 | 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
2003-02-01 12:11:00
Tell me about diamonds
ANSWER: (see Jan. ‘03 issue for first part of this answer)Where does the expense of a diamond come from?Rarity - In a good diamond mine you move 40 to 100 tons of dirt to recover one caret of diamond. That is not a one-caret diamond, that is one caret of diamond. Most of the stones are small. In fact out of a million stones recovered only one will be of a caret or larger. I'll let you do the math. Quality - To truly show the beauty of what a diamond can be, you do not want anything to stop light from passing through the stone and reflecting back to reach your eye. Internally, flawless diamonds without any body color are virtually non-existent, and the more rare of course... the more expensive.Transfer of labor - When you mine for diamonds you are either mining the extinct shaft of a volcano, the river where the volcano has washed away to where the river used to be, or the ocean that the river has flowed into. Keep in mind, much of the expense in recovering these rare stones comes from bringing up forty to a hundred tons of dirt... some as deep as 7000 feet down in the earth. In the cutting process you lose approximately one half of the stone into dust which doubles the cost. Then you have to include the labor in cutting the hardest substance known to man. Just sawing off the top of the crystal takes approximately eight hours, with a diamond impregnated saw, turning at 3000 revolutions per minute. Next you have to grind and polish each of the 58 facets of the stone to exacting proportions to glean the beauty that a fashioned finished diamond can possess. As you can see, the cost is not artificial... it is merely a transfer of labor and expense of equipment. Where do you find diamonds - Diamonds were first found in India, then later in South Africa, then in Brazil. Today diamonds are found all over the Earth. There are new finds in Colorado and Canada. In fact, if you like... you can take your shovel to just south and west of Murfreesbouro, Arkansas at Arkansas Crater Park, pay the state about ten dollars, and "mine diamonds" in an actual diamond mine all day long. There was a three caret ‘flawless’ diamond found there eight years ago and a 7.28 caret yellow diamond found just recently. It is good to note before you pack that shovel and head off, that this is virtually a non productive diamond mine, and... as stated previously... in a good diamond mine you still have to move 40 to 100 tons of dirt for every caret of recovered diamond. There is also a commercially-producing mine just west of Fort Collins Colorado; and a fifty million dollar, pilot, feasibility mine which is being conducted under a lake in northern Canada. Most people think that all diamonds come from South Africa. This is false. The largest source of diamonds today is Australia. The second largest is Zaire. The third is the Soviet Union, and the fourth is South Africa. Only fifteen percent of the worlds diamonds come from South Africa and only three percent of the cut stones coming into this country come from South Africa.Size - What is a caret? In the early days of diamond mining there was a plant in Africa that produced a bean, that regardless of the weather conditions, came out about the same size every year. It was called a Caret plant. Diamonds were weighed in so many beans of weight. They then broke down carets into hundredths and came up with so many points which is simply hundredths of a caret. Today they use extremely accurate electronic scales that will weigh down to the nearest one thousandth of a caret for the most valuable diamonds. So what's the size range of stones ever found? Diamonds have been found from the size of microscopic grinding powder, to the largest stone ever found in 1905. It was called the ‘Cullinan Diamond’ and presented to the Monarch of England as a thank you and tribute by the South African government. It was 3,107 carets, about the size of a grown man’s fist. The story goes that at the end of the day, one of the mine supervisors was leaving the mine when he noticed the tip of the stone protruding from the shaft of the mine. He pried it out of the wall with his pocket knife, and thinking someone was playing a joke on him, took it home with him that night so as not to be laughed at. After looking at it that evening he realized that it was probably a real and very large diamond. He took it to the company gemologist the next day and was awarded $1,000 which was equivalent to three years wages. The numbers have changed but one thing has not... diamond miners in South Africa are still among the highest paid workers on that continent.Color - Diamonds occur naturally and unnaturally in all colors. The most rare is Red. About ten years ago a 98 point red diamond was auctioned at Sotheby's for $980,000. 98 points is just about caret. You can count the naturally-occurring, red diamonds in existence on both hands and still have fingers left.Ownership - Today you do not have to be a king or potentate to own a diamond. The feeling of owning a diamond is something that is hard to explain. A diamond represents the allure of the mysteries of time; the many thousand of miles it has traveled to get to you; the toil and precision it has taken to mine and fashion each facet into its finished shape; the beauty it gives to your eye; the hardness; and the thought that it will last for ever... even after you are gone. Perhaps the greatest thing a diamond represents is the emotion of the person that sacrificed to purchase it and give it to you. Each time you look at your diamond, it should remind you of these many things... and others... hopefully all good.
