Baubles

The Hawaiian Islands are famous for the beautiful black pearls found in their surrounding waters. When I travelled to Kauai last year for a work trip I wanted to do some shopping but I wasn’t sure what the island was known for. When a local told me about black pearls I was intrigued, I had never heard of a black pearl before. So, I went out shopping at some jewelry markets.

The first place I stopped in had just what I was looking for. The selection of black pearls was amazing. They came in sizes ranging from a tiny one the size of a pin head to another one the size of a man’s knuckle. I settled on a black pearl and diamond necklace. I couldn’t wait to get back to the mainland and show everyone my Hawaiian find.

The important criteria for diamonds involves four “c’s”:  clarity, color, carat, and cut.  Clarity is measured by the amount of internal defects, which are called inclusions.  Only about 20% of the diamonds produced are clear enough to become gemstones.  The other 80% are too flawed, and these diamonds are used for industrial purposes.  Carat is a measure of the mass weight of the diamond.  A carat is 200 milligrams.  Color in diamonds ranges from black, blue, pink, purple, green, violet, orange, yellow, brown, and a translucent white.  Yellow and brown are the most common.  To have color, the diamond has internal impurities, such as the most common, nitrogen.  Black diamonds have little bits of carbon.  Low saturation yellow and brown diamonds are in the normal color range, with a scale from D to Z, colorless to light yellow.   A blue diamond recently sold for $8 million.  The blue color was a result of boron impurities.  Cut does not apply to the shape of diamonds, but to the cutting   There are formulas devised for diamond cutters to get the most brilliance from each stone.  Modern round brilliant diamonds have 57 facets (polished faces); 33 are on the crown–the top half–and 24 are on the pavilion–the  bottom half.  Our diamond stud earrings get all A’s for the 4 C’s!