 | Jerry Burnell has been a driving force in the jewelry industry of Kansas for the past 30 years. Jerry is a native of Wichita and a graduate of Wichita State University. He jokingly says that he had a degree in business, almost a masters in business, almost a degree in chemistry, with heavy studies in physics, math, and biology and he just quit college, that he figured that with 239 credit hours he should be able to make a living somewhere. Actually he was already deep into the motions of starting the most respected jewelry design team in this part of the country. Jerry is highly regarded and considered an expert in many fields, three of which are Precious gemstones, jewelry manufacture, and jewelry design. Jerry is presently president of The Kansas Jewelers Association and holds a position on the advisory board of Jewelers of America. You may contact Jerry at Burnell’s Jewelers, (316) 634-2822, or find Burnell’s Jewelers on the web at www.burnells.com |
Gold, Silver, Diamonds & Jewelry
2005-08-01 09:54:00
Why are diamonds so exclusive?
ANSWER: I get a lot of information to pass along to my readers from the internet. I think it is good to know these kinds of things: Of all the diamonds mined in the world each year, less than half are gem quality. The rest all fall into two other main categories known as near-gem quality, and industrial quality diamonds. Gem quality diamonds display a high standard of excellence in quality and are used in jewelry. The clarity of these diamonds range from flawless all the way through to visible inclusion stones. Near-gem quality diamonds represent those stones of a quality between gem and industrial. These, in fact, can be used as either, depending on the individual stone. These stones have clarity grades ranging from visible inclusions, all the way through to industrial stones. One quite often sees this quality used in highly "discounted" jewelry.Industrial quality diamonds are low quality or badly included stones, and are suitable only for industrial use. For example, they are used in dentist's drills, earthmoving equipment, and oil drilling equipment etc. Diamonds are mined, or recovered, by way of pipe or alluvial mining. Pipe mining refers to the extraction of diamonds from the actual volcanic pipes that bring the diamonds up from a depth of 75 to 225 miles under the earth's surface. Typically, a very large area has to be covered. An average of 40 to 240 tons of ore must be mined in order to produce a one-carat, gem quality, polished diamond. That's a lot of earthmoving!In most countries, a diamond pipe mine is composed of kimberlite, or blue ground. Kimberlite is the "dirt" form of the gemstone peridot. There cannot be any silicon dioxide or sand, as we generally think of, around when diamonds are forming because at the tremendously high temperatures that it takes to form diamonds, the oxygen in the silicon dioxide is so reactive, that one ends up with carbon dioxide and no diamonds. Initially kimberlite is dug from the surface of the volcanic pipes in rough opencast mining. Once the surface deposits have been exhausted, shafts are sunk into the ground at the edge of the pipes, and tunnels are driven into the deeper parts of the pipes. An older diamond mine can reach depths of greater than a mile down. After the diamond-bearing rock is brought to the surface, it is then transported to a screening plant where the diamonds are separated from the host rock. The alluvial mining process involves the extraction of diamonds from riverbeds or ocean beaches. Millions of years ago, at the time the diamond pipes were formed, some diamonds were weathered out of the pipes and carried great distances along rivers and even into oceans. In order to extract these diamonds from beaches, a wall is built to hold back the surf. Up to 25 meters of sand is bulldozed aside to reach the diamond-bearing level, and the mines go on for miles. Once reached, the diamond-bearing earth is removed and transported to screening plants. With this much work involved in just finding and recovering these diamonds, do you see why diamonds are indeed a girl's best friend? And why ladies love custom designed jewelry made just for them? More next time...
