Be Careful of Where You Get Your Diamonds From

A jeweler from San Jose, California was arrested and charged for grand theft for passing off and selling cubic zirconium as real diamonds.

The jeweler, Gerald Mokma, sold more than $240,000 in fake jewelry to at least 20 people over a five year period out of his store Willow Estates Jewelry.

Investigations began to take place back in February when a local NBC station broadcasted a story concerning customers who suspected that they had been panhandled, finding out that, all along, they had been buying cubic zirconium instead of real diamonds.

Although no one had filed a report, detectives served search warrants at Mokma’s residence where the evidence they found suggested that there were additional victims.

A Chandelier Made From Diamonds?

It’s about that time again!

The Emmy’s are coming up and this year the theme is diamonds! So to celebrate this idea, interior designer Mark Boone has designed a three-tiered chandelier that is made of more than 3,000 diamonds! This amounts to over 1,000 carats and is only located in a room that is accessible to Emmy nominees and presenters.

Only the celebrities will be able to touch and feel the diamonds with white gloves provided by Hearts On Fire. As a matter of fact, the chandelier itself is named, “Hearts On Fire Diamond Chandelier.”

After the award program the chandelier will be up for sale.

Just When You Thought Engagement Rings Cost Enough!

Prepare to save up! The total amount of engagement ring spending will be a little over $6 billion by the end of this year in the United States. You can add on another $2 billion for the wedding rings (both for bride and groom).

It’s expected for this $8 billion to reach over $9 billion by 2013. This is a growth of over 13% over the next five years. As we all know, the engagement rings and wedding rings have diamonds (being the main cause of why they are so darn expensive!) with more than two-thirds of the of them being white gold.

You better hope the person you plan on marrying is well worth it!

Diamond Butterflies

On Thursday, New York opened up a diamond exhibition in the shape of a butterfly at the American Museum of Natural History.

The exhibition, called “The Butterfly of Peace” weighs a little less than 170 carats and is made up of 240 diamonds. The diamonds have a range between .10 of a carat all the way to 2 carats. The diamonds themselves have been collected for over a 12 year period by diamond trader, Alan Bronstein.

The show will end on Sept. 11 and will make visit other museums in Toronto and Chicago.

Our Very Own Diamond Park

When one usually thinks of finding diamonds, one would usually think of the hard and long tedious hours of diamond mining. Little do most people know that we have our own diamond park here in the United States.

The Crater of Diamonds State Park (located near Murfreesboro in Pike County, Arkansas) is a state park that is situated over an eroded lamproite volcanic pipe. Because this park is open to the public and has a finders/keepers policy, it has become the main stomping ground for rockhounds.

It is widely known that park visitors find up to 600 diamonds each year. Over 25,000 diamonds have been found in the crater since it became a park. The latest visitor to find a valuable gem, Dennis Tyrrel, found a 4.42 carat diamond after 30 minutes of digging. Although the park officials weren’t qualified to evaluate the diamond’s worth, it is expected to be worth thousands.

So, here’s an excellent idea for the next vacation period you have: head on over to Crater of Diamonds State Park with a shovel in-hand. You may find a thing or two that may definitely be worth the digging.

Update: Honest Couple Find Exquisite Diamond Ring

The couple has been found!

After finding an engagement ring worth $40,000 in a Tyson’s Corner parking garage, Keith Stetzer decided to take the noble route and search for its original owner. He took the ring to Jonathan Mervis, of Mervis Diamond Center to help him with his search. After numerous false claims, they finally found the couple, Mark and Susan Brahms.

Although Mr. Brahms was present to claim the ring, his wife Susan was out of town but was notified by phone. The Brahms could not be reached for comment, however, they did give the Stetzer’s a reward. The reward was donated to charity.

More Uses for Diamonds

When you think of the word “diamond,” what is the first thing that comes to mind? Engagement proposals, weddings, jewelry maybe? As a matter of fact, most diamonds that are mined aren’t even used as jewelry. One that is not too familiar with the usage of diamonds would be very surprised at how they are used and what they are used for.

Diamonds are used in a variety cutting tool such as saws, and other grinding tools. It is the chemical and physical properties of this mineral that give it the superior cutting ability for tools such as these. They are also used for our computers as well. Items such as coatings for computer hard discs and computer microchips have diamonds in them as well.

Specialized applications of diamonds include use in laboratories as containment for high pressure experiments (see diamond anvil cell). Speaking of laboratories, they are also used in microscopes as well. They are also used in high-performance bearings and have limited use in specialized windows.

Diamonds are more versatile than the usual person would think. They are used in a variety of things that we use on a daily basis. Remember, they are around us more than we think and are not only used for jewelry.

Honest Couple Find Exquisite Diamond Ring

When Keith Stetzer went outside to take smoke a cigarette, he never imagined he would come back with a $40,000 diamond ring, but that is what happened.

As Stetzer was finishing his cigarette and putting it out, he noticed what he at first believed to be a fake ring. After picking it up and dusting it off though it became apparent that he had discovered something much more valuable than some costume jewelry.

Stetzer and his wife, Linda, took the ring to a jeweler to have it inspected. The jeweler cleaned it up and discovered that it was a 3.02 carat diamond ring that is valued at around $40,000. The ring also had “Mervis” engraved on the brand, which indicated that the ring was made by Mervis Diamond Center.

Working on as a construction worker, Stetzer and his wife could have used the money, but they realized that if they had lost it, they would want it returned, so they headed to Tysons, which is where Mervis Diamond Center is located. They returned the ring to Jonathan Mervis, who was very impressed by the honesty that the Stetzer’s portrayed.

The hunt is now on for the owners of the ring, which is at least 3 years old. While the Linda and Keith Stetzer might not be rich in possessions, they are rich in decency and honesty.

Why is a Diamond so Hard?

Diamonds have long been traditionally used as gifts and in jewelry. Their brilliance is unsurpassed and most are very beautiful. A diamond is also the hardest naturally occurring substance known to mankind, which is why they are frequently used in tools.

A diamond is made from carbon that has had extreme pressure applied to it. They are formed deep below the Earth over the course of billions of years and are often brought to the surface by a volcanic eruption.

Since a diamond is in essence an allotrope of carbon, you might think that carbon should be just as hard as a diamond, but this is not the case. The reason that a diamond is so much stronger than regular carbon is because the molecules in the diamond have been rearranged. Each atom of carbon in a diamond is the same distance from each other and is close enough that they can not move. This forms a very rigid network of bonds that help to make a diamond so strong.

Diamonds come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. They have long been used in traditional religious settings and used as jewelry.

Blood Diamonds

In December of 2006 a powerful film called Blood Diamond was released in the United States. It is a dramatic film that helped to expose the way that diamonds are often sold by warlords in Africa to help them fund their armies. Also called conflict diamonds, blood diamonds have helped to fund many of the atrocities that have occurred in Africa.

While a work of fiction, the movie brings up some very real concerns. Several multi-government committees have been formed to address this issue. Most diamond dealers now take efforts to ensure that their diamonds are not blood diamonds. They generally use what is referred to as the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, or KPCS for short.

KPCS is intended to ensure that only diamonds that are known to be from conflict free sources are purchased. Established in 2003, the KPCS is a preventative measure that helps make the buyer feel more comfortable that they are purchasing conflict free diamonds.

There are several requirements that a diamond must meet. Most of these requirements focus on the shipping of the diamond. Each shipment must be transported in a tamper resistant container and accompanied by a KPCS Certificate that has been validated by the originating country. The certificate must be designed in a manner that is not conducive to forgery, and it must be uniquely numbered and describe the exact contents of the shipment. When transporting this container, it is only allowed to be transported to other KPCS countries.

The KPCS has helped to reduce the flow of blood diamonds. In 2006 the KPCS monitored more than 480 million carats of rough diamonds that were valued at more than $35 Billion.