Diamond

This section is will help you take the questions out of buying diamonds. Purchasing a diamond engagement ring or even diamond earrings is a mystifying ordeal for first-time diamond buyers. An informed and educated buyer is a more satisfied customer.
Whether you are buying your first diamond of have purchased diamond jewelry many times before, this section gives you all the important facts about the four "Cs" - cut, color, clarity and carat weight.

Shape or Cut
Throughout history, the shape of a finished diamond has taken on many provocative and seductive forms.
Such as the curvaceous Oval. The symmetrical Emerald. The delicate Pear. The bold Square. The elegent Marquise.
The precision and delicacy with which your diamond is cut will determine its brilliance, its fire and its ultimate beauty. The shape you select is a matter of individual taste and today your choice is only limitied by the skill and imagination of the craftsman. The round brilliant is the most popular shape, but there is a wide variety of others that range from the more traditional marquise, pear, emerald, oval, baguette, square or heart to the more fanciful and creative.

New Flower Cuts for example which were introduced quite recently are beginning to grow in popularity and are a unique marriage between the cutter's art and modern technology.

The Pear
The Pear shape diamond is eminently pleasing due to its irregular shape. It is not symmetrical, but round on one side and pointed at the other end. Certainly, two of the most famous Pear shape diamonds are "The indore Pears", which achieved international prominence in 1926 when an Indian ex-Maharajah bestowed them on an American heiress from the Pacific Northwest, who wore them as pendant earrings.

The Oval
The Oval shape diamond is distinctive for its feminine shape. A slightly elongated form, the Oval gives off a sparkling, "twinkling" appearance, catching and reflecting light from all directions. The resurgence of more feminine fashions makes the Oval a natural choice for today's sophisticated woman. One of the world's most famous Oval shape diamonds is the "Koh-i-noor", which resides in the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.

The Square
Diamond jewelry takes an architectural direction in clean-looking pieces featuring the Square shape also known as the Princess. The look is bold and aggressive. It is a cut that is more brilliant than a "carre" or baguette" because of the faceting, and creates a bright and scintillating look. The famous "Red Cross Diamond", an example of the square cut, has the distinction of also being a pale canary yellow, a color of diamond much sought after by Indian princes. At one point, it was assumed bought by a member of a European Royal Family; however, the identity of its present owner is unknown.

The Marquise
One of the most elegent diamond shapes is the marquise. The shape is oblong and characterized by pinpoint flashes of fiery brilliance that come to a point on both ends. This shape is often used as a center stone, mixing ovals and rounds as accent stones in contemporary mountings. It was named after the exquisite Madame de Pompadour, renowned marquise, duchess and mistress of Louis XV.

The Emerald
One of the more distinctive diamond shape ever, the Emerald shape diamond emphasizes the transparent beauty of the stone. Rectangular in outline, its four corners and left-right symmetry make it a symbol of discipline and order. In 1949, King Farouk of Egypt bought the "Jonker Diamond", an exquisite esample of an Emerald shape. But following his deposition and exile in 1952, its wherabouts remain a mystery.

Images of popular cut types.

The round brilliant is the most popular of all the polished shapes.
The oval is an adaptation of the round brilliant and appears larger than the round stone of the same carat weight.
The marquise is the name given to the diamond shape that is long and pointed at both ends.
The heart shape is perhaps the most romantic of what are known as the fancy shapes.
The emerald cut diamond is rectangular, with oblong facets on each side and across the corners.
The pear shape is the english name for French 'pendologue' which is related to our word pendant.
The square cut also known as the Princess cut creates a bright and scintillating look.

The Four C's
A diamond is judged by four distinct factors that combine to arrive at its value. These are called the four C's.

1. Carat Weight
As with all precious stones, the weight of a diamond is expressed in carats. The word carat originated in a natural unit of weight: the seeds of a carob tree. Diamonds were traditionally weighted against these seeds until the system was standardized and one carat was fixed at 0.2 grams (one fifth of a gram).

2. Clarity
Almost all diamonds contain minute traces of non-crystallized carbon or small non-diamond crystals. Most are not discernible to the naked eye and require magnification to become visible. Called inclusions, they are nature's finger print and make every diamond unique. However, the fewer there are, the rarer the stone will be.

Clarity, therefore, is the term that is used to indicate the extent to which the diamond you purchase is free of these natural phenomena.

There are four major grading systems for classifying diamonds - GIA, CIBJO, IDC and Scan D.N. - and an international standard (ISO) is soon to come into existence. At present a stone is termed flawless by the GIA if it is without surface characteristics or internal inclusions: foreign systems use the term Loupe Clean which equates to both flawless and internally flawless. Grades then gradually descend.

3. Color
Although the majority of gem diamonds appear to be colorless, others can contain increasing tinges of yellow or brown, some of which are referred to as champagne diamonds.

Rare stones of exceptional color - green, red, blue, pink, or amber are known as fancies.

4. Cut
Of all the 4C's, cut is the one most directly influenced by humans. The other three are dictated by nature. The cut or make of a diamond will dramatically influence its fire and sparkle, for it is the polisher's skill that releases its beauty.

It is the cut that enables a diamond to make the best use of light.

1. When the diamond is cut to good proportions, light is reflected from one facet to another and then dispersed through the crown or the top of the stone.
2. If the cut of the diamond is too deep, some light escapes through the opposite side of the pavilion or bottom.
3. If the cut is too shallow, light escapes through the pavilion or bottom before it can be reflected.

The Fifth C - Confidence in Your Jeweler
When you are ready to choose your diamond, see a reliable jeweler. They are the diamond experts and will be happy to explain the Four C's to you. They will tell you the difference between various qualities of diamonds and how these differences affect the price. Don't expect to find any "bargains" in diamonds - quality has its price.

Established jewelers prize their good reputation and will help you choose the best quality diamond, because they know you are looking for quality when you are making one of your most important purchases.

Other colored stones: