“Gomel MA “Kristall” is the largest and the only enterprise in the Republic of Belarus which is able to fulfill the complete cycle of diamond jewellery production, from the process of making polished diamonds to the process of making jewellery with diamonds. The enterprise has state-of-the-art production and technical machinery, its own program dedicated to professional training in the workplace and qualified labor resources.
For more than 40 years “Gomel MA “Kristall” has been successfully selling its products in domestic and international markets.
Gomel “Kristall” is the official client of the world’s largest diamond mining company “ALROSA”, which supplies high-quality rough diamonds mined in Yakutia.
Rough diamonds are turned into polished diamonds according to the standards developed for all the cutting industry of the USSR. “Gomel MA “Kristall” stood at the origins of the birth of the well-known “Russian cut” (ideal cut quality).
Gomel “Kristall” has its own testing laboratory carrying out quality control (certification) of precious stones. The laboratory is accredited in accordance with the criteria of the National Accreditation System of the Republic of Belarus.
HOW TO CHOOSE A DIAMOND
Carat Weight
The weight of diamonds and most other precious stones is measured in carats. One carat equals to 200 milligrams or 1/5 gram (1 carat = 0,2 grams). A carat is in turn divided into 100 parts. Diamonds are divided into three weight groups: up to 0,29 ct, from 0,30 to 0,99 ct and from 1 ct up. The cost of a diamond is calculated taking into account the price per carat, and it can be increased according to the belonging of a diamond to a particular weight group.
Colour
The colour tone of diamonds is quite wide, but the vast majority falls into the yellowish and yellow-brown shades. The Russian colours standard consists of 7 groups (for diamonds up to 0,29 ct) and 17 groups (for diamonds from 0,30 ct up). The shadier is the stone – the lower is its grade. A diamond which has no colour is a diamond of the first group.
Fancy coloured diamonds (blue, red, pink, and others) are very rarely found, and require an entirely different grading system – from Faint and Very Light to Fancy Deep and Fancy Vivid. The higher is the colour intensity of fancy diamonds – the higher is their value. Fancy coloured diamonds belong to the first colour group.In the world there are several standards assessing the colour and quality of diamonds. The leading laboratories for diamond grading are the following:
• GIA – Gemological Institute Of America, the USA;
• IGI – International Gemological Institute (the USA, Belgium, Canada, India, Japan);
• AGS – American Gemological Society, the USA;
• HRD – Hoge Raad Voor Diamant, Belgium;
• CIBJO – The World Jewellery Confederation, Switzerland.
Gomel “Kristall” has its own system for diamond grading. Developed from the Russian classification system, it matches and agrees to what dictated by the international standards and requirements for diamond’s classification.
Clarity
A diamond is a natural stone, and, as all things created by nature, a perfect diamond is rarely found. So do not look for the perfect diamond, and keep in mind that its value lies not only in the beauty but also in its rarity and uniqueness.
Diamonds, just like the majority of natural minerals, can have some inclusions and imperfections. Depending on their character, intensity and location, polished diamonds are categorized by clarity grades.
In the process of clarity grading, the experts look for and determine the quantity, size and location of the inclusions, their appearance (colourless, coloured, visibility, and dark), their shape (blisters, crystals, flaws) and type (dotted, diffused, large). The less inclusions a stone has – the more valuable it is.
However, one must bear in mind, that the presence of certain imperfections give us a very important and positive indication: the univocal proof of the natural origin of the stone. It is no secret that today, enormous amounts of synthetic diamonds are being produced, part of them get polished and used in the jewellery industry. The absence of imperfections is one of the warning signs that the diamond could have an artificial origin.
Moreover, a huge number of diamond treatment techniques have been developed and are actively used: colour enhancement, inclusion elimination, and fracture filling.
Gomel “Kristall” guarantees that all the polished diamonds it manufactures are neither synthetic, nor treated.
According to the standard used by Gomel “Kristall” for clarity grading, all the stones are divided into categories depending on the quality and quantity of inclusions. They are divided in 12 groups, where the 1st group is for internally flawless diamonds and the 12th one is for diamonds with obvious inclusions. As a matter of fact, one can spot inclusions without a microscope starting only with the 9th group. And before that, you need at least a tenfold increase under the microscope to define the imperfections of a stone.
Cutting and Polishing
The main parameters of a diamond are its geometric proportions (linear and angular), symmetry and polish. The proportions of a diamond greatly effect its splendour. In the process of cutting, a skilled cutter uses a mathematical formula to achieve the best proportions on which the splendor and appearance of a diamond depends. If all the proportions are strictly observed a diamond will be able to reflect almost all light that falls into it. Too high or too flat faceted diamonds will lose a significant part of their brightness and as a result their value is greatly reduced. A correct symmetry (the balance of size and location of its facets) gives a correct shape to the diamond. Polishing a perfectly faceted diamond eliminates surface defects such as scratches, natural sinks, giving it gloss and smoothness. The more surface is polished, the fewer obstacles the light meets on its way, causing the diamond to shine, giving us all the colours of the rainbow.
Shapes
Any diamond is a faceted rough diamond which has aesthetic geometric forms providing its particular shine and “play”.
The cut shape of a diamond is characterized by a specific contour form of the girdle (belt), the form of its facets, wedges and their mutual arrangement. The classical shape of the diamond is considered to be round with 57 facets. In addition to the most classic round shape, fancy shapes are also very popular: “Marquise”, “Princess”, “Oval”, “Pear”, “Emerald”, “Heart”, “Baguette”, each resembles its own beauty and make diamonds look great.
Cut Quality Grade
According to Gomel Kristall’s standard for diamond grading, the cut quality of a diamond can be graded as “A” and “B”. A stone whose cut quality fits neither of these groups is considered as not compliant with the standards for diamond grading.
All those diamond that while cutting have undergone some insignificant deviations fall in group “B”. These deviations are not visible with the naked eye and do not affect the basic quality of a diamond: the ability to admit and reflect the light that falls into it.
In most cases, the difference between the group “A” and “B” is not visually distinguished, and can be only identified under tenfold magnification by specialists.
