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FAQ
Conflict-free diamonds
Canadian Diamonds
Carat Weight
Clarity
Colour
Cut
Conflict-Free Diamonds
Conflict-free diamonds are diamonds of certified origin which are
guaranteed not to be obtained through the use of violence, human rights
abuses, child labor, or environmental destruction. These diamonds are
individually tracked through their full chain of custody to ensure that
ethical practices are used in mining, cutting, and polishing.
Conflict diamonds are often described by the United Nations definition
as diamonds "that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions
opposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and
are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or
in contravention of the decisions of the UN Security Council". The U.N.
sponsored Kimberley Process addresses only this narrow definition of
conflict diamonds, i.e., they do not include governments or government
forces that trade in diamonds to finance their conflicts.
Conflict-free diamonds address more than the U.N. definition and are
free of all violence and human rights abuses, whether state-sanctioned
or directed against a government. In addition, conflict-free diamonds
are mined in an environmentally responsible fashion.
Conflict-free diamonds must be independently tracked from their country
and individual mine of origin. Almost all conflict-free diamonds today
originate in Canada, and are verifiable through an independent auditing
system, such as the Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct,
Canadamark, or the Government of
the Northwest Territories.
Bruinix Jewellers is committed to providing only the most ethical
products and only provides conflict-free diamonds.
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Canadian Diamonds
In
some of the more politically unstable central African and west African
countries, revolutionary groups have taken control of diamond mines,
using proceeds from diamond sales to finance their operations. Diamonds
sold through this process are known as conflict diamonds or
blood diamonds. In response to public concerns that their diamond
purchases were contributing to war and human rights abuses in central
Africa and west Africa, the United Nations, the diamond industry and
diamond-trading nations introduced the Kimberley Process in 2002, which
is aimed at ensuring that conflict diamonds do not become intermixed
with the diamonds not controlled by such rebel groups. The Kimberley
Process provides documentation and certification of diamond exports from
producing countries to ensure that the proceeds of sale are not being
used to fund criminal or revolutionary activities. Although
the Kimberley Process has been moderately successful in limiting the
number of conflict diamonds entering the market, conflict diamonds
smuggled to market continue to persist to some degree (approx. 2–3% of
diamonds traded today are possible conflict diamonds). According to the
2006 book The Heartless Stone, two major flaws still hinder the
effectiveness of the Kimberley Process: the relative ease of smuggling
diamonds across African borders and giving phony histories, and the
violent nature of diamond mining in nations which are not in a technical
state of war and whose diamonds are therefore considered "clean."
The
Canadian Government has setup a body known as Canadian Diamond Code of
Conduct: to help authenticate Canadian Diamonds. This is a very
stringent tracking system of diamonds and helps protect the 'conflict
free' label of Canadian diamonds.
Bruinix Jewellers is committed to using Canadian diamonds and does not
provide any diamonds that are potentially derived from conflict zones.
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Carat Weight
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The weight of a diamond is measured in
carats. One carat is divided into 100 "points" so that a
diamond of 25 points is described as a quarter of a carat or
0.25 carats.
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The larger the diamond (and therefore the
rarer) the more expensive per carat it will be. For example,
a 1ct diamond costs much more than two 1/2ct diamonds and
one 30 point diamond costs much more than 30 one point
diamonds.
Do not confuse carat with karat. Carat refers to stone
weight while karat refers to fineness of gold. |
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Clarity
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Diamonds
that are absolutely clear are the most sought-after and
therefore the most expensive. But many diamonds have inclusions
— scratches, trace minerals or other tiny characteristics that
can detract from the pure beauty of the diamond. The GIA and
AGSL use a detailed system of rules and standards to summarize
the number, location, size, and type of inclusions present in a
diamond.
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FL, IF |
Flawless, Internally Flawless:
No internal or external flaws. Internally Flawless: No
internal flaws. Very rare and beautiful diamonds. |
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VVS1,
VVS2 |
Very, Very Slightly Included:
Very difficult to see inclusions under 10x
magnification. An excellent quality diamond. |
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VS1,
VS2 |
Very Slightly Included:
Inclusions are difficult to the unaided eye. Less
expensive than the VVS1 or VVS2 grades. |
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SI1,
SI2 |
Slightly Included:
Inclusions are visible under 10x magnification. A good
diamond value. |
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I1, I2, I3 |
Included:
Inclusions are visible to the unaided eye. |
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At
Bruinix Jewellers, you'll find only the finest diamonds with color
graded D-J. Diamonds graded J or better are colorless or
near-colorless — their color is typically undetectable to the unaided
eye.
The color in diamonds graded K-Z detracts from the beauty of a
diamond. It's especially noticeable set in platinum or white gold.
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D |
Absolutely
colorless.
The highest color grade, which is extremely rare. |
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E |
Colorless.
Only minute traces of color can be detected by an expert
gemologist. A rare diamond. |
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F |
Colorless.
Slight color detected by an expert gemologist, but still
considered a "colorless" grade. A high-quality diamond. |
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G-H |
Near-colorless.
Color noticeable when compared to diamonds of better grades, but
these grades offer excellent value. |
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I-J |
Near-colorless.
Color slightly detectable. An excellent value. |
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K-M |
Noticeable
color.
Color Detectable by the unaided eye. |
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N-Z |
Noticeable
color.
Color detectable by the unaided eye. |
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Cut
While nature determines a diamond's colour, clarity, and carat weight,
the hand of a master craftsman is needed to release its fire and beauty.
The cut gives each diamond its unique sparkle and brilliance by allowing
the maximum amount of light to enter and reflect back out of the
diamond.
The Carat measurement of a diamond is actually a measurement of the
Diamond's weight rather than its size or diameter. This is important to
remember as depending upon the proportions of the Cut of the diamond,
some diamonds may appear to have a larger top surface area ("table")
than an ideal cut diamond but the diamonds may be of the same carat
weight. Diamond are sometimes cut in shallow proportions (see below) to
make a diamond look bigger but this sacrifices the brilliance and life
of the diamond. See the information about Cut below for further details.
Diamonds may be cut in different shapes with the most common shapes
being round (brilliant cut) and what are referred to as fancy cut
diamonds including marquise, oval, pear shape, baguette and princess (square)cuts
and many more styles emerge onto the market everyday.
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Brilliant Cut |
Oval |
Pear |
Marquise |
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