The Firstwater Story

People always ask us about our name and where it came from.

Today, diamonds are judged by an expert system of letters and numbers that attempt to objectively describe the color and clarity of cut diamonds. This scale was created by Richard T. Liddicoat of the Gemological Institute of America in 1952. Prior to 1952, diamonds of the highest quality and clarity were said to be “of the first water.”

Our name is Diamond. When we founded the company and were searching for a name, any URL with the word “Diamond” in it had been pretty much been snatched up. But since we were dedicated to bringing clarity to web design projects, we felt that being Diamonds of the First Water was what we strived to be. We strive to be “of the first water” when thinking about, planning and executing projects on the Web and offline.

Firstwater has a few other meanings too. In Japan, it is traditional on New Year’s day to draw from a spring, the wakamizu, or first water of the year. This water has properties similar to holy water, and it is believed that cooking the new year’s meal with this water would bring great fortune in the coming year. It also has healing properties and provides a spiritual uplift to those who drink it.