Historically, jewellery has served many purposes and used many materials. Bone and tusk have been used for hair pins and rings; shell and stone used for necklaces and brooches. Jewellery has served as a marker or status of belonging to a wealthy family or tribe and has been a way of wearing and signifying wealth. More recently, jewellery has taken on a purely decorative role, although having authentic gemstone jewellery is seen as a sign of taste and wealth and is still a highly desirable item in modern society.
Of all the gemstones, the diamond is the stone that commands the most respect for authenticity. Sporting a fake sparkler is perceived as a faux pas of both style and status, and is quite frankly unnecessary. These desirable gems come in so many sizes and in so many qualities that the majority of people are able to save up and splash on an authentic stone set in a necklace, pendant or ring. The lower grades of diamond are barely discernable from top quality grades in the smaller end of the carat scale. The only people that would really be able to tell are trained jewellers with their right equipment.
Sometimes owning a diamond is for investment purposes, in which case the quality of the diamond is of utmost importance. Wearing valuable jewellery has often been a way of carrying the wealth that you own with you, making it less like that it will be stolen. This has been seen for centuries in Celtic and Romany communities and culture. In The United States of America, the fashion for what has been dubbed 'bling', a type of overly flash and ostentatious jewellery, is based on a cultural tradition of carrying your wealth with you. In times of hardship, using precious metals and gemstones is a form of currency, and ultimately has desirability linked to the object unlike the transient and variable tokens of paper money.
The California fever is not likely to take us off.... There is neither romance nor glory in digging for gold after the manner of the pictures in the geography of diamond washing in Brazil.
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
Buying a piece of diamond jewellery need not be a mission to invest in a rock that you carry about wherever you go, it should be a purchase of something you desire and enjoy. If you really do want to buy a sizeable diamond that you feel will have investment potential then consider getting it set into a pendant. Reasonably speaking, the largest size diamond that can comfortably sit on a ring is five carats, whereas having one or more diamonds set into a pendant or necklace allows for a larger investment, with potentially greater returns.
Unlike precious metals, there is no set rate for the value of a diamond according to weight. The value of a good quality stone depends on its cut, colour and clarity as well as its carat. Imperfections of clouds, cracks and certain colours can reduce the value of a large carat considerably. The way it is cut is of most importance as the desirability of the materialistic object often outweighs the other factors. As long as it shines, it works.
There are many variations of cut that can be used on a pendant. A round brilliant cut often complements a solitaire, but some of lesser known 'fancy cuts' such as princess and radiant look wonderful set amongst a cluster of other stones, and even other types of gem. Pendants can also be made to have clusters of smaller diamonds put into a setting of any shape. This is less of an investment than acquiring large stones, but is a fantastic way of having a sparkling pendant that is a desirable as you want to make it. Owning a prized piece of jewellery is an investment in itself.
Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the diamond industry.
Find out more about diamond pendants and how to choose a diamond for investment at Diamond manufacturers.