Earth-Mined

Natural Diamonds

What Are Natural Diamonds?

Earth-Mined Diamonds are the only gem made of a single element. A Diamond is typically about 99.95 percent carbon. The other 0.05 percent can include one or more trace elements, which are atoms that are not part of the diamond's essential chemistry.

Diamonds are formed under high temperature and pressure, which are conditions that exist about 100 miles beneath the earth's surface. The Diamond's crystal structure is isometric, which means that the carbon atoms are bonded in essentially the same way in all directions.

Diamond Shapes

Choose Your Shape

Diamond Education

The 4 Cs

Color. Clarity. Cut. Carat Weight.

Cut

Cut determines how a natural diamond interacts with light. Shape, symmetry, and proportions determine how a diamond transmits light and sparkles. The cut of a natural diamond determines how it interacts with light. The Cut Grading System assesses a diamond's cosmetic appearance, including its brightness, fire, and scintillation, which make up the way a diamond reflects light, dispersing it into color, and sparkles.

Carat

Carat is the measurement of a natural diamond's weight. Every carat is 200 milligrams. A full carat diamond is becoming rarer by the day. The carat derives its name from the carob seed, a small, uniform seed with a commonly equal weight. These seeds were used to balance scales in early gem trading before the metric carat was created as the universal form of measurement.

Clarity

Clarity refers to a natural diamond's absence of inclusions. The extreme conditions by which diamonds form in the Earth can result in inclusions within the stone and external blemishes. Natural diamonds that form without any inclusions are extremely rare and deemed “flawless” on most grading scales. These rare diamonds are some of the most valuable in the world.

Color

Color Grade most often reveals a natural diamond's lack of hue. Excluding “fancy colors”, the closer a natural diamond is to “colorless”, the rarer and more generally valuable it is. Natural diamonds are graded on a color scale ranging from D (colorless) to Z (heavily tinted brown or yellow).