Diamonds
As a designer jeweller I like my clients have as much involvement as possible in the design of their piece of jewellery. With this in mind I have put together this very simple guide to diamond grading methods known as the four Cs - cut, carat, clarity and colour as diamonds are valued on these attributes. The greater its attributes, the higher quality the diamond, the more expensive it is. The standards that I like to apply to my commissions are amongst the highest and by realising the importance of what you are buying in diamonds I believe you will gain even greater pleasure from your finished piece of bespoke jewellery.
At JDW Design my preference is for diamonds that only meet the following grading standards
For Clarity : F IF VVS1 VVS2 VS1 VS2
I always believe that when choosing a diamond, you should select one without inclusions visible to the naked eye leaving the beauty of the diamond uncompromised.
For Colour : D E F G H
I believe that by choosing a diamond within this range you will get experience the real brilliance and beauty of a diamond.
I understand that all these factors can make your diamond expensive and increase the needed budget. For this reason I would always recommend choosing the best quality diamond for your money, we can then design the perfect piece to compliment.
THE DIAMOND'S CUT
The cut of a diamond is directly related to the sparkle of a diamond, and is one of the most important parts of designing any piece of stone set jewellery as it will dictate the final effect and beauty of the design. The cut however is also an important part of the four C's of diamond grading. There are two families of cuts that a diamond can be purchased in which are known as the Brilliant and Step cuts.
Brilliant cuts are available as : Round, Oval, Radiant, Princess, Pear, and Heart shape.
Step cuts are available as : Emerald, and Assher cuts.
THE CARAT WEIGHT
THIS IMAGE MAY NOT TO SCALE
Carat weight of a diamond essentially refers to the actual weight of the stone . Carat therefore also corresponds to the size of the diamond to a certain extent as it goes without saying that the larger the diamond, the heavier it is. The carat weight of diamonds can be misleading with relation to the comparable size of diamonds with different carat weights. For example, a diamond of one carat is not twice the diameter of a half carat diamond. It is however twice the weight.
As with all of the diamond grades and classifications, the most expensive diamonds are those which are the rarest. This is also true for Carat Weight, as larger diamonds are significantly less frequently than smaller diamonds. This is also why the price of a one carat diamond is not twice the price of a half carat diamond.
Depending on what is most important to the wearer of the diamond, size or brilliance, the Carat Weight of the diamond should be either the first or the last thing you choose. This is due to the sheer impact Carat Weight can have on the cost of the diamond and therefore the piece of jewellery.
THE CLARITY
The clarity of a diamond refers to the number of flaws or imperfections present within the stone. It is extremely rare for a diamond to be completely flawless. As the diamond crystal formed millions of years ago often trace minerals or other tiny characteristics became incorporated within the growing diamond crystal. Within the diamond and jewellery industry these imperfections are known as 'inclusions'. In order to give a classification to the diamond, a gemmologist will inspect the stone using a magnification level ten times greater than the human eye. Once studied the diamond will be given a clarity rating based upon the size, type, position and number of inclusions present within the stone.
The rarest and therefore most expensive diamonds have a clarity of FL or IF. Such a diamond is said to be Flawless or Internally Flawless. A diamond classed as VVS1 or VVS2 is still an excellent quality diamond with regards its clarity and will be virtually flawless, as only very minute inclusions will be present within the stone. As such it would be extremely differcult to view the inclusions in these qualities of diamonds using ten times magnification, and impossible to view with the naked eye.
A diamond classed as VS1 or VS2 is also still an exceptional clarity for a diamond. In brilliant cut diamonds such as round, princess or pear and other variants it would be extremely unlikely that the inclusions could be seen with the naked eye. However it must be stated that for clients looking to create pieces using step cut styles such as the emerald or asscher cut I would recommend not to go below the VS1 class, as inclusions are far easier to view within these stones due to the mirroring effect of the cut.
A diamond classed as SI1 or SI2 is said to be slightly included in which the inclusions within the diamond become visible to the naked eye.
THE COLOUR
Acting as a prism, a diamond can divide light up into a spectrum of colours and reflect this light as colourful flashes known as the ' fire ' within a diamond. Just as when looking through coloured glass, colour in a diamond will act as a filter diminishing the spectrum of colour emitted. The less colour in the diamond, the more colourful the fire, and the better the colour grade giving a stronger level of brilliance.
The colour of diamonds are graded on a scale using the letters of the alphabet from D to Z. The letters essentially correspond to the level of colour in the diamond, the rarest in white diamonds being in the ' colourless ' range. The closer up the alphabet towards D, the less colour these is in the diamond. Go further along the scale the other way you go towards Z, the more yellow is evident within the diamond. The rarest and most expensive diamonds are those in the range D too F which are classed as colourless, followed by G to H which are classed as white and then I to J which are classed as slightly tinted. It can be very difficult to tell the difference between a diamond in the colourless range and the near colourless using only the naked eye. This is particularly true after the diamond has been set within the piece of jewellery itself.
The diamonds that appear further down the scale, particularly within the light yellow and yellow ranges, do have a noticeable yellow colour to them, even to the naked and untrained eye. As with all of the grading parameters associated with diamonds the colour can have a dramatic effect on the price of the stone. With colour, this predominantly due to the rarity of the colourless diamonds compared with those lower down the scale.
This guide is intended as a very simple guide on diamonds, for more detailed information please follow the link below.