Everything that glitters isn't gold. In this case, it's also diamonds, a sea of diamonds under display cases highlighting their brilliance and qualitybrilliance and quality. For these are Canadian diamonds, among the best diamonds in the world.
Says who? Says Courtney Adrien Keenan, diamond cutter and one of only two instructors in Canada.
Keenan, originally from Blackville, was in Moncton this week at the behest of La Mine d'Or jewellers for a premiere gala party to promote not only the diamond industry but Canadian certified diamonds, judged among the best quality in the world.
Also in Moncton for the event, aptly named "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" was a Marilyn Monroe look-alike who wore $120,000 in jewelry for the occasion, compliments of La Mine d'Or.
This week's event drew scores of people, from dignitaries to the curious.
The Canadian diamond industry has grown over the past 15 years from a single diamond find in the Northwest Territories to the third largest in the world. The diamond rush in those first few years rivalled every gold rush in North America, said Keenan, who also took advantage of the trip to do a little bit of recruiting. The industry has only a few hundred cutters cutting a small fraction of Canadian stones. More cutters are needed to help the industry grow even more, he explained. It's can be an interesting and challenging career for those willing to give it a try.
Keenan admits he never thought in his wildest dreams that he would some day find himself in Yellowknife teaching and cutting diamonds. Nor could his friends he grew up with or his parents who watched him head off for university.
It's just not something that's mentioned in New Brunswick, but it's a way of life in Yellowknife. Everything there is named Diamond this, and Diamond that, he laughed.
The 27-year-old graduated from Dalhousie University with a degree in biology and math and, looking for a bit of adventure, took up the invitation from an aunt to visit her in Rae-Edzo, a community not far from Yellowknife. It was there, after a stint as a teacher's aid, he walked into a career fair and struck up a conversation with people in the diamond industry.
He moved to Yellowknife and enrolled in the Aurora College's diamond cutting course, then a 16-week (now 22-week) intense course "with factory hours," he said. He also met his mentor, Mike Botha of South Africa, the other Canadian diamond cutter/instructor.
Realizing he had a natural skill for the work, he began branching off into specialty cuts or fancy shape specialist cutting princess, oval and marquis shaped diamonds. He worked for two years with Polar Bear and Sirius Diamonds before accepting a teaching position at Aurora College.
Students work with real diamonds but not the expensive kind that dot the finger, hang from the ear or grace the neckline. Not everyone will make the grade.
The Canadian industry works mainly with large stones, the ones that can command considerable value, rather than tiny stones which cost too much at Canadian wages to process. These are shipped to other countries where stone cutters are plentiful and wages lower, he said. That's the economic reality in this industry, he added.
The end results are diamonds many of which fit in the "triple excellence" category meaning they are the "most perfect they can be" after cut and polished.
Cutting a large "rough" stone still involves lots of study but modern technology has provided the 3-D simulator on which cutters can slice away to their heart's content searching for the right combination without harming the real stone.
A large stone may not sell well, but several smaller perfect diamonds cut from the original stone will, he said.
Diamonds are the hardest substance in the world and can only be "cut" or, more accurately, grinded on a steel wheel covered in diamond dust. It's so hard and unyielding that it can shatter or chip if the cut is off or too much strain is applied, he said.
"I really have found my niche," he said last night moments before sitting at his bench and demonstrating the age-old tradition of diamond cutting.
Diamonds "express the beauty of nature and the craftsmanship of man," he said. It's the natural beauty of the stone and the amount of work that went into enhancing that beauty that appeals to him.
Stones are grinded into many facets that help produce the brilliance. The small stone he was working on was to contain 57 facets when finished.
The round cut is by far the most popular for diamonds, he added.
It takes about two-and-a-half hours at the cutting wheel to shape a diamond, depending on the size and position of the facets.
Megan Diamond Ideals
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While you probably won't ever see diamonds pitted against each other in competitions of speed and strength like Formula One racecars, this innovative idea of diamond performance does add an interesting and new scientific twist to the decades old art of grading and choosing diamonds.
“A diamond's performance is directly related to the quantity and quality of light being returned to the viewer,” said Peter Yantzer, executive director of AGS Laboratories, a leading diamond grading lab. “A high-performing diamond is alive with brilliance, fire and sparkle.”
The new system of performance-based grading is due to advancements in optical science, which has enabled gemologists and graders to better understand how the human eye and brain perceive light.
Using three-dimensional imaging and computer programs, gemologists can trace the light rays traveling through a diamond for a more detailed analysis of light propagation, including light that is scattered or partially reflected. Most major diamond grading labs are incorporating aspects of this new technology into their current systems of grading stones. [Well, AGS and more recently GIA are incororating this into their diamond grading reports]
Some key terms your jeweler may discuss when talking about a diamond's performance are: • Brightness - the amount of white light returned to the observer • Dispersion (or Fire) -the separation of white light into colors by refraction • Leakage - amount of light escaping (leaking) through the bottom half of a diamond • Contrast - occurs when the observer's head or surrounding environment obscures or affects the diamond's performance
While beauty is ultimately in the eye of the beholder, performance-based grading provides diamond buyers with an additional characteristic to determine the value of a diamond at the time of purchase.
Diamond experts also advise taking the diamond for to test drive by trying it on and looking at it in natural light. Light will reflect differently on various skin tones and in different light settings. Look for the diamond that performs the best in a variety of environments and lighting.
“When buying a diamond, you want the stone to glow with light,” said Yantzer. “The sun's rays should make it sparkle and flash color. It will be as if you are holding a small sphere of brilliant light in your hand.”
So, will your sweetheart's diamond outshine the holiday lights?
Founded in 1996, American Gemological Society Laboratories is one of the world's most prestigious diamond grading labs. Based on the American Gemological Society's strict standards of professionalism and ethics, AGS Laboratories focuses on consumer protection. The lab provides clear, accurate and detailed information about diamonds through AGS Laboratories' Diamond Documents.
Megan DiamondIdeals
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