Diamonds

Diamond is a naturally occurring form of carbon crystallised at extremely high temperatures and pressure. In nature, diamonds were formed around 200 km below the earth’s surface approximately 3500 million years ago. Diamond is by far the hardest of all known natural substances.

The diamond is more than just aesthetically beautiful — it is an enduring symbol of love, romance and commitment.

Diamond Cut

The cut grade measures how the individual proportions combine to effect the beauty of a diamond.

Diamonds with a high cut grade will have a high degree of brightness, fire (rainbow colours) and scintillation (sparkle).

High cut grades include “Excellent” and “Very Good”, midrange includes “Good” and the lower end indicates “Fair” or “Poor”.

Diamond Colour

The diamond colour scale extends from D (colourless) to Z (heavily shaded/coloured eg. yellow or brown). Although, many people think of gem quality diamonds as colourless, truly colourless diamonds are actually very rare. Most diamonds used in jewellery are nearly colourless with very light tints of yellow or brown.

Colour grades are determined by comparing each diamond to a master set. Each letter grade represents a range of colour and is a measure of how noticeable a colour is.

Fluorescence – some diamonds can emit a visible light when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, but fluorescence is not a factor in determining colour or clarity grades. However, a description of its strength and colour is often provided on diamond grading reports as an additional identifying characteristic.

Diamond Clarity

All diamonds contain imperfections. Diamonds are formed under tremendous heat and pressure, therefore, it is extremely rare to find a diamond that lacks any internal and external characteristics.

These characteristics are a by-product of its formulation and help gemologists separate natural diamonds from synthetics, stimulants and identify individual stones.

Carat Weight

Diamond weight is measured in carats.

One carat equals 200 milligrams in weight. For diamonds under one carat, each carat is divided into 100 points (similar to cents in a dollar).
0.75 ct = 75 points,   0.50 ct = 50 points