April’s birthstone is Diamond and as our name would suggest, diamonds are very important to us. There are so many aspects of the diamond’s journey that make it an extraordinarily beautiful and special gem stone. But the meaning behind a diamond doesn’t stop at its journey within the earth or to the sorting and trading centers or to the cutting wheels.
It continues after a diamond finds a home and is assigned the massive amount of meaning that comes along with the occasion for which it was given. It then takes on more meaning as it is handed down and becomes a family heirloom, it’s ever evolving and it’s completely unique to the owner.
I believe that Carl, our appraiser sums it up beautifully in the following paragraphs, enjoy;
Diamonds were made deep within the earth by compressing carbon under unfathomable amounts of heat and pressure. While forming, the carbon atoms lined up to produce the hardest known substance. Carbon also can form graphite, a very soft material used in pencils for writing about diamonds.
The crystals were violently carried to the surface in the shafts, or pipes, of volcanoes. When found, a rough diamond is a curious thing, a shiny pebble. It is when a master cutter polishes and facets it that everything changes; An explosion of light like fireworks in the night sky on the Fourth of July. This small thing has transformed into something our eyes can see but our minds struggle to understand. It has the brilliance of the sun and the twinkling of every star.
When we gaze upon a diamond, it is like listening to Beethoven or Louis Armstrong. It is Beauty, showing us something mysterious, something mystical. We are taken to a special place where time stops and the cosmos reveals itself to us, even for this quiet moment. Inside this shiny pebble a story awaits us.
Carl Weimer, AVS-GJV, GG
Independent Appraiser