They say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend but because the April birthstone is primitively made of real diamonds that symbolise purity, eternal love, and faith – it’s everyone’s best friend in our eyes. Diamonds are the ultimate birthstone because it carries much strength and is also the hardest element that can be found in nature.
Here, we hear from the Gulf Institute of Gemology’s Laboratory Director, Lisa Greggio and CEO, Fabio D’Amico, who not only share fun facts about this month’s birthstone but as well, share stories that have involved diamonds…
1. One day, a smart man dressed in a very British-European style came to GIG Gemological laboratory and brought in a fancy blue coloured diamond, asking to check the origin of its colour – whether natural or treated (induced by man). It’s a really important topic nowadays because treatments can dramatically affect the value of the diamond. We started our analysis, but that time was not so difficult: the diamond had a laser inscription on its girdle: “colour induced by treatment!” So… sometimes a simple look and read is enough.
2. A few days ago, before the COVID crises, a man came to GIG Gemological laboratory to analyse a stone. When we asked him to give us the stone in order to fill the check-in form, he took off his shoe and pulled a parcel paper out of his sock with a 9 ct diamond inside. Surely this could be a safe place to carry diamonds around (although not very hygienic), but how was he able to walk to the laboratory??
3. A very close customer of GIG Gemological laboratory brought to the lab a big colourless stone, a marquise cut of about 10,00 ct. Mr. D. (let’s call him that for now) said he bought it as synthetic moissanite (a quite high-value simulant of the diamond) for a very small amount of money, and he just wanted to be sure that it was synthetic moissanite and not another kind of simulant. But when we analysed it, we found out it was not a simulant, but a fantastic natural, not treated and top quality diamond!! When we returned the stone to the Mr. D. he said: “I knew it wasn’t treated, I can say it by touching the stone.” But maybe his touch was not powerful enough to distinguish a diamond from a simulant.
4. Once in our GIG Gemological laboratory, a client brought an almost 8 ct, colourless, emerald-cut diamond. He was going to buy it and so he wanted to check its characteristics. It was really not easy to analyse it because it was treated to improve its colour, but after this, it was treated again to erase the traces of the first treatment – therefore, two times treated! It was hard to unmask it and we succeeded only thanks to a really good team of professionals and advanced instruments. At the end of the story, our client obviously didn’t buy that diamond saving a great loss of money. It’s always very satisfying to give a contribution to a story with a happy ending.
5. Do you know the Hope Diamond? It is one of the most famous (maybe the most famous) diamond in the world. It was a 112 ct dark greyish-blue diamond then cut in its present weight of 45.52 ct. Unfortunately, it is famous not only for its beauty but also for its not-so-good reputation– indeed it seems that everyone who owned it, did not have long life or had big problems. According to the history, it was stolen in 1688 from a statue of the Indian divinity Rama-Sitra causing his anger. Now it is in the Smithsonian museum in Washington. What would you do if someone gave it to you? Would you be brave enough to challenge fate to have it?
Now, discover the online marketplace for luxury pre-owned watches in the Middle East.
Photography: Maximilian Gower
