HOW TO SELECT A DIAMOND

Buying a diamond is a very personal experience and everyone has a different reason for purchasing one, along with different needs and considerations.

What you want from a diamond can vary greatly from what others are looking for, so it’s important that you have the information that is right for you before you select your gem. The more you know about diamonds, the more confident you will be about making the right choices. Our guide below will help you learn more about the most important facts you need to know before you choose your diamond.

We hear a lot about the importance of the 4Cs—the cut, colour, clarity and carat weight of diamonds. Here’s our insider guide to understanding what the gradings mean and why you need to look beyond them.

Click on the below tabs to learn more
No one can tell where a diamond is from by its appearance, so that should not be a factor to consider while making your selection. 

Diamonds are mined in different countries, and the most prominent producers are Russia, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Australia and Canada. 

Raw diamonds are cut and polished in India, South Africa, Belgium, Israel, Russia and the United States. Over 90% of the world’s diamonds—including those sold by top international jewellers— are cut and polished in Surat, India, which is the world centre for diamond cutting and polishing.

 Scintillation & Fire
The cut of a diamond greatly affects its brilliance or scintillation. A perfectly cut diamond will have balanced proportions and reflect the maximum amount of light, making it appear brighter and more sparkling. 
A diamond’s cut also determines its fire; how the white light is dispersed into rainbow colours within the gem. So, when choosing your diamond, these are all important factors. A great way to observe the fire is to compare two diamonds of a similar size and colour grade but different cuts.

To facilitate classification, The Gemmological Institute of America has a 5-scale grading system, ranging from “Poor” to “Excellent” based on seven factors: Brightness, Fire, Scintillation, Weight Ratio, Durability, Polish and Symmetry. You can always refer to the grading to understand the quality of the diamond.

It is also important to check on the polish and the symmetry to see if they are at par. The way each facet is polished during the cutting process determines how smooth it is. The symmetry refers to the uniformity of the proportion of facets when compared side by side. 

Fluorescence, especially in D-H color diamonds, might cause haziness or cloudyness inside the stone, which reduces its sparkle. So, its better to ensure that the fluorescence is ‘none’. 

Shape

The shape of the diamond is often confused with the cut. Diamonds come in many shapes and the most common are the following:

You may also come across vintage diamonds in older cuts that are no longer used as much, such as briolette, old mine, and rose cuts.

Tip: The cut of a diamond has an effect on how its clarity and colour are perceived. Cuts with more facets will disperse light more, as compared to step cuts such as Emerald and Asscher.

The cut of a diamond greatly affects its brilliance or scintillation. A perfectly cut diamond will have balanced proportions and reflect the maximum amount of light, making it appear brighter and more sparkling.

A diamond’s cut also determines its fire; how the white light is dispersed into rainbow colours within the gem. So, when choosing your diamond, these are all important factors. A great way to observe the fire is to compare two diamonds of a similar size and colour grade but different cuts.

To facilitate classification, The Gemmological Institute of America has a 5-scale grading system, ranging from “Poor” to “Excellent”based on seven factors: Brightness, Fire, Scintillation, Weight Ratio, Durability, Polish and Symmetry. You can always refer to the grading to understand the quality of the diamond.

It is also important to check on the polish and the symmetry to see if they are at par. The way each facet is polished during the cutting process determines how smooth it is. The symmetry refers to the uniformity of the proportion of facets when compared side by side.

Fluorescence, especially in D-H color diamonds, might be hazy or cloudy inside the stone, which reduces its sparkle. So, its better to ensure that the fluorescence is ‘none’.

How clear is clear? 
While you are making a decision, also remember that a diamond’s clarity is a very important factor in determining its beauty and value. Although a diamond may appear perfectly clear to the naked eye, GIA experts look deep into the stones for any flaws and grade them on an 11-point scale. 
What does this scale mean in practical terms?
Again, the decision on clarity is a personal choice depending on what you want from a diamond. If you want a flawless stone and are willing to pay more for it, then look for an F or IF clarity. The larger the stone, the more critical its clarity will be. Still, it’s important to note that unless the clarity is in the I range, most of the occlusions, even in SI stones, are not visible to the naked eye, and even less so if they have been set into a piece of jewellery.

The cut of a diamond greatly affects its brilliance or scintillation. A perfectly cut diamond will have balanced proportions and reflect the maximum amount of light, making it appear brighter and more sparkling.

A diamond’s cut also determines its fire; how the white light is dispersed into rainbow colours within the gem. So, when choosing your diamond, these are all important factors. A great way to observe the fire is to compare two diamonds of a similar size and colour grade but different cuts.

To facilitate classification, The Gemmological Institute of America has a 5-scale grading system, ranging from “Poor” to “Excellent”based on seven factors: Brightness, Fire, Scintillation, Weight Ratio, Durability, Polish and Symmetry. You can always refer to the grading to understand the quality of the diamond.

It is also important to check on the polish and the symmetry to see if they are at par. The way each facet is polished during the cutting process determines how smooth it is. The symmetry refers to the uniformity of the proportion of facets when compared side by side.

Fluorescence, especially in D-H color diamonds, might be hazy or cloudy inside the stone, which reduces its sparkle. So, its better to ensure that the fluorescence is ‘none’.

Different shades of colourless
D-coloured diamonds are rare and command the highest prices but in reality, you will not really see much of a difference between a D, E or F diamond. Even diamonds in the G-J range appear colourless to the naked eye and even more so when they are set into jewellery. 

If you are price conscious, you could select stones in the D-F group. However if you want the very best then you could go with the D or E range. 

The K and below diamonds have a stronger yellow tint visible to the naked eye and some are even used as a lower cost alternative to real yellow diamonds.  

The right way to examine a diamond’s colour is to place it face down, with the pointed tip upwards, on a white background. Choose the colour that you find most pleasing instead of the whitest stone. If you and most other people cannot see the difference in colour, paying so much more for a higher colour grade may be unnecessary.

Diamond color guide and grade chart
How big or heavy?

One of the primary things you will notice while selecting a diamond is its size, which will lead you to the weight of the stone, which are two very different aspects. Diamonds are not weighed in grams or ounces but carats, and a carat is equivalent to 0.2 grams or 0.007 oz. Carat weight can also be divided further by using points, with 100 points in one carat. A 1/4 (0.25) carat stone can also be expressed as 25 points. 

So here again, two stones can be of the same carats but look different in size. This is because some stones will have a larger table or face and can appear bigger. Others may be deeper and look smaller while having the same or more carat weight. Also, a diamond with twice the carat weight of another may not always look twice as large. Compare the options you have with regards to size, and then you could also see which ones weigh less. 

When selecting a larger diamond, here’s how you can save some money…  look for a stone which is in between the conventional or preferred carat weight options. Diamond cutters aim for round numbers or cutoff weights, and these usually cost more than a stone that weighs anything in between. These “magic numbers” are 0.5 carats, 0.75 carats, 0.9 carats, 1 carat, 1.50 carats, 2 carats and more. 

Look for a stone between these numbers, and it might just cost less. For example, a 1 carat diamond will cost significantly more than stones that are 0.98 carat, and a 1.98 carat stone will cost less than a 2.0 cut.