Know Your Diamonds

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Diamond Buying Guide

We know you’re here because you only want the best and we would love to help you find the perfect diamond for you. We also know that buying diamonds can be a little overwhelming, but that doesn’t mean that you should ever settle or stress! So just sit back with a cup of coffee and let us walk you through everything you need to know before you buy that sparking diamond!

Every diamond tells a different story. No two diamonds will catch the light with exactly the same sparkle or reflect the world with the same clarity, which can make choosing a diamond seem far more a mystifying art than an exact science. Fortunately, the qualities that all diamonds share helped gemologists develop comparison and evaluation tools that diamond buyers can also learn to use.

Choosing a diamond that will make a lasting impression begins with the GIA 4Cs of diamond quality. Color, clarity, cut, and carat weight, explored in further detail below, all play a part in the grade and appearance of your diamond.

1. Diamond Cut

Of all a diamond’s qualities, it’s the cut that gives a diamond its distinctive sparkle. While “emerald cut”, “oval cut”, etc. are widely understood terms for gemstone shape, “cut” in the 4Cs sense actually refers to a diamond’s proportions and how they interact with light striking the diamond.

 

The “sparkle” from light on a well-cut diamond is actually a combination of three effects: brightness, created by white light reflections within the diamond and on its surface; fire, referring to the light bent into splashes of color within a diamond; and scintillation, the pattern of light and dark that seems to move and shift as the light changes. A polished, proportioned, symmetrical diamond will display a dramatic array of all three.

 

Are you wondering which diamond cut is best? It all starts with your budget.

No single diamond is perfect for everyone—but all of our customers, whether they’re eyeing a .50-carat or a 16-carat diamond, want as much sparkle as their budget allows. Of the 4C’s (cut, color, clarity, carat), cut has the greatest influence on a diamond’s beauty and sparkle.

Cut

An ideal diamond is cut neither too shallow nor too deep. Light striking a shallow cut diamond will escape the diamond without refracting back to the viewer, giving the diamond a dark cast. A diamond cut too deep will refract light away from the viewer, making the diamond appear dull and flat. An ideal cut diamond will refract light between facets and back to the viewer, producing a bright, lively sparkling appearance.

 

The Anatomy Of A Diamond:

  1. Table: The largest facet of a gemstone
  2. Crown: The top portion of a diamond extending from the girdle to the table
  3. Girdle: The intersection of the crown and pavilion which defines the circumference of a diamond
  4. Diameter: The measurement from one girdle edge of a diamond straight across to the opposing side
  5. Pavilion: The bottom portion of a diamond, extending from the girdle to the culet
  6. Culet: The facet at the tip of a gemstone. The preferred culet is not visible with the unaided eye (graded “none” or “small”)
  7. Depth: The height of a gemstone measured from the culet to the table
anatomy

2. Diamond Color

High-quality diamonds are graded on the lack of visible color. Truly colorless diamonds are rare, but diamonds with very slight traces of yellow or brown–the D-E-F range of the diamond color scale–are so close in appearance that they are referred to as “colorless”. Diamonds in the G-J range on the color scale, appropriately termed “near colorless”, may still appear untinted to the naked eye, but are more common and typically less expensive than colorless varieties.

Further along the scale beginning with K color diamonds, the yellow/brown tint becomes more apparent. Diamonds on this range of the scale tend to be set in yellow gold rather than a contrasting lighter metal.

The diamond color chart below can be used as a rough guide to each color range, keeping in mind that lighting and metal setting will also influence the color appearance of your diamond:

jisha diamond color

3. Diamond Clarity

Like a perfectly colorless diamond, a perfectly clear diamond is a rare if not impossible find. But like color traces, slight imperfections affecting clarity–referred to as “inclusions” inside a diamond and “blemishes” on its surface–are undetectable in high-quality diamonds without powerful magnification. The diamond clarity chart below illustrates:

Jisha diamond clarity

FL (Flawless) and IF (Internally Flawless) diamonds show no inclusions even with a 10x magnifier, while VVS1 and VVS2 (Very Very Slightly Included) diamonds contain inclusions that are possible but difficult to spot under the same magnification.

More common are VS1/VS2 (Very Slightly Included) and SI1/SI2 (Slightly Included) clarity diamonds. Inclusions in these stones are easier to spot under 10x magnification, but still nearly invisible to the naked eye.

The lowest clarity gem-quality diamonds are rated I1/I2/I3 (Included) and contain more visible inclusions, even without the aid of magnification.

The five diamond clarity factors:

  1. Size: The larger or more noticeable a characteristic, the lower the likely clarity grade.
  2. Number: This is the number of easily seen characteristics. Having fewer characteristics means a higher clarity grade.
  3. Position: What is the position of any given characteristic? Is it under the table (most visible) and close to a pavilion? This position turns inclusions into reflectors, which have a bigger impact on the clarity grade.
  4. Nature: The nature of a diamond characteristic relates to the type of inclusion and its impact on durability.
  5. Color and relief: Color and relief are essentially a measure of how easily a characteristic is seen, or how much contrast there is between the characteristic and surrounding diamond.

There are many different types of diamond inclusions and blemishes

Types of diamond inclusion

  • Clouds
  • Feathers
  • Crystals or minerals
  • Knots
  • Cavities
  • Cleavage
  • Internal graining

Types of blemish examples

  • Polish lines
  • Scratches
  • Nicks
  • Pits
  • Chips
  • Breaks
  • Dark or light spots

4. Diamond Carat

The most familiar and intuitive measure of diamond quality, the carat (ct) is equal to 0.2 grams, or roughly 0.007 ounces.  Under 1 carat, weights are often expressed in “points”, with each 0.01 ct increment equal to one point (e.g., 0.75 ct = 75 points).  As rarity plays a stronger part in diamond cost than amount of substance, with larger diamonds much rarer than smaller diamonds, two otherwise identical diamonds may vary wildly in price even within a few points’ weight difference.

 

DIAMOND CARAT SIZE CHART

Diamond carat

Diamond SHAPE

Shape refers to the geometric outline and overall physical form of a diamond. Every diamond shape has its own attributes and cut specifications, which also play a large factor in the overall look of the stone.

The most expensive shape is the round diamond. That’s because they are best at reflecting light and shine like there’s no tomorrow! It looks great in a wide range of settings, and is naturally flattering to many different hand and finger shapes. Non-round fancy-shaped diamonds, such as princess, emerald, pear, and Asscher are less popular than rounds, but offer an array of beautiful style options. Plus, these distinctive shapes often cost less than rounds of the same carat weight, allowing you to make the most of your budget. Ultimately the diamond shape that you fall in love with comes down to personal preference. You’re the one who gets to admire it every day! 

jisha diamond shape

How To Care For Your Diamond:

jisha care jewellery
  • Once every week, clean your diamond jewellery in lukewarm soap water and rub it down gently with a brush, to remove the dirt and grime from the surface and ensure a long lasting shine.
  • Remove your diamond jewellery when you go swimming or while doing household chores, so that the grime doesn’t make your jewellery look dull.
  • Keep your jewellery in separate boxes to reduce the chances of scratches on the metal.

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