INVEST
An investment diamond is intended for use as a safe haven asset, guaranteed by international certifications that provide 100% protection of the investment over time.
Compared to a classic investment instrument, diamonds protect you from financial and tax shocks. It is easy to monetise and store, considering also that most credit institutions accept it as collateral for loan or financing applications.
The safe haven of the new millennium
Diamonds are bound to maintain their value over time precisely because of their rarity, as mining companies continue to deplete mines around the world, so demand will always exceed supply.
The primary purpose of investing in diamonds is not to achieve enrichment by multiplying the initial capital but to protect it from financial and sometimes political turbulence, such as property tax increases, with a view to the long term.
Because no one can look after their own interests better than us.
DIAMONDS
A diamond is really natural when it is the Earth that creates these wonders.
Loxley only deals in natural diamonds as a matter of commercial policy.
Natural diamonds are becoming increasingly rare, due to the gradual depletion of mines around the world, so they will be increasingly valued over time compared to a synthetic diamond.
NO TO SYNTHETIC
Only a fraction of mined stones have the right requirements to belong to this category. In fact, there are two fields of application for diamonds:
DIAMONDS FOR JEWELLERY
TECHNICAL/INDUSTRIAL USE
COLOURED DIAMONDS
The coloured diamond, Fancy, owes its colour to atoms dispersed in the chemical structure of carbon, such as nitrogen, which is yellow, or boron, which is blue, or iron, which oxidises and gives the diamond an unusual colour: without other substances, the diamond is transparent.
Red and pink diamond
The presence of hydrogen in diamonds produces purple hues. However, the extreme pressure the diamond is subjected to during its formation can abnormally compress its structure, thus creating a red or pink stone. The red diamond is the rarest of all coloured diamonds. So far, only 20 stones have been certified as red diamonds. Red diamonds are priceless. In 1987, a 0.95 carat red diamond was sold at auction for one million dollars. In 1996, at Christie's, another 0.25 carat red diamond, oval cut, sold for $326,800.
The most famous red diamond is the Moussaieff Red Diamond.
Pink diamonds are also very rare in nature. Celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, who received a 6.1 carat pink diamond mounted on an engagement ring in 2002, have contributed to the worldwide fame of these diamonds. We can find the largest deposits of pink diamonds in Brazil, Australia, Russia and Africa (Tanzania).
Blue diamond
Pure diamonds are colourless. Colourless means that the stone does not absorb light waves, but reflects them back to the observer who therefore sees white light, or what the human eye interprets as colourless.
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Unlike pure diamonds, blue diamonds absorb all wavelengths of light except blue. It is certain impurities in the molecular structure of the diamond that cause this absorption of light. In the case of blue diamonds, this impurity is boron.
Green diamond
Diamonds formed millions of years ago may have undergone natural irradiation that turns the colour green.
Green diamonds are among the rarest in nature depending on the intensity and clarity of the colour, and prices can be extremely high.
The green colour is caused by natural exposure to the radiation of uranium ore.
Yellow diamond
The presence of nitrogen can give a yellow colour to the diamond.
Yellow diamonds can be classified into four colour levels: Fancy Light Yellow, Fancy Yellow, Fancy Intense Yellow and Fancy Vivid Yellow. Although yellow colour is not desired in a white diamond, canary yellow diamonds have long been recognised and valued by collectors.... the more intense the yellow colour, the higher the price.
Unlike white diamonds, the determining factor for the price of these diamonds is the intensity of their colour. Clarity, although important, is secondary.
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There are four designations for the different intensities of these stones: Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, and Fancy Vivid.
The GIA (Gemological Institute of America) has developed a system to classify coloured diamonds globally: Hue, Saturation, Tone and Color Distribution.
Saturation is measured by the "Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Deep, Fancy Dark" level.
- Hue - Colour
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Colour is the most important factor. The more intense the colour, the rarer it is and the more valuable it is. There are stones with only one primary colour but most coloured diamonds also have secondary and sometimes tertiary colours. There are up to 27 different colours.
- Saturation
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Colour saturation speaks of the strength and depth of colour within the coloured diamond.
Saturation is measured by the "Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Deep, Fancy Dark" level. - Tone
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Colour tone refers to the brightness within the coloured diamond. The tone is measured together with the saturation by the level " Faint, Very Light, Light, Fancy Light, Fancy, Fancy Intense, Fancy Vivid, Fancy Deep, Fancy Dark".
- Color Distribution
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Colour dispersion refers to the uniform distribution of colour across the diamond. When it is uniform it is graded on the certificate as "Even", when it is uneven as "Uneven". The value increases the more uniform it is.
THE SYNTHETIC DIAMOND
They currently account for about 2% of the global market. It is expected that by 2030 this share could rise to 10%. The cost of a synthetic diamond is currently about 30-40% lower than a natural diamond but is expected to fall further due to increasing popularity and lower production costs. There is no secondary market for synthetic diamonds, mainly because current diamond traders do not tend to deal in them.
The properties of synthetic diamond depend on the details of the production processes and can be lower than those of natural diamond, the hardness is on average lower, but the thermal conductivity is on average higher, as a result, synthetic diamond is widely used in industrial technology.
Synthetic diamond is also known as HPHT or CVD diamond, the acronyms defining its production method: High - Pressure High - Temperature (high pressure and temperature synthesis) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (chemical vapor deposition synthesis).
The first reproducible synthesis was carried out around 1953.
| Synthetic HPHT | Synthetic CVD |
| Uneven colour distribution | Uneven colour distribution |
| Different graining patterns | No graining pattern |
| Unusual fluorescence colours | Unusual fluorescence colours |
| Fluorescent colour models | Fluorescent colour models |
| Occasional phosphorescence | Occasional phosphorescence |
| Metal flux inclusions | Occasional dark spots |
| No deformation model | Banded strain patterns |
| Possible inscription on the belt | Possible inscription on the belt |
HISTORY OF THE DIAMOND
Diamonds became known in 1813, thanks to an experiment by Humpry Davy, who concentrated the sun's rays in a rough diamond and caused it to burn, thus demonstrating its chemical carbon composition.
Diamonds were first found in Kimberley, a town that gave its name to the rock from which diamonds are extracted, kimberlite.
Diamond mining can take place in two types of deposits: primary and secondary.
In the former, they are found in kimberlite and are extracted by crushing the stone itself.
In the latter, diamonds are found in alluvial soils, sometimes in sand, gravel/earth or rivers.
Normally, to extract 1 carat of diamonds one has to process about 4.5 tonnes of kimberlite, while in alluvial deposits one has to sift through about 19 tonnes of sand.