Natural All-Diamond Ring Is a GIA First

RAPAPORT... A ring made entirely of natural diamond has become the first of its type to reach the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) for evaluation.The 13.15-carat, fancy-dark-grey diamond originated from a rough stone weighing around 20 carats, the GIA said in the spring issue of its Gems & Gemology journal, which it published last month. A customer recently submitted the piece to the organization's New York laboratory."It is common to find solid carved rings of jade and wood, which were traditionally worn as symbols of status or wedding rings signifying eternity," wrote GIA senior analytics technician Stephanie Persaud, analytics manager Paul Johnson and chief quality officer John King. "This is the first example of a solid diamond ring submitted to GIA for identification."Manufacturers have famously produced all-diamond rings from synthetic stones. Sir Jony Ive, Apple's former chief design officer, teamed up with Diamond Foundry to create a lab-grown all-diamond ring that sold at Sotheby's in 2018. Last year, Dutch Diamond Technologies unveiled a 3.87-carat ring carved from a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond. The natural adornment that the GIA examined, known as the Beaufort Ring, comes from the Beaufort diamond, a type IaB rough recovered in Canada's Northwest Territories. It received its grey color from graphite needles trapped during formation deep beneath the earth's surface, the GIA experts explained. It likely formed billions of years ago under high pressure, they added. "While this diamond ring may not be a traditional piece, it carries many unique aspects capturing a snapshot of Earth's history within a true infinity band," the researchers noted.Image: The all-diamond ring. (Jianxin (Jae) Liao/GIA)