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What causes the sparkle in these
‘sparklers’?
A diamond glinting in light caught at the right angle gives
the eyes a gleaming sight of myriad colored sparkles arising
from the stone. And it is this quality that has earned it its
nickname of ‘sparklers’. Legend has it that a temple gate had to
be permanently barred with a wall, as the sparkle from the
diamond nose ring of the presiding deity was so bright that
ships mistook it for the lighthouse and often met with mishaps! |
Pure carbon in diamond is compressed into a
tight isometric crystalline form. Diamonds that are properly cut
have a high index of refraction. The light that enters a diamond
gets refracted and disperses while leaving it. This is what causes
the sparkle we see.
‘Cutting’ a diamond
Diamonds cannot be used for ornamental
purposes in their natural state. They need to go through a process
called ‘cutting’. The process referred to as cutting includes
sawing, cleaving, cutting and polishing a stone to remove its
imperfections. Imperfections manifest themselves in the form of
cracks or cloudiness. And after the ‘cutting’, the stone glows and
sparkles. Fine skills and an experienced eye are needed for cutting
diamonds, as one wrong move can impair the beauty of a stone
affecting the way it sparkles.
Factors that
determine its value
Diamonds are weighed in ‘carats’ and
points. One carat is equal to 0.2 grams and one point is equal to
0.01 carat. When a cut diamond is valued, the main factors taken
into consideration are – the color of the stone, the shape and
proportion of the stone, its weight and the presence of any
blemishes or flaws. A single stone that weighs say 3 carats would
be considered more valuable than three stones weighing a carat each.
Proportions of a finished diamond need to be just right to produce
the best result.
The famous ones
Cullinan from South Africa weighing
3106 carats – this stone was cut to produce 105 magnificent gems in
all! The largest of these was a drop shaped beauty weighing 530
carats. The Vargas diamonds weighing 726.6 carats was cut to yield
29 stones. The Jonker diamond weighing 737 carats was cut to yield
twelve sparkling stones. The Lesotho diamond weighed 601 carats.
Perhaps the most famous of them all is the Great Mughal diamond of
which only descriptions have been found, though not the real one.
The Kohinoor diamond, now part of the British crown jewels, is
believed to be a part of this missing jewel. |
