Buying Diamond Jewellery

DIAMONDS Image of information sign for diamond education

The word 'diamond' is derived from the Greek word 'Adamas' meaning unconquerable and indestructible. Indeed, a diamond is the hardest natural substance known to man, and a natural diamond can be as old as 70 million to 3 billion years.

Whilst diamonds are mined in their rough form, specialist diamond cutters around the world cut the diamonds into shapes, each time attempting to maximise the sparkle, or "brilliance", of the diamond. The brilliant cut round diamond has traditionally been - and continues to be - the most popular of all shapes, but others such as the princess cut diamond(square), Emerald cut diamond (rectangular), pear cut diamond and heart shaped diamonds are growing in popularity.

The sparkle or "brilliance" and, therefore, the value of a diamond is determined by the interaction of its "4Cs" - Carat, Colour, Clarity & Cut. For more information on the terms used when buying diamond jewellery, please visit our Glossary of Terms.

CARAT

Weight (ct)	Size (mm)
0.01	1.3
0.02	1.7
0.03	2.0
0.04	2.3
0.05	2.4
0.10	3.0
0.15	3.4
0.20	3.8
0.25	4.2
0.30	4.4
0.50	5.2
0.75	5.9
1.00	6.5

The word "carat" is taken from the carob seeds that people once used in ancient times to balance scales. This was standardised in 1907 - one carat became 0.2 grams. Furthermore, one carat is divided into 100 "points". Therefore, 25 points is ¼ carat, 50 points is ½ carat and so on.

Diamonds are rare. The larger the diamond, the rarer it is - larger diamonds, therefore, have a greater value per carat. For that reason, the price of a diamond rises exponentially with its size. That is not always to say, however, that the larger the diamond, the more valuable it is compared with a smaller stone. This is dependent upon other factors as well.

For brilliant cut round diamonds, this table shows how carat weight reflects into size in millimetres for single stones.

Certain items displayed on our site are multi-stone items - therefore, the carat weight displayed is the combined total carat weight of the diamonds.

You should also note that earrings are always displayed using the combined carat weight. Therefore, a 0.50ct pair of earrings means that each diamond is 0.25ct in size.

COLOUR

The most valuable diamonds are colourless. They allow the most light to pass through the stone and create the most brilliance. However, very few diamonds are colourless , so most diamonds will have some yellow in them - the less yellow, the better. The colour scale goes from D to Z, with D being the most white and Z being the most yellow.

CLARITY

The clearer the diamond, the greater its brilliance, and the greater its value. Most diamonds have blemishes, called 'inclusions' which are nature's birthmark of the stone. These can be tiny traces of carbon (black spots), air pockets (white spots) or other naturally occurring phenomena. Diamond clarity ranges from diamonds without any flaws (flawless) to those that are visible with a magnifying glass, to those that are visible with the naked eye.

CUT

Whilst most people understand that the brilliance of a diamond is determined by its cut, it is a less well known fact that if a diamond is cut for size alone, it will almost certainly lose brilliance and, therefore, if it is cut primarily for brilliance, it will be probably lose size. We will always endeavour to ensure an excellent balance is maintained between the cut and the brilliance of every diamond we sell to ensure our customers receive the best of both characteristics - at the best price possible.

DIAMONDS & GEMSTONES AT THE DIAMOND JEWELLER

At www.thediamondjeweller.co.uk, we offer 3 grades of diamonds in our diamond jewellery.

'White' Diamonds - these are the UK standard offered by typical high street jewellers and are lovely white, sparkling diamonds, generally not assigned a specific colour and clarity grade due to the size of the stones. They are of "eye-clean" quality - in other words, you cannot see any inclusions with the naked eye.

'H/SI' Diamonds - these are diamonds which have a colour grade of H, and clarity grade of SI (using the international diamond grading system), which will provide even more sparkle and brilliance.

'G/VS' Diamonds - these are superior quality diamonds which have a colour grade of G and clarity grade of VS (using the international diamond grading system), resulting in fabulous white sparkling diamonds and, ultimately, an exceptional piece of diamond jewellery.

DIAMOND CERTIFICATION

A diamond certificate brings confidence and assurance in buying diamonds.

Certain product lines at www.thediamondjeweller.co.uk are supplied with an independent diamond grading certificate. These products are easily identifiable on our site by the certification logo on the product image, and reference to the diamond grading certificate in the product specification which accompanies the image. These diamond certificates are issued either by the IGI (International Gemological Institute), IGL (International Gemological Laboratory), or AnchorCert. All of these establishments are leading diamond appraisal houses, in which you can be fully confident of the grading your diamond jewellery has been assigned.

The IGI (International Gemological Institute) is the world's largest independent gemological certificate and appraisal institute. With offices worldwide and 450 industry experts dedicated to providing a high standard of excellence, IGI issues more than 1 million certificate per year. AnchorCert is the

diamond grading laboratory of the UK Assay Office, the UK's leading gemological authority.

Of course, if you require an item with even better diamond quality that we are displaying on our site, please contact us.

GEMSTONES

www.thediamondjeweller.co.uk also provides jewellery set with diamonds and gemstones. Certain gemstones have a special significance to many people, and are often used to represent special occasions such as anniversaries, for example.

"CONFLICT DIAMONDS"

Today, an illegal trade exists within the diamond industry whereby the profits generated by the mining of diamonds - predominantly in 3rd world countries - have been used to fund wars and terrorist activity. These are known as "conflict diamonds" or "blood diamonds". The prevalence of conflict diamonds ranges in estimates from anywhere between 1 -10% of the worlds diamond supplies. The Kimberley Process was established in 2000 between governments across the world in an attempt to eradicate this disgraceful activity, and we wholeheartedly support this initiative. To learn more about this important issue, please visit our conflict free diamonds page.

The Diamond Jeweller strives to assure, therefore, that all the diamonds used in our diamond jewellery are "conflict-free", whether it be in our diamond engagement rings, diamond eternity rings, diamond rings, diamond pendants, diamond earrings, diamond bracelets, diamond necklaces or diamond cufflinks. After all, a diamond is a beautiful symbol of love which must not be tarnished by a dark history. We sincerely hope that you too will share our ethical stance on this issue.

LUXURY BRANDED WATCHES

www.thediamondjeweller.co.uk also offers a range of luxury branded watches. This is not something you would normally find on the internet, as traditionally the UK public are FORCED to purchase these brands exclusively via upmarket jewellery shops in the high street, at an official RRP price set by the manufacturers. Due to our considerable buying power, however, we are able to purchase these branded watches via authorised dealers, and are therefore able to provide our customers with the 100% authentic watch at a discount. Current brands include Rolex, Breitling, TAG Heuer, Cartier, Omega, Longines, Zenith, Chopard, Patek Philippe, Jacob & Co, Jaeger LeCoultre, Ebel & IWC. For more information on what to look for, please visit our Buying Watches page.

DIAMOND SETTINGS

In the production of diamond jewellery, diamonds are set into precious metals in a variety of ways, and the terms used in the jewellery industry are outlined below;

CLAW SET - This is where the diamond is held in place 'prongs' of metal, normally 4 or 6 claws. Generally used on solitaire pieces of diamond jewellery such as diamond engagement rings, diamond pendants and diamond earrings, for example.
RUB-OVER SET - This is where the diamond is placed into a setting and the metal is 'folded over' the outer perimeter of the diamond. Generally used on solitaire pieces of diamond jewellery such as diamond engagement rings, diamond pendants and diamond earrings, for example.
CHANNEL SET - This is where a series of diamonds are set with 2 'strips' of precious metal either site. This style is most common in diamond eternity rings.
PAVE SET - This is where many small diamonds are set into the precious metal. This style is commonly found on diamond pendants, giving the impression that the item is made entirely from diamonds, as very little metal can be seen.

PRECIOUS METAL JEWELLERY & HALLMARKING

It is a legal requirement in the UK for all precious metal jewellery sold to the UK public to be "hallmarked". The hallmarking process is carried out by the UK Assay Office and tests the purity of the precious metal in the diamond jewellery item.

At www.thediamondjeweller.co.uk, in the production of our diamond jewellery, we use both 9kt and 18kt white and yellow gold, and 950 grade platinum - UK industry standards. It is also worth noting that under EU regulations, all earrings sold in the UK must be nickel-free. All earrings sold by www.thediamondjeweller.co.uk comply with this legislation.

Please visit our precious metals page for more information.

www.thediamondjeweller.co.uk guarantees that all our diamond jewellery, whether it be our diamond engagement rings, diamond eternity rings, diamond rings, diamond pendants, diamond earrings, diamond bracelets, diamond necklaces or diamond cufflinks are hallmarked as your guarantee of quality.

Customer Service Helpline - Tel 0845 355 1164 (8am-8pm daily)
info@thediamondjeweller.co.uk
Or click here to visit our list of Frequently Asked Questions