Have you ever wondered where your diamonds come from? Has the rock on your finger or the diamond on your necklace always been a sparkling treasure, or does it start out as something else?

As jewelers, it is our job to not only make sure that the diamonds we sell are top quality and are handled in safe and conflict free conditions, but to understand the process by which our diamonds become beautiful pieces of jewelry. We recently sent our Director of Merchandising all the way to the factory in India where our diamonds are refined. There, she diligently documented the process so we could share how that little rock really gets its sparkle.

Natural diamonds are formed in high temperature and pressure conditions beneath the earth’s surface and are mined from the ground. However, they do not come straight from the earth sparkling like the diamonds we are used to. In fact, if you saw a diamond in its natural form, you probably wouldn’t even know it was a diamond! Natural diamonds arrive at the factory in their rough form, and the process begins from there.

The raw diamond first gets scanned into a computer program that creates a 3D model of the diamond. The inclusions are also photographed and included in the 3D model so that the program can analyze the diamond and decide on the optimal way to cut the stone.  As you can see in the picture, multiple diamonds can be cut from one stone, and different parts of the stone will provide different quality diamonds.

A report is then printed out for that stone, showing how the diamond should be cut and what quality it will be. This report is then given to a diamond cutter, who will cut each diamond to match the dimensions given to them on the report. The act of cutting the diamond is called bruting. During the bruting process, two diamonds are set onto spinning axels that turn in opposite directions. They are then set to grind against each other to give the diamonds a round shape. From there, facets are cut into the diamond, and the diamond is polished. At this point, the diamond should have its sparkling qualities.

The diamonds are then separated for use in all different types of jewelry. Some are sent to a series of machines to be placed in diamond rings, while others are sorted into pairs for earrings. Each diamond's journey is different.

A diamond goes from a rough rock buried deep beneath the earth's surface to a timeless treasure sparkling on your finger. The journey of a diamond helps us appreciate just how special each diamond is!