What does a diamond sorter do?

Diamond sorting is an occupation that takes months to learn, years to gain expertise, and perhaps decades to master. The job of a diamond sorter is to quickly identify diamonds based on a host of different classifications, such as size, model, shape, color, clarity, and fluorescence.

How do you sort rough diamonds?

Rough diamonds will generally fall into one of four categories based on carat: “Smalls,” weighing . 65 carats or less; “Grainers,” weighing between . 66 and 1.79 carats; “Large Stones,” weighing 1.8-10.79 carats; and “Special Stones,” weighing anything more than 10.8 carats (Sorting and Valuing, 2013).

How do you separate kimberlite diamonds?

Place the crushed rock and gem material into rotating drums filled with water. The water will disintegrate the small bits of volcanic material, leaving only diamond crystals intact. Add ferro-silicon sand to the mixture of water and ore to further separate the diamond crystals from the volcanic material.

How do you measure the quality of a rough diamond?

Put the diamond under the loupe or microscope and look for rounded edges that have tiny indented triangles. Cubic diamonds, on the other hand, will have parallelograms or rotated squares. A real raw diamond should also appear like it has a coat of vaseline over it. Cut diamonds will have sharp edges.

What are some technical skills required for diamond?

This job is very physical and hands-on. Therefore, skills needed for on-site work include physical abilities such as close-range vision for detail work, manual dexterity, arm/hand steadiness, control and precision for machine work, attention to detail, and discriminatory ability with color and category detail.

What are rough diamonds called?

raw diamond
A rough diamond, sometimes called a raw diamond, is a diamond that hasn’t been cut, processed, and polished. Rough diamonds typically resemble pale glass with little to no sparkle, and are found in many different colors and shapes. Not all rough diamonds end up being gem-quality diamonds.

What does a diamond look like in kimberlite?

kimberlite, also called blue ground, a dark-coloured, heavy, often altered and brecciated (fragmented), intrusive igneous rock that contains diamonds in its rock matrix. It has a porphyritic texture, with large, often rounded crystals (phenocrysts) surrounded by a fine-grained matrix (groundmass).

How do you tell if a rough diamond is real?

The easiest test is the scratch test. If a supposed rough diamond can be scratched by anything other than another diamond, then it is fake. The other mineral most often thought to be diamond is quartz. The only mineral you can really use to test the hardness of a diamond is a piece of corundum.