diameter. Any cut has 3 major attributes, brilliance (the total light reflected from a diamond), fire (the dispersion of light into the colors of the spectrum), and scintillation (the flashes of light, or sparkle, when a diamond is moved).
While brilliant is the most popular cut there are many others including the marquise, pear, oval and emerald cuts. Hearts, cushions, trillions and a variety of others are also gaining popularity in diamond jewellery.
And there they are, the famous 4Cs. Predominately we use G-H colour vvs diamonds in our jewellery so hopefully this post has helped you appreciate the fantastic quality of the diamonds we use.
Sparkle Week Apr 26 - May 2ndApril 19, 2010
Sparkle Week is back, only here at Catherine Best!
For those of you who haven’t experienced Sparkle Week before then you are in for a treat. From Monday April 26th to Sunday May 2nd you can visit us here at Catherine Best anytime between 9am - 5:30pm to have up to 3 of your favourite pieces of jewellery professionally cleaned and polished while you enjoy a complimentary glass of champagne, all absolutely free!
Please feel free to drop in or book a private session on 01481 237771, we look forward to seeing you soon and helping you put the sparkle back into your most treasured pieces.
April birth stone - DiamondApril 6, 2010
She who from April dates her years,
diamonds shall wear,
lest bitter tears
For vain repentance flow
For those of you fortunate enough to be born during the month of April, diamonds are your birth stone.
Like many gemstones their name derives from Greek language and diamond is no different as it comes from the ancient Greek, adamas, meaning unbreakable. Diamonds were thought to have been first recognised in India at least 3000 years ago although some estimate 6000 years to be more likely.
The largest diamond ever found, The Cullinan, weighed 3,106ct’s in the rough and originally weighed just under one and a half pounds, a staggering weight. It was cut into 9 major stones and 96 smaller ones, one of which we now know as the Star of Africa. This was the largest stone cut from the Cullinan and is now among the British Crown Jewels weighing 530.20 carats with 74 facets making it the largest cut diamond in the world.
While we do not have anything quite as large as the Star of Africa we do have some truly breathtaking diamond pieces, all the diamonds we use are of an excellent standard and are predominately G-H colour vvs clarity. We’ll explain more about the 4 c’s - Carat, Colour, Clarity and Cut later in the month.
In the mean time please view some of our favourite diamond pieces here
Welcome
Hello and welcome to the Catherine Best blog. After more than 20 years in the jewellery business, I’m still very passionate about designing and thankfully, almost never seem to run out of new ideas. I particularly love working with rare, unusually coloured gemstones like Tourmaline or Tanzanite, which have stunning colour ranges that can take my breath away.
I’m often asked what my signature style is but that’s quite hard to say, as I design for each individual personality I meet, but I hope the jewels shine for themselves.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading more about what goes on at the Catherine Best studios.
