Diamond jewelry is one of the most significant investments you can ever make in your life. They can last for generations to come and will always be a token of absolute exclusiveness and of being special.
Precisely because it is such an important decision one can make, purchasing a diamond needs to be planned carefully to make sure everything about the one gemstone you pick is absolutely perfect.
How to ensure highest quality jewelry when it comes to diamonds?
With that in mind, we have mapped out five questions which are commonly asked about diamonds that you should know before buying these precious stones. According to the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) what ensures the diamond’s highest quality are the so-called 4Cs: color, clarity, cut, carat.
What is diamond clarity?
Diamonds are created as a result of carbon being exposed to tremendous heat and pressure deep in the earth. This process can create small characteristics considered as imperfections: inclusions, which are inside the stone, and blemishes outside of it.
In that sense, clarity here refers to the absence of inclusions and blemishes in the diamond to ensure that it contains the least amount of imperfections possible. A GIA Diamond Clarity Scale has 6 categories that establish 11 grades to classify blemishes and inclusions.
In order to ensure your diamond meets all your expectations, clarity is something to be considered with an expert prior to purchasing a diamond.
Do diamonds even have colors?
When it comes to diamonds, diamond color should mean the actual absence of color, the same way we would speak of clear water as perfectly transparent. Why? Because the more chemically pure and structurally perfect the diamond is, the lesser its hue and the higher its value.
GIA has a color-grading system to measure the degree of colorlessness by comparing a stone under controlled lighting and precise viewing conditions to masterstones or stones of established color value. The scale begins with the letter D, representing colorless, and continues, with increasing presence of color, to the letter Z.
It's worth noticing that most of these color distinctions are extremely subtle and invisible to the naked eye, but still, they make a very big difference in diamond quality and price, so they should be taken into account.
Does it matter how diamonds are cut?
The way the diamond is cut is of extreme importance since it is crucial to the stone's final beauty and value. Also, among all the diamond 4Cs, it is the most complex and technically difficult to analyze.
GIA establishes cut grades considering the diamond’s design and craftsmanship, including its weight relative to its diameter, its girdle thickness (durability related), the symmetry of its facet arrangement, and the quality of polish on those facets.
These matter because diamonds are all about reflection so, depending on the cut, the gemstones’ facets affect its 1) brightness (the Internal and external white light it reflects), 2) fire (scattering of white light into all the colors of the rainbow), and 3) scintillation (amount of sparkle produced by the diamond and the pattern of light and dark areas caused by the reflections within it), hence they should be considered.
What does diamond carat stand for?
This is the gemstone's weight measurement, whose metric of one carat is defined as 200 milligrams. Each carat can be subdivided into 100 'points' to allow for very precise measurements of decimal points.
A jeweler may describe a diamond’s weight below 1 carat by its 'points' alone. A diamond that weighs 0.25 carats is a 'twenty-five pointer', while a gemstone greater than one carat such as a 1.08, is equivalent to a 'one point oh eight carats.'
The usual rule of thumb for diamonds is that they should be 0.50 carats or larger, but that is not necessarily true, since carat alone is no guarantee of a good shine, so it should be considered along with a good cut by an expert.
Now that you understand the basics of diamonds, come check out our luxury diamond jewelry collection in store at 6710 Spring Stuebner Rd. St 710 in Spring, Texas, to consult with an expert. You can also browse our diamond education section on our website to access further information about these gemstones.
Precisely because it is such an important decision one can make, purchasing a diamond needs to be planned carefully to make sure everything about the one gemstone you pick is absolutely perfect.
How to ensure highest quality jewelry when it comes to diamonds?
With that in mind, we have mapped out five questions which are commonly asked about diamonds that you should know before buying these precious stones. According to the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) what ensures the diamond’s highest quality are the so-called 4Cs: color, clarity, cut, carat.
What is diamond clarity?
Diamonds are created as a result of carbon being exposed to tremendous heat and pressure deep in the earth. This process can create small characteristics considered as imperfections: inclusions, which are inside the stone, and blemishes outside of it.
In that sense, clarity here refers to the absence of inclusions and blemishes in the diamond to ensure that it contains the least amount of imperfections possible. A GIA Diamond Clarity Scale has 6 categories that establish 11 grades to classify blemishes and inclusions.
In order to ensure your diamond meets all your expectations, clarity is something to be considered with an expert prior to purchasing a diamond.
Do diamonds even have colors?
When it comes to diamonds, diamond color should mean the actual absence of color, the same way we would speak of clear water as perfectly transparent. Why? Because the more chemically pure and structurally perfect the diamond is, the lesser its hue and the higher its value.
GIA has a color-grading system to measure the degree of colorlessness by comparing a stone under controlled lighting and precise viewing conditions to masterstones or stones of established color value. The scale begins with the letter D, representing colorless, and continues, with increasing presence of color, to the letter Z.
It's worth noticing that most of these color distinctions are extremely subtle and invisible to the naked eye, but still, they make a very big difference in diamond quality and price, so they should be taken into account.
Does it matter how diamonds are cut?
The way the diamond is cut is of extreme importance since it is crucial to the stone's final beauty and value. Also, among all the diamond 4Cs, it is the most complex and technically difficult to analyze.
GIA establishes cut grades considering the diamond’s design and craftsmanship, including its weight relative to its diameter, its girdle thickness (durability related), the symmetry of its facet arrangement, and the quality of polish on those facets.
These matter because diamonds are all about reflection so, depending on the cut, the gemstones’ facets affect its 1) brightness (the Internal and external white light it reflects), 2) fire (scattering of white light into all the colors of the rainbow), and 3) scintillation (amount of sparkle produced by the diamond and the pattern of light and dark areas caused by the reflections within it), hence they should be considered.
What does diamond carat stand for?
This is the gemstone's weight measurement, whose metric of one carat is defined as 200 milligrams. Each carat can be subdivided into 100 'points' to allow for very precise measurements of decimal points.
A jeweler may describe a diamond’s weight below 1 carat by its 'points' alone. A diamond that weighs 0.25 carats is a 'twenty-five pointer', while a gemstone greater than one carat such as a 1.08, is equivalent to a 'one point oh eight carats.'
The usual rule of thumb for diamonds is that they should be 0.50 carats or larger, but that is not necessarily true, since carat alone is no guarantee of a good shine, so it should be considered along with a good cut by an expert.
Now that you understand the basics of diamonds, come check out our luxury diamond jewelry collection in store at 6710 Spring Stuebner Rd. St 710 in Spring, Texas, to consult with an expert. You can also browse our diamond education section on our website to access further information about these gemstones.