The Ridiculous … the Interesting … and the Graphic
One: The Ridiculous
A bunch of them were having dinner together. They hadn’t met like
this since Lola’s husband, Lou, died a few months ago. They all came
to the table presenting their brightest facades in an effort to
ensure Lola would not fall into a funk of depression. They had
nothing to worry about. Lola was all smiles. She was vivacious. She
was bubbly. I now have Lou with me for eternity, she said. She
showed them her finger upon which rested a platinum mounting with a
sparkling new diamond. Say hello to Lou, she said.
And here’s the rest of the story. As you may or may not recall … I
did a Tidbits some time ago about turning Peanut Butter into
diamonds. Anything carbon-based can–theoretically–be made into a
diamond. Peanut Butter and Humans included. It now seems a company
in Chicago has perfected the technique of processing the ashes of a
dearly departed into a diamond. Oh joy oh joy. One can wear Lou on
one’s finger … or Mary in a gent’s ring … or Stanley in one’s
belly button.
We come now to a question of the desirability of obesity. Here it
is. A thimble of carbon produces an 0.25 carat diamond. The fatter
your mate … the bigger the diamond he or she will produce. What
can I say. Corpulence will soon reign eternal. The households of
America will soon be engulfed in new paradigms. Come on honey. Show
mama you love her. Have some more butter on that steak. Three pieces
of chocolate layer cake for you tonight. I want you to clean your
plate. You do love me … don’t you honey? You do want me to have
the biggest diamond on the block when you kick the bucket, don’t
you?
And so it goes … technology advances … and once again benefits
mankind … elevating our lifestyles to dizzying heights never
imagined by previous generations.
Two: The Interesting
In today’s parlance … a prime colorless diamond is given a grading
of “D” by the GIA. But it t’warn’t always so. When I was young–a
scant micro-second ago in time as the crow flies–we said a diamond
was white … or off-white … or silver … or top-silver … or
cape … or silver-cape. Some of you out there … professionals and
ultimate consumers alike … may remember these terms. There is
however … even older terminology which predates my memory banks
… if you can believe such a thing.
Not too long ago I came across a term to describe a diamond’s color.
The article I was reading said the diamond was a Wesselton. Hunh?
Wesselton? What is Wesselton? And so began a search into the past.
And I came across a chart called the International Colour Grading
Scale. It may still be in use today. I’m not sure. But it’s
interesting to see what terms are used to describe what we today
call a D color … or an F color. It’s worth a look at … for
intellectual stimulation if nothing else. It’s on my graphics page.
Let me know what you think.
Three: The Graphic
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Tidbits Graphics … and then click on the link that says: Color
Scale … where you will see a graphic of the color chart produced
by the International Rules for Grading Polished Diamonds.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all
next week. Benjamin Mark
TYLER-ADAM CORP.–Jewelry Manufacturers
Tel – 1-800-20-TYLER
E-Mail: webmaster@tyler-adam.com