Choosing A Diamond
Diamonds are one of nature’s miracles and, when superbly cut, their beauty is phenomenal. Each one is unique, making comparison part scientific, part aesthetic and part personal choice.
Diamond shape, the face-up outline shape of a diamond, is usually the first decision point and really comes down to choosing what you love. The classic round brilliant cut remains the most popular, but we see a huge demand now for ovals and emerald cuts. Other popular choices include cushion, radiant, pear and marquise – we can talk you through the differences and benefits of each.
The Traditional 4Cs
Cut
Diamond “cut” does not describe the shape of the diamond, but the quality of the angles, proportions, facets, and finishing details which determine, basically, how sparkly it is. This should be a focal point of diamond selection.
Colour
Whilst diamonds actually come in many colours, usually we are considering the normal D-Z colour range and are looking at how colourless the diamond is. Diamonds are colour graded face down and so we can often go lower in the colour scale than clients initially expect and still get a white-looking stone.
Clarity
This is how clean the diamond is of inclusions and blemishes. A higher clarity grade matters more for some diamond shapes than others. Diamonds are graded at 10x magnification so an inclusion that looks impactful on a diamond’s report might not be to the naked eye.
Carat
Carat weight is simply how much the diamond weighs. However, a diamond may appear to weigh more or less because of its cut. For example, if the diamond was cut effectively, the light from the top of the diamond will make it appear larger and conversely some stones hold too much weight at their thickest part, which is very inefficient and expensive.
However, these metrics on paper don’t come close to giving a buyer the full picture – they are a helpful starting point for comparing diamonds but diamonds need to be seen, in person, and evaluated by an expert eye in order to get the full picture and the best diamond for your money.
Each diamond has its own personality, which makes selecting one both exciting and daunting for the inexperienced. We will explain the unique characteristics of each stone we present to you, weighing up the trade-offs between the 4Cs, helping to select the perfect diamond for the purpose and budget.
Making the entire diamond selection process “Custom” to you and working alongside clients to deliver “Confidence” is why we named our business SixC.
Quality Assured
We only work with certified stones, usually GIA. This is because the diamonds are graded with a sophisticated system by professionals on a consistent scale. The grading institutions are independent of retailers and so there is no additional diamond quality assurance whatsoever buying a graded diamond from a high-end retailer vs an independent adviser. SixC personally checks every stone.