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symbol of eternal love. A tribute to the trials of life. A subject of countless legends and beliefs. An inspiration for many works of arts. A diamond can be any of these.

You might have heard the famous adage "diamonds are forever", but have you ever wondered what lies behind it?

First, the word diamond itself comes from the Greek word adamas, which means indestructible. Gemologically speaking, the diamond is a king among gemstones. The hardest of all substances, the diamond is remarkably resistant to scratching, except by another diamond, and retains its brilliant shine.

Do you know how old the newest diamonds on the planet are? They are an astonishing 900 million years old, so their longevity is the perfect symbol of a lifelong relationship.

"Diamonds are forever simply because they last so long and can be passed down from generation to generation," says Sumarni Paramita, consultant and gemologist at the Institute Gemology Paramita and Adamas Gemological Laboratory.

Unlike other immovable assets like land or shares, Sumarni adds, the diamond is something you can take anywhere with you, making it a great long-term investment that can be easily handed down.

And if you make it your investment, she adds, you can still wear it as your accessory.

"With all the plus sides *of owning a diamond*, no wonder it is still the best-loved *gemstone* of all," Sumarni says.

Much-loved gemstone aside, the diamond is actually more than just a beautiful jewel. Every diamond is unique; no two are alike. All of them, however, reflect the same story, from grueling journey from deep inside the earth to cherished objects of adornment.

Imagine this: The diamond is found in the most remote places on earth, and formed up to hundreds of miles under the earth's surface. It takes about one ton of rock to get less than half a carat of rough diamond. The way a diamond is formed is something of a miracle too. A diamond is formed under tremendous heat and pressure deep beneath the earth's crust, where carbon atoms are crystallized. And once the crystal structure has formed and hardened, it may take from thousands to billions of years for movement in the earth's mantle to bring the diamond to the surface, where it can be mined.

With such a long way to go, no wonder the diamond has become one of the rarest and most desired gemstones in the world.

Since the 1870s most of the world's gem-quality diamonds have been mined in Africa. The US Geological Survey in 2008 named Botswana, Russia and Canada as the top three diamond producers, contributing nearly 92 million carats to the total world production in that year.

From that total number, however, only ten percent goes to the jewelry industry, according to Sumarni. The remaining 90 percent contain flaws with regard to color, shape or size and have impurities that make them unsuitable for use as gems. Therefore, such diamonds are classed as industrial grade and used in manufacturing, like for drill bits or aircraft windows.

And, as if 10 percent isn't enough for diamond lovers, Sumarni says, "Not all diamonds of the 10 percent are of good quality".

"I can say only two to five percent *of the world's total diamond production* can make high-quality gems and that is why diamond gems are very rare."

With such rarity, it is no wonder that diamonds are very expensive and many people are interested in investing their money in them. This has led to the search for the perfect diamond. And in the search, although no diamond is alike, there are certain features that diamonds share so we can compare and evaluate them.

These features, as Sumarni explains, are called the 4Cs - Carat, Clarity, Color and Cut.

"The 4Cs are the key to a diamond's value and subsequent price," Sumarni says. "Should anyone be interested in buying a diamond, that person needs to thoroughly check these four things," she adds.

What are the 4Cs all about, what does they really mean? Let's begin with the first one: Carat.

Carat with a capital C, refers to diamond weight and size (don't mix this up with Karat with a K, as this refers to the quality of gold, where 24 Karat is 100 percent pure gold). The carat is the same weight in every corner of the world, where one carat equals 200 milligrams in weight. The majority of diamonds used in fine jewelry weigh one carat or less.

Carat weight is the most intuitive of the 4Cs, as Sumarni says, "you expect a larger diamond to be worth more than smaller one *when assigning diamond values*".

The second feature, clarity, on the other hand, refers to the presence of inclusions and blemishes in a diamond. A naturally occurring feature, an inclusion is like a unique birthmark within a diamond. Inclusions look like tiny crystals, clouds or feathers trapped in the diamond. Inclusions are ranked on a scale of perfection, known as clarity, which was established by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The clarity scale ranges from F (Flawless) to I3 (Included).

