Help Buying Diamonds

Help Buying Diamond Rings Information Sheet

When buying diamond rings either as a dress ring or as an engagement ring there are a few things to consider.

Budget

Have a fixed idea of budget in your mind as you come to decide what kind of diamond ring to buy. This is important as buying diamonds is always a trade off between the size of the diamond and the quality, but more on this later. Your diamond ring is obviously made up of the diamond itself and the ring that it will be set in. Each element influences the price as if you choose to buy platinum diamond rings this is going to be more expensive than one in white gold. The metal you choose is an important consideration because your wedding rings should also be from the same metal if this diamond ring is in fact your engagement ring.

The Diamond

If you are buying this diamond ring as a diamond engagement ring rather than simply a dress ring you will probably be looking for something just that little bit special. When buying a diamond there are, after the price, four main things that you will need to consider these are the Cut or shape of the diamond (for example a brilliant cut diamond is round), the Colour of the diamond i.e how white it is, the Clarity which rells you the level of imperfections in the diamond and what size they are, and finally Carat which is basically how heavy the diamond is and as diamonds are all of a very similar density it tells you more or less exaclty how big the diamond is. The main thing you obviously want to achieve is to get a diamond for your diamond ring that you and your partner will be happy with hopefully for the rest of your life. To help you with this quest please find below what each of these pices of the qulaity jigsaw will say about your diamond when you come to choose it. The next consideration you may have is the certification of the diamond, which is the independent validation that the diamond you have paid for is the diamond you have paid for the main ones are GIA, HRD, IGI, AGI and EGL, more details of these are given below.

1. Cut

The cut tells you the shape of the diamond and defines how it has been cut to that shape i.e the number of facets etc. A diamond that has been cut well will internally reflect light from one facet to another and reflect it through the top of the stone. This result is a display of brilliance and fire, which places well-cut diamonds as higher quality than deep or shallow-cut diamonds. Diamonds that are cut too deep or too shallow lose or leak light through the side or bottom, resulting in less brilliance and therefore value. They also don't look quite as pleasing to the eye.

Cut also refers to shape round, square, pear, or heart for example. The most popular diamond cut for diamond engagement rings is the brilliant or round cut diamond. Since a round diamond is symmetrical and capable of reflecting nearly all the light that enters, it is the most brilliant of all diamond shapes and hence its name.

Non-round shapes are generally referred to as "fancy shapes", these also have their own guidelines to be considered well-cut depending on the ultimate shape being strived for. The most popular fancy shape is the princess cut or square cut diamond. This is a particularly  efective shape if you have the same shape diamonds in your wedding ring. The Beautiful Company offers a full range of diamond solitaire rings with Brilliant (round) cut, Princess (square) cut, Marquise cut, oval cut, heart cut and pear cut diamonds all available. Diamond eternity and diamond side stone rings with a variety of cuts are also available some also have a mixture of cuts within the same ring!. If you have any queries or want a quote on a particular style of Diamond solitaire or diamond eternity ring, then "Contact Us".

2.Colour

The colour grading is basically how near to colourless the diamond is.Diamonds are found in virtually every colour imaginable but the most sought after are the white coloured ones..
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA)  has basically defined how diamonds are colour graded and the range is from D which is the most colourless grade (colourless) to Z which would be jet black..
Colour grading is done under controlled and repeatable lighting conditions so that colour grading can be standardised and the customer can be assured of what they are getting. 
Our made to order rings tend to come with colour H as a minimum which is a good white colour. There are also diamonds in intense shades of blue, green, yellow, orange, pink or ­ rarest of all ­ red. These diamonds are called coloured fancies and are extremely rare and highly treasured.

Here's a table that will hopefully help you understand the colour grades of diamonds:

We would recommend for a diamond engagement ring either a  diamond solitaire ring or a multi stone ring to be of at least colour H as this colour represents the best value for money, giving a diamond ring with a nice colour for and affordable price. If you have any queries or want a quote on a particular quality of diamond then "Contact Us".

3. Clarity

Clarity Refers to the presence of inclusions or imperfections in a diamond.

Like fingerprints every diamond and therefore every diamond ring is a unique creation. Therefore each diamond is as individual as the person who wears it. Naturally-occurring features known as inclusions provide a special fingerprint within the stone. Inclusions are imperfections within the diamond caused by minerals or fractures, appearing when the diamonds were created in the earth. To view these inclusions, jewellers use a magnifying glass called a "loupe". This allows jewellers to see a diamond at 10x its actual size so that inclusions are easier to see. The position and the size of the inclusions can affect the value of a diamond. There are very very few flawless diamonds found in nature, making these diamonds are very very valuable.

Diamonds are graded on a scale of perfection against the benckmark of flawlessness, this grade is known as the diamonds clarity, which was also established by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The clarity scale, ranges from F (Flawless) to Included (I), is based on the amount of the inclusions and how easy they are to see at a magnification of 10x.

It is sometimes possible to hide inclusions with the ring mounting, which means you can appear to have a better diamodn than is in fact the case and the inclusion doesn't spoil the beauty of a diamond to any body looking at the ring. An inclusion in the centre or face of a diamond could how the light reflects around the facets, if this happens it makes the diamond less brilliant.

The higher a diamond's clarity, the more brilliant, valuable and rare it is and the higher it is on the Diamond Scale

The Beautiful Company offers with all our made to order diamond solitaire rings and some of its diamond eternity rings all grades of clarity from P to VVS1 as we feel these clarity give the best balance of quality and affordability. For diamond solitaire rings with diamonds of 0.5 carat weight or below generally I clarity is fine as the size of the diamond means that any inclusions would be very difficult to see. For solitaires of 05 carat or higher we would recommend moving up to at least SI2 clarity so that there is no chance of seeing anything with the naked eye. For diamond eternity rings and diamond trilogy rings of 1 carat or less as each individual diamond is less than 0.5 carat then P clarity is generally fine. Any grade of diamond is available on request please "Contact Us" for a quotation.

4.     Carat

As previously mentioned the Carat is a measure of the weight of a diamond or with diamond rings, diamond pendants or diamond earrings it's also used to describe the total weight of diamonds the item has.
Carat is often confused with size even though it is actually a measure of weight. One carat is equivalent to 200 milligrams. One carat can also be divided into 100 "points." A .75 carat diamond is the same as a 75-points or 3/4 carat diamond.

Whilst you may expect diamond prices to go up proportionally ie a 1 carat diamond being twice the price of a 0.5 carat diamond all other things being equal this is in fact not the case. Larger diamonds are rarer and harder to find so the price of a diamond goes up exponentially with the size, and price rises are even more marked the higher the other quality factors are