Diamonds are valued for their hardness and luster, but those physical characteristics aren’t always a perfect indicator of value. A diamond’s quality can also be determined by how well it reflects light, which is why expert jewelers use a tool called a diamond scanner or diamond probe. The device looks like an optical instrument and uses infrared light to measure how much light passes through each stone and how much is reflected back. The resulting data is then analyzed to determine whether a stone has any internal flaws that reduce its durability and affect its overall value.Diamond scanners use acoustic waves and a special pick-up head, which is what you’re holding in your hand. The waves are sent through and bounce off of diamonds to create an image. Diamonds may be dark, but they will still reflect sound waves. The software converts these waves into digital signals that it uses to generate an image of your stone. Your diamond appears on screen looking just like a high-resolution photo.
You probably know all about diamonds, even if you don’t consider yourself a diamond person. They’re found in jewelry and engagement rings, and are precious because they are hard to find and expensive to mine and cut. Many people only think of them as investment items or luxury goods, but that’s not true. To understand how to do diamond making process, you first need to understand how they’re made—it’s surprisingly straightforward!The diamond making process is a very complex one that requires not only an immense amount of manual labor, but also a good bit of infrastructure. First, diamonds must be found in or near geological formations known as kimberlite pipes. Once mined from these pipes, diamonds are first sorted by size and then sent to specific locations for cutting and polishing based on their clarity and color. Although cutting and polishing is done globally, most industrial-grade diamonds are ultimately shipped to Antwerp, Belgium for evaluation before being sold to diamond dealers around the world. As you can see in Figure 1 below, cutting and polishing alone consumes as much energy per year as a mid-sized country uses annually.