"The greater a diamond's clarity, the more brilliant, valuable and rare it is," Sumarni explains.

The next important key to assess the value of the diamond is color, which refers to what degree a diamond is colorless.

Colorless diamonds, Sumarni says, are extremely rare and very valuable, as most diamonds are nearly colorless with yellow or brown tints. "Therefore, the more colorless a diamond is, the more expensive it is."

The GIA Diamond Grading System uses letters to represent colors, beginning with D (colorless) and ending at Z (light yellow or brown). Many of these color distinctions are so subtle they are invisible to the untrained eye, but these slight color differences make a big difference in price.

Of course, you might ask, hasn't Nature also created diamonds with intense shades of blue, green, tallow, pink or - rarest of all - red?

True: These diamonds are called "fancy diamonds" and are highly treasured. In the case of these types of diamond, Sumarni says, "they are not included in the GIA Diamond Grading System, as they come under a different valuing system". Besides, to date the white diamond remains the most popular.

"People tend to choose a white diamond the first time they buy a diamond," Sumarni says. "It's only after buying several white diamonds that people would look for the fancy ones."

Fancy diamonds, Sumarni explains, include ones with various shapes, such as hearts, pears, and marquises. So to discuss this, we should first understand the last C - or cut.

Cut refers to the facets, angles and proportions of a diamond. Nature can determine so much about a diamond, but it takes a master cutter to reveal the stone's brilliance, sparkle, and flashes of fire (or the colorful "flares" emitted from a diamond). Traditionally, there are 58 tiny facets in a round-shaped diamond, each precisely cut and sharply defined.

"The better the cut is, the more expensive the diamond is," Sumarni says, adding that GIA provides a cut-quality grade for standard round brilliant diamonds that fall in the D-to-Z color range, which is from Excellent to Poor.

Now back to diamonds that are not cut into a round brilliant shape, or fancy diamonds. These fancy-cut diamonds include the baguette (from the French, meaning rod or loaf of bread), the marquise, the princess cut (a square outline), heart, briolette (a form of rose cut), and pear cuts. According to Sumarni, like the fancy-colored diamonds, these fancy-cut ones come under different kind of grading system.

So we now know the 4Cs, but how do we get detailed information about our diamond's value?

According to Sumarni, that would need another C, which is a certificate.

"A certificate explains the 4Cs of a diamond," she says. "It's your assurance of the value, quality, and authenticity of your diamond."

Most jewelers issued their own certificates, but it is safer to get a certificate from an independent, accredited gemological laboratory. In Indonesia, there is still only one independent laboratory: Adamas Gemological Laboratory.

"Using a certificate, you'll know exactly how your diamond is priced," Sumarni says. "From there, you'll be more confident doing transactions," she adds.

Be confident

How to buy diamonds

Like purchasing other gemstones and gold, buying a diamond should be done with care. Gemologist Sumarni Paramita of the Adamas Gemological Laboratory reveals that almost every day the lab finds instances of customers buying fake diamonds.
"There have been many cases where people had bought expensive diamonds but when they checked them in our laboratory, it turned out they were synthetic diamonds," Sumarni says.

To avoid buying a fake diamond, Sumarni gives the following guidelines:
Learn the 4Cs of diamond quality (carat, clarity, color and cut), the key to a diamond's value and subsequent price.
Make sure you get a diamond certificate from the jeweler. Never buy a diamond without a certificate.
If you are not satisfied with the jeweler's assessment, you can cross-check or consult an independent, accredited gemological laboratory.
You can bring your diamond for an assessment or to obtain a certificate to:
Adamas Gemological Laboratory at Apartemen Istana Harmoni Lt 1/2A,
Jl. Suryopranoto, Central Jakarta 10130, phone: 021-6305547or www.agl-igp.com
If you are interested in learning about diamonds and gemstones, check out the short courses at the Institute Gemology Paramita, located at the same address as Adamas Gemological Laboratory.

Diamond Care