Information about diamonds

The stones we offer at Athos Diamonds are all natural.

The diamond owes his name in the Greek word akatanikitos, adamastos, which means impossible to beat. It is the hardest mining in the world. In the scale of hardnest, which takes values between 1 and 10 thew diamond is rated by a 10!. Because of its hardnest, rarity and all its other characteristics, diamonds have inspired occasionally a lot of fables and histories.

The diamonds are pure carbon (coal) and, when burned they really vanish without leaving any ashes behind! As the diamond is pure coal and requires to meet special conditions of very high temperature and pressure in order to be created, it is created in the interior of the ground where these special conditions can be found. Usually it is created in-depth beyond 100 kilometres under the surface of the ground and it takes millions of years to be created. The most recent diamonds are in the age range of 30 to 40 millions years.

What are the characteristics of a diamond? (The Four C's)

Carat: is the weight of the diamond. 1CT = 0.2gr

Colour: There are natural diamonds in all colorations. White diamonds begin from the D, E, F, G, and H, I… (D is the whitest colour). 

Clarity: Is the cleanliness of diamonds and is determined by the number of inclusions, the size, their locality and the contrast that they make. They begin from FL (Flowless), IF (Internally Flowless), VVS1, 2 (Very very small inclusion), VS1, 2 (Very small inclusion), SI1, 2, 3 (Small inclusion), P1, 2, 3 (Pike). At Pike clarity the inclusion is visible to the naked eye and for the rest only with lens.

Cut: there are a lot of diamond shapes but the most known are the round, princess, pear, emerald, marquise and oval diamonds. For round diamonds the gradation of cut quality is excellent, very good, good, pure or unusual. The cut of the diamond is very important because it gives the sparkling of the stone. Athos Diamonds has only good and very good cut diamonds. Two diamonds with precisely the same characteristics apart from the cut, the one very good and the other unusual, have roughly 30% difference in the price.

Who can value a diamond?
A Certified Diamond Grader with help by a Gemmology Laboratory. Athos Diamonds has Gemmology Laboratory and it is Certified Diamond Grader.

How can somebody have a good knowledge of the diamond market?
We are Member of the International Bourse of Diamonds (the only one in Cyprus) which has around 3500 members all over the world. This gives us the opportunity to learn and know all the latest news about diamond market.

Is there a capability of cutting diamonds in Cyprus?
At Athos Diamonds we have a fully equipped diamonds cutting center and we make whole sale of diamonds.

Are there diamonds that are not natural?
There are also synthetic diamonds and this is why people who buy diamonds have to ask for the certificates.

Which diamond certificate to ask for?
There are many gemmology laboratories but the most reliable are the HRD, GIA and IGI. At Athos Diamonds we only offer natural diamonds, with certificates according to HRD rules.

Are diamond prices increasing?
During the years even in periods of crisis the diamonds have the same value and in-depth time the prices increase.

What are the investment diamonds?
Investment diamonds are the diamonds from 1CT-2CT, very high quality and bigger from 2CT. For those diamonds the increase of the price is higher and we call them investment diamonds. At Athos Diamonds we will be happy to inform every person who wants to invest in diamonds, the do's and don'ts.