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Articles > How to buy a diamond |
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How to buy a diamond
Diamond, as a girl best friend, is like a window for its owner. She shows out how carefully you are when come to selecting things for yourself. She is small but very high value. The good quality diamond always sparkle more when you put on even she is set in the simplest setting.
To know diamond’s quality, we always look for 4Cs, which are color, clarity, cutting, and carat weight. Each characteristic should balance one another. For example, colorless diamond with a lot of inclusions and poor cutting would not be as nice as lower in color but pure in clarity and has a very good to excellent cutting.
The best way to see diamond’s true quality is to look at the loss diamond. This way, setting could not hide some chips or inclusions, its poor cutting, and its true color.
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Start with the first C in a row: Color. With pure carbon, diamond always has no color, which called colorless. This kind of diamond is very difficult to find; thus, very expensive. To see diamond true color here are some rules:
1. Place diamond table down on white paper under day light (not the yellow light as in jewelry stores always use).
2. Look at the diamond around 45degree.
3. Compare the diamond with diamond color master since human brain is not good at remembering color. In case that you could not find diamond color master, compare diamond with at least two diamonds – one in a higher color another in a lower.
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To decide what color of diamond you should look for depends on occasion of usage and your preference. Diamond in colorless zone ( D to F) would be the most beautiful when set in white gold or platinum setting for day time party or at night under the moonlight. With tint yellow (G to J), diamond would look neutral in both white gold and yellow gold setting and it would also be nice in both day and night time; while diamond with color from K below would also look stunning on yellow gold under party light (incandescent – yellow light like in Five star hotel and jewelry stores use).
Secondly, Clarity plays as another big role for diamond’s sparkling and brilliance. Too big and misplaced of inclusions would bar light to reflect back to your eyes; thus, diamond could not show its best characteristics - sparkle and brilliant - which separate diamond from other color stones. To use as a beautiful jewelry piece, we always recommend our clients to select diamonds with clarity of Very Slightly Included 1 (VS1) or above since the clarity would be clear enough for light to pass and reflect back to your eyes. However, in the real market, VS1 varies. It would be a much better idea to buy diamond that has been graded by well-recognized international gemological institution such as GIA (Gemological Institution of America) and HRD. This way you will be more comfortable that you have got the diamond at the same quality that you have been looking for.
FL : Flawless
IF : Internally flawless
VVS1 : Very very slightly included 1
VVS2 : Very very slightly included 2
VS1 : Very slightly included 1
VS2 : Very slightly included 2
SI1-2 : Slightly included 1 to 3
I1-3 : Included 1 to 3
Third, Cutting always determind how a piece of diamond would sparkling on your movement when you wear it. Nice cut diamond would have a good symmetry and finishing. Symmetry in every facets and neat finishing (each facets has sharp point with well-connected from one to another) would separate one diamond as an outstanding from the normal one. One client bought an ideal cut of heart shape diamond ring from us was so happy when she has got a commence from her friend who sat behind the room but could recognize her ring even she was in the front of the room . To grading cut, we grade them into five steps: poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent. When it is your time to buy, go for very good or excellent cut because these diamonds would never let you down.
The last C is Carat weight. Diamonds always lost 50 to 70% of their weight when count from rough to become a nice, well cut piece. This is why 1.00 carats diamond is not just twice the price of 0.50 carats (usually can be more than twice). To us, size is not a big matter. Ladies who has small ears and oval faces would look nicer if she wear the right size of diamond ear stud.
Being a good taste for wearing diamond is alike your selection of clothes. Design, cutting, color tell people how neat your pieces have been carefully made and selected. Wearing the right size also tells how you take care of yourself and your image. Only the right combination would speak out for you as a quiet communication that people perceive.
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