When speaking in terms of diamonds, the word “perfect” may get used far too often. When you stop to consider what it takes to find a diamond in the first place and then to cut it, shape it and polish it into the beautiful jewelry item that we all aspire for, then you will understand the improbability of finding a “perfect” round cut diamond at all. It takes far more labor than the average person realizes – first to find the gray lump of stone that will eventually become a diamond and far more labor to bring it to its full potential.

Diamonds, for all of their beauty are not mined purely for looks. The diamonds that we wear on our fingers, necks and ears account for only about of quarter of what is mined every year. Diamonds may be the darlings of the jewel world, but their main purpose lies in industrial use. The remaining 75% of all diamonds mined every year are used in industry and science in one way or another.

Before a diamond makes it to your bride’s finger, over 250 tons of earth will have been moved and the stone itself will have touched probably five continents. It is more than likely that more than one highly trained and highly skilled craftsman will have handled the stone in some way.

The bride may be dieting before the wedding, but her stone has gone through reduction of its own: a diamond with even the most skilled craftsman, making the most efficient cuts will end up with only one half of its rough weight, and in many cases less. How rare is a diamond that is weighed at more than one full carat? Only one in one thousand, cut and polished diamonds are over one carat in total weight.