Diamond colour is more about what you cannot see that what you can see. Diamonds are valued by how close they are too colourless, the less colour, the higher the value. This is excluding ‘fancy’ colours, such as blue, yellow, or pink diamonds. Colourless diamonds are also referred to as white diamonds, colourless diamonds let more light through the diamond, allowing them to emit more sparkle. Due to the natural diamond formation process, it means less diamonds are truly colourless, making colourless (white) diamonds rarer and therefore the more valuable. Diamonds with lower colour grades towards the Z (yellow) end of the scale should not be confused with ‘yellow diamonds’. Yellow diamonds are a separate commodity with their own characteristics and grading scales. Diamond colours D and E are described as ‘exceptional white’ colourless diamonds, F and G are described as ‘rare white’ colourless to the untrained eye, H is described as ‘white’ near colourless, where no yellow will be detected unless compared against a diamond of higher colour grade. We like our customers to have fantastic diamonds with exceptional sparkle, although we can offer any diamond colour, at Wedstones we focus on only the best colourless diamonds with our online colour options from D to H. We also ensure that we price our diamonds competitively to offer a fantastic quality for price ratio.
What colour should I choose?
As we at Wedstones only offer the best diamond grades/colours, you should choose a diamond colour that suits your budget but also do not forget the more colourless the diamond the brighter the sparkle! We’ve included the following video to help you understand diamond colour further…
Most diamonds have natural blemishes, these are referred to as inclusions and are created while the diamond is formed in the earth. When light enters a diamond, it is reflected and refracted out. Anything that disrupts the flow of light, such as an inclusion means that a small proportion of the light reflected would be lost. Most inclusions are not visible to the naked eye without a magnifying glass or loupe. Inclusions are graded by clarity, on a scale of perfection, which ranges from IF (flawless) meaning no visible characteristics even under magnification to I (Inclusions) characteristics visible with the naked eye. This method grades diamonds on the size, nature, and position of the inclusions. Only an expert can grade and asses a diamonds clarity. Inclusions appear in different shapes, such as crystals, clouds, needles, chips, or feathers. These inclusions often add to the overall character of the diamond. The closer to flawless or perfection you get, the more valuable the diamond becomes, therefore flawless diamonds command a higher price, although as soon as a flawless diamond is set it is no longer flawless, it then becomes internally flawless.
At Wedstones we focus on a clarity of IF to SI1, this is because we can then ensure that if any inclusions are in your diamond, they will be not visible by the naked eye without a loupe or magnifying glass. Our aim is to always ensure you get the best diamond for your budget and therefore the best sparkle! Here’s a short video to help you find out more about diamond clarity…
Brilliant round diamonds are the only diamonds to have a measurable cut grade. This is because gemmological grading institutes unfortunately cannot agree on what is considered a perfect cut on princess cut, oval cut, or other diamond cuts. Diamond cutting is an exceptional skill and takes a lot of intense training. A cutter polishes tiny surfaces known as facets onto the rough diamond. These facets are known as the table, culet, crown, girdle, and pavilion of the diamond. When the diamond facets are arranged in accurate proportions, the diamond refracts the light straight back to the eye creating a brilliant sparkle. To create a finished diamond sometimes the diamond cutter will remove more than 50% of the rough diamond. When a diamond is poorly cut, the light is refracted differently meaning that less light is reflected to the eye resulting in the diamond ‘losing its sparkle’. There is a set of formula that is used by gemmologists to determine the cut grade of a diamond and this inevitably comes down to how the diamond refracts light based on the diamond cut and symmetry, these grades are:
- Excellent – Reflects all or nearly all the light that enters the diamond. A
- Very Good – Reflects nearly as much light as the excellent cut, but for a slightly lower price.
- Good – Reflects quite a lot of light that enters the diamond. A little less expensive than a very good cut.
- Fair – Reflects some of the light that enters the diamond, but much less than excellent cut.
- Poor – These diamonds are normally so deep and narrow or so shallow and wide that they lose most of the light from the sides and bottom, losing its sparkle.
What cut should I choose?
At Wedstones, we recommend and therefore only focus on excellent or very good cut diamonds as we feel that you get a lot more for your money with excellent or very good cut diamonds, if we cannot source what you’re looking for we will do our best to upgrade your diamond where we can. The diamond cut grade is also based on the durability of the diamond which is another reason we feel a higher cut grade is so important. If you have specific requirements, please feel free to contact us prior to placing your order and one of our experts will be happy to assist you. Once we have sourced your diamond, by request we can send you the details or grading report of the diamond but be assured we are very selective when sourcing diamonds and find you the best we can is our priority!
If you’d like to find out more about cut grades, please watch this informative video…
Diamond carat refers to the diamond’s weight, it is often presumed that carat is a diamonds size, but it is not, it is actually a measure of the diamond weight. A metric carat is defined as 200 milligrams. Each carat is sub-divided into ‘100 points’. A 0.50ct diamond is the same as a ‘50 pointer’ or a half carat diamond.
It is often presumed that a 0.50ct diamond costs half of the price of a 1.00ct diamond, but this is not the case at all. Since larger natural diamonds are found less frequently, a 1.00ct diamond will cost much more than twice the price of a 0.50ct diamond, assuming that the other characteristics are the same or remarkably similar. To make things simpler online we offer diamonds in 0.33ct, 0.50ct, 0.75ct or 1.00ct.
The following video will provide you with more information about diamond carat weights….