jewels
GEMSTONE SECRETS London Jewelers’ own Guy Spaulding takes us into the secret life of gemstones.
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hen it comes to fine jewelry, many people have a sense of the importance of cut, clarity, color and carat. But Guy Spaulding, who works on diamond and colored stone acquisition for London Jewelers and is a GIA graduate gemologist, likes to go far deeper. Here, he gives us just a peek at the complex task of finding and buying the best jewels in the world for London Jewelers, and shares some fun facts about a few of our favorite stones. Diamonds: At between 900 million and 3.7 billion years old, “diamonds are pretty much the oldest thing you’ll ever own.” Transferred to the earth’s surface by volcanic activity, most dissolve on the way up. “They’re very difficult to create. Maybe there’s too much heat or too little pressure.” “When I’m buying diamonds for London Jewelers, I’m sifting through billions of dollars worth of inventory seeking those few exceptional stones of greater value. It’s why there can be a large price difference for the same clarity and color stone from one to another. I reject over 99 percent of everything I see in order to offer our clients the absolute crème-de-la-crème.” But Spaulding also points out that 95 percent of all diamonds are industrial grade. “That top 5 percent is highly rated, so how can anything in that range truly be ‘bad’?” Fancy Color Diamonds: Color in diamonds comes from a variety of factors. Trapped elements refract light (“white diamonds are carbon, yellow have nitrogen”); blue diamonds are the result of a boron impurity; pink and red from a “plastic” deformation (“it’s a sliding of the carbon molecule. It’s not an impurity”); and green is caused by natural radioactivity in the pipes where the diamonds are found (“also not a chemical impurity”). The thing about colored diamonds is that they are influenced by the cut (particularly for blue and yellow diamonds) and their popularity can waver with fashion
(“This year’s fashionable color trend is ‘Radiant Orchid’”). They are also very, very rare. Pairing identically colored stones for a single piece of jewelry is difficult and part of what adds to their value. Sapphires: “The most desirable sapphires come from Myanmar,” says Spaulding. “What makes these stones particularly interesting are fine ‘needles’ of iron and titanium running through the stones, giving them a velvety appearance.” He says it’s also important to note that “99.9 percent of all sapphires are heated. I don’t consider it a bad enhancement; it’s what Mother Nature was already doing to that pocket of crystals. I always say we’re finishing the job.” Emeralds: There are a wide range of colors for minerals more formally classified as “beryl,” from red to gold to deep green (colorless beryl is called goshenite, blue gives you aquamarine). Emeralds get their color from trace amounts of chromium, and range from bluish or yellowish green to a pure deep green. Unlike diamonds which are singly refractive, beryl is doubly refractive, splitting the light bouncing around inside into two wavelengths (colors), meaning you get “a plethora of colors.” The classic and most desired source for emeralds is Colombia. They’re sought for their colors, but it’s a double-edged sword. Chromium tends to promote inclusions, so a very saturated, very clean stone is extremely rare; this is why emeralds can be so expensive. Spaulding points out that color (and stone) preference is “a very personal thing. While there are set-upon values and rarity and classifications, that might not be the color you want. By introducing unique colored gemstones to our customers, they get to see things that no one else has.” Experience the breathtaking collection of precious jewelled masterpieces London Jewelers has to offer. For more information on specific gemstones, visit any of our five locations.
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