Precious stones in general are rare and a perfect one is rarely ever found. Gems for the most part are at a safe stock. The public is beginning to realize and want to understand the finer qualities of precious stones. Year after year the public is demanding greater excellence in quality and cutting.
The number one quality of a diamond as a jewel is its brilliancy. For example put fifty rings of equal size in a tray, the most brilliant will always gain the most attention. The stones brilliancy attracts the eye of the buyer. Sometimes a stone will lack brilliancy due to impurity of color, imperfections, or poor cutting. Stones that lack brilliancy even if extremely valuable, will not demand much attention. On the other hand a stone that has fire and life will fascinate and demand attention.
After brilliancy comes color. The color which usually demands the highest price is a bluish white. The quality of color was long ago termed Old Mine. Right after bluish white tints, the next is the purest white. Pure white colors were coined River goods. These goods are notable for their purity of color. For some unknown reason, stones of wet diggings are superior in quality, to those of dry diggings. After these come crystals which are divided into crystals and top crystals. Many jewelers pride themselves on carrying nothing less than crystals. After crystals come silver capes, capes, and by-waters each less valuable and brilliant than the next. There are stones that are very rare and contain two or more colors, which become very apparent depending on the position of light.
Pink and violet diamonds come next in the order of rarity. Orange and canary yellow diamonds come next, and there is a growing demand for them. Fine brown colors are also gaining a surge in popularity. A fine brown stone is very hard to find, and as the demand keeps rising, so will the price.
Besides brilliancy and color, cutting and perfection weigh heavily pay large dividends when the value of a jewel is in question. Cutting is an essential step in jewelry game because so much depends on it. When a worker cuts a stone their main concerns are weight, color, and brilliancy. The diamond cutters of yesterday cut mostly to preserve weight and color. Recutting a stone is often times an arduous chore, one must be careful as to not cut out considerable weight or color.
For each stone there are certain angles and arrangement of facets suited to its refraction, which embody the light falling upon it, and best assist the light falling upon it, and best assist the natural power of the stone also to reflect and disperse rays of light. For stones to be cut to perfect proportions an expert cutter needs to be employed. It costs more cut a stone to exact proportions than to cut the proportions to the stone. Perfect proportions are a must for optimal brilliancy. A diamond face up, should show an even distribution of light.
Flaws that do not hurt the brilliancy of the stone are immaterial, but they do however hurt the price. Upon inspection even an inexpert can discover them. Carbon spots, cracks in the grain, imperfect crystallizations, and holes and the surface are all serious objections and reduce the value considerably. Slight grain marks, needle-point bubbles, or specks, do not weigh in as much as brilliancy and color.
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