The Story of a Diamond: From Mine to Market
A Diamonds Journey
From the depths of over 150 kilometres beneath Canada’s North West Territories, a shiny 2.58ct diamond in the rough was born to the Ekati Mine.
Fast forward, the diamond now sits pretty as a 1.08ct cushion cut in a romantic, hand fabricated yellow gold ring made by our friend and client, Elana Ginsberg of K&Co Bespoke.
The designer herself made mention that she has waited over 20 years for such transparency of a diamonds origin. This is made possible in thanks to Canada’s commitment to accountability in the mining of all diamonds, and Misfit Diamonds commitment to sharing the process with our clients.
This piece of rough came in a parcel of champagnes, but upon examining the stone, it appeared to have much less saturation than the others and falling more so into the white spectrum. The top three cut options we considered for this rough were a modern take on an old European cut, a geometric rose cut, and a modern old mine cut.
Old European Cut
Geometric Rose Cut
Modern Old Mine Cut
To help make our decision, we took the approach that always seems to serve us best, which is to turn to our audience and take a vote. Each of these cut options have their own many admirers, but the winner was the modern old mine cut. It just so happens that this particular cut yielded the least diamond waste, making it a true win-win situation.
A Faceted Diamond
Elana was quick to swoop away the modern old mine cut diamond, being that she tremendously adores this particular shape. “My love for this stone is multifaceted. I'm a sucker for a vintage cut and will take one over a brilliant any day; the glow is so romantic and the depth of personality in these beauties is just intoxicating. Combine that with the transparency/sustainability of this diamond and it's an absolute no brainer.” She furthers her point by mentioning what an honour it is to be able to work with these kinds of stones.
The Final Product
The once in a lifetime diamond was carefully set into a magnificently embellished ring. The designer elaborates, "The 'Adaline' setting is one ring that I traditionally set with modern vintage cuts so this diamond jumped out at me. It's a VS quality, beautifully soft J-K colour and looks stunning in the hand engraved matte finish yellow gold. It's so soft and pretty and will stand the test of time in this vintage inspired setting.”
But what is still left unknown, is who may be the lucky person to wear and forever treasure the finished piece. This ‘hot off the jewellers bench’ ring is available for purchase online or in person at K&Co Bespoke’s Parkdale studio and showroom. We strongly encourage visiting the shop IRL, because Elana Ginsberg is just as spectacular a person as the jewelry she creates.
Stay up-to-date with K&Co Bespoke by giving an Insta follow to @kcobespoke.
Also in Blog
Canadian Diamonds from Gahcho Kué mine
The Gahcho Kué diamond mine is a joint venture between Mountain Province Diamonds, which owns 49% of the project, and De Beers Canada, which holds a 51% interest and is the mine’s operator. The joint venture property is located in the Northwest Territories of Canada, 300 km east-northeast of Yellowknife, on the traditional territories of Tłįchǫ, Dene, and Métis people. The mine site lies on the edge of the continuous permafrost zone in an area known as the barren lands due to its lack of forests.
What's Going on with the Diamond Supply Chain?
To say we are living in strange and unprecedented times at this point would be an understatement, however it truly is a bizarre time in the diamond industry. The market has yet to fully recover from the supply chain disruptions (and resulting product scarcity) caused by the pandemic that sent prices soaring in 2021 and 2022.
Jewelry Stockist Series
We know we have many fans inside and out of the industry, which is why we are thrilled to bring our roster of integrated stockists to your attention through this blog series. Anybody can easily get their hands on Misfit gemstones - if you're a consumer, here is how; just navigate over to our retail page and scroll through a selection of jewelry designers across the globe. All of these vendors have a collection of our stones available on their own websites accompanied by pricing information.