With the advent of high tech spectroscopic equipment, more and more testing is done on diamonds. One recent branch of diamond study is the notion of “type” of diamond. What is diamond type? Diamond type refers to the make-up of the diamond crystal; pure diamond is 100% carbon atoms, arranged in a very regular, repeating […]
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Sometimes we get asked by a customer if the stone that they found tucked at the bottom of their jewellery box is a real diamond or not. One very quick way to rule out many fakes is to try the newspaper test. Diamonds are highly dispersive, and have a high refractive index. This means that […]
Today, most diamonds are cut as round brilliant cuts. This is a circular, symmetrical cut, where every facet (apart from the top facet or “table”) is either a triangle or kite shape. However, for hundreds of years, the most common shape of diamond was a cushion cut. It can be considered the predecessor of today’s modern round […]
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May
We have just acquired this gold Claddagh Ring made by Richard Joyce of Galway circa 1700 which is about the time of the origin of the Irish Claddagh ring. Claddagh was a fishing village on the Western edge of Galway city in Ireland. Richard Joyce was very young when he embarked on a voyage to […]