DIAMOND BUYING GUIDE

Admired for strength and brilliance, diamonds are popular in the UK, mainly set in engagement and wedding ring designs. Along with sapphires, rubies and emeralds, diamonds are few gemstones that are considered truly precious. If you’re looking to buy diamond jewellery, take a look at our guide below which outlines the standards for diamond grading.

THE FOUR C'S

The four C’s relate to a diamond’s carat, colour, cut and clarity. All should be taken into account when buying and valuing diamonds. Being naturally varied and rare, the four C’s are helpful in deducing diamond quality. Be sure to consider all the four C’s when buying a diamond. If carat weight is the most important factor for you, you could save on the colour, clarity etc.

CARAT

Diamond carat refers to the weight of the gemstone. A carat is equivalent to 200 milligrams and within each carat a hundred decimal points can be measured. Whilst heavier carat weight usually signifies higher price, significant jumps in price can be made between the parameters of each carat, with a 0.99ct diamond and 1.01ct diamond price sometimes varying drastically.

COLOUR

Diamond colour is graded on an alphabetic scale ranging from D (white and most sought after) through to Z (usually cheapest and tinged with colour.)

Although coloured diamonds are becoming increasingly fashionable with the discovery of the Hope Diamond and the use of yellow Canary diamonds in celebrity engagement rings amongst others, white or colourless diamonds remain the most commonly adorned.    

CUT

The cut of a diamond can greatly affect its lustre and brilliance. A well cut diamond will showcase a better play of light and truly outshine anything in its wake. See our gemstone shapes and cuts page for more information about diamond cuts and how to get the best out of each.

CLARITY

Diamond grading includes the measured range of clarity as noted in inclusions and flaws within each gemstone. Inclusions and flaws are imperfections that can be seen with or without the untrained eye. The GIA grade diamond clarity with the following conventions:

Flawless F diamonds are relatively rare, extremely expensive and perfect jewellery quality. At the other end of the scale are I3 diamonds that will have flaws that are visible to the eye. Depending on the size and purpose of the diamond, clarity can be more or less important in your buying decision. Gemondo’s diamonds range from ‘Very Very Slight’ to much cheaper ‘Included’ stones which are predominantly used for decorating larger coloured gemstone pieces.

CONFLICT FREE DIAMONDS

All Gemondo diamonds are conflict free. We take pride in extremely close links with our suppliers, who guarantee the stones that we use in our jewellery.