Diamond Necklaces

A Little Something About Diamond Necklaces

Although diamonds come out of the ground looking like nothing so much as boring octagonal beads, once their dull rind is cut away, the true beauty of the diamond can literally shine forth. It's unnatural for humans to come across such a beautiful stones and then try not to adorn themselves with them. Since the necklace is probably the oldest form of jewelry in human history, you can be sure that as soon as someone found a way to stick diamonds onto existing necklaces, diamond necklaces were born.

The true beauty of diamonds was first discovered in India over two thousand years ago, and until A.D. 1725, when diamonds were discovered in Brazil, India was the only source. Meanwhile, clever jewelers had already learned the many uses of diamonds, and had discovered a variety of ways they could be incorporated into necklaces. Diamonds proved amenable for crafting into a wide range of gemstones and beads, resulting in the introduction of various pendants, chains, and beaded diamond necklaces.

Absolutely brilliant

Pendant diamond necklaces can take two basic forms: small stones and/or chips can be used to decorate a locket or other pendant made of a precious metal, or the diamond can act as the pendant itself. The latter option requires, unsurprisingly, a rather large diamond; generally, a pendant diamond must exceed a carat in weight. The chain supporting the pendant may consist of a "plain" precious metal, or it can have diamonds interwoven within the chain structure. Chain necklaces without pendants are a second form of diamond necklaces, though they are generally not as popular as their pendant siblings. Finally, diamonds can be formed into beads and drilled so that they can be strung directly onto a filament to form a beaded diamond necklace. Often, the diamonds used for these necklaces are low-grade crystals, uncut and in the same condition that they came out of the ground. But they're still diamonds!

Of course, there's no reason why two or all three diamond necklace styles can't be incorporated into one necklace. We've all seen the incredible diamond necklaces the wealthy wear in the visual media. Many of these necklaces include both pendant and diamond chain components, though the use of diamond beads appears to be less common.

What's your style?

Of course, when you're shopping for diamond necklaces you're interested in far more than just the necklace's general type. The diamonds (not to mention the items they accent) are of great significance. Until they learn to grow artificial diamonds economically, a day you can be sure the jewelers are dreading, you'll need to play close attention to the diamonds themselves, because the price you pay will depend on cut, color, and clarity as well as carat size. When it comes to cut, emerald-cut diamonds are the least expensive, though the reasons for this are not immediately obvious. The greater the clarity, the better. Most diamond purchasers prefer to go with white or blue-white diamonds, because of their intrinsic fire; however, exotically colored canary yellow, green, blue, purple, red, and black diamonds are highly sought-after, if only because they're vanishingly rare.