Real Diamonds In The Rough

Published on 28/06/10

When Richard Raya went shopping for an engagement ring recently, he did what men are programmed to do: "I did consider a more traditional cut and polished diamond at first," he said. "But they all seemed so predictable and boring," said Raya, who lives in Oakland. Instead, he surprised his girlfriend, Marissa Cravens, with a chunky rough diamond by April Higashi of Shibumi Gallery in Berkeley. "I had never seen a rough diamond before," Craven said. "The ring is perfect for me and for how I want to symbolize a relationship: strong, solid, powerful."

They may look like pieces of quartz to the untrained eye, but they are diamonds all the same. Jewelry designed with these natural stones, with all their imperfections, cloudy colors and bubbly textures, is a growing trend, showing up in contemporary jewelry cases at small boutiques and bigger establishments like Wilkes Bashford, Barneys and DeBeers.

"We had bling, then we had a crash, and now we're in a time when less showy products are in style," said Russell Shor, industry analyst at the Gemological Institute of America.

Even so, rough represent less than 0.5 percent of total diamond and diamond jewelry sales in the United States, said Ken Gassman, founder of the Jewelry Industry Research Institute.

But prices are considerably less for rough-stone jewelry - a classic Tiffany & Co. 2.5-carat diamond solitaire ring sells for about $41,000, whereas a 5-carat dark cognac rough diamond ring with polished diamond accents by Diamond in the Rough goes for about $9,000.



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