Diamond Engagement Rings Specialist
Diamond Guide
Learning about the different specifications and qualities of diamond can be for many people a very enjoyable part of finding the perfect diamond ring. We have written this short guide as an introduction to the topic which we hope you will find interesting and informative. If you do have any further questions, please do contact us and one of our diamond experts will be very happy to answer your queries either over the phone or in person at our showroom in Shepperton, Middlesex.
Diamond Clarity
It is extremely rare to find a perfectly clear diamond. Most diamonds contain tiny imperfections, called inclusions, which are created by nature and make every diamond unique. Inclusions can range from tiny dark or light solid fragments, crystals, cleavages, fractures and feathers. Many inclusions are not visible to the naked eye and can only be assessed by a gemmologist using magnification. The more inclusions a stone contains and the easier they are to detect will determine the clarity grade.
For an introduction to diamond clarity and the different clarity grades, please click on the video below.
Whilst the various grades of clarity help to classify the quantity of impurities contained with a diamond, there can be quite a difference in the appearance depending upon the position, type and size of the inclusions, even within the same grade of clarity. This is one of the factors why there can be such a difference in price between two diamonds which, on the basis of the information on the grading report, appear to be the same.
Please click on the video below to see this explained in more detail.
Diamond Cut - the importance of proportions
The cut of a diamond is often confused with its Shape. Diamonds come in a variety of different shapes with round and princess being the most popular. Other cut shapes include emerald, marquise, baguette, star, pear and heart. However, it is the cut quality that is the primary factor that defines how a diamond sparkles and refracts the light giving it fire and inner radiance.
If the diamond is too tall and narrow or too wide and short, light will not reflect properly and it will appear dull and lifeless to the eye. How a diamond has been cut and polished is therefore of the utmost importance since it is the proportions that determine the life, brilliance and fire of the diamond.
Here is a short clip where we have isolated the intense fire which diamonds can show when in strong sunlight.
Here we have isolated the scintillation, or sparkle, exhibited by diamonds. This optical property is caused by the white light reflecting off the crown facets which are towards the outer and upper sides of the diamond. As with fire and brightness, the better the proportions of the diamond, the more sparkle the diamond will show under the same lighting conditions.
As there are a number of individual measurements used to determine the ideal proportions of a diamond, the diamond laboratories grade the Cut into different categories of quality. These defined standards are called Weak, Fair, Good, Very Good, or Ideal and they make be used to make comparison easier between diamonds. Considering the importance of the proportions of a diamond, it is very surprising that so many companies do not list the Cut grade of the diamonds they sell.
Colour
When looking for a white diamond, there are different colour grades that you will come across, ranging from D (completely colourless) to Z (coloured). The colour that this grade is assessing is usually yellow and they varying intensities have different grades.
When setting a diamond in White Gold or Platinum, we recommend choosing a diamond with H colour or higher, this way there is no discernable yellow tinge to the stone. If you are setting a diamond in Yellow gold, you can go as low as J colour before seeing any sign of yellow in the diamond.
This yellow colour is caused by Nitrogen being trapped within the diamond when it was formed over 1 billion years ago. Because Nitrogen is such a common element in the universe, it is extremely rare to find a diamond that is completely colourless (D colour), so diamonds with a higher colour grade are more valuable.
Diamond Certification
It is very important that a diamond is properly graded so that you can be assured of the quality and specification of the diamond that you are considering. In this video we talk through the different options and how this affects the price of the diamond.
Advice on treated diamonds
Because the value of diamonds is so dependent upon its specification, there are a number of methods commonly used in the jewellery industry to enhance their appearance. For example, if there is an inclusion close to the surface of the diamond, it is often heat treated with a laser to burn the inclusion from a black carbon mark into a milky white colour.
It is also possible to treat inclusions deeper within the diamond by using a laser to drill into the stone and then applying an acid to change the colour of the inclusion. The hole is then filled with a glass compound.
An Israeli inventor called Zvi Yehuda developed another commonly used clarity enhancement process in 1982. This process involves filling small cracks in diamonds with molten glass to improve their clarity. This method improves a diamond's clarity by one grade without affecting the colour or weight of the diamond.
Whilst treated diamonds can appear very good value, there are no guarantees that the process used will not cause a problem at some point in the future. For example, some companies use bromine to enhance their diamonds because the process is cheaper than using glass. Diamonds treated with bromine have been known to discolour and cloud with exposure to the ultra violet radiation found in sunlight.
It is not a legal requirement to tell customers if a diamond has been treated and surprisingly many companies do not mention whether or not they sell treated diamond. If you do decide to buy a treated diamond it is important to understand the processes that have been applied to the diamond to ensure that the price has been reduced accordingly.
At Samara James we have a strict policy that all of our diamonds are untreated and are therefore guaranteed as such.
Conflict Free Diamonds
You may have heard of the term 'conflict diamonds'. Conflict diamonds are diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate and internationally recognised governments and are used to fund military action in oppositions to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the Security Council. Our policy on conflict diamonds is absolutely rigorous. We will never buy, sell or handle any diamonds of unclear provenance and we insist that all of our suppliers subscribe to The Kimberley Certification Scheme.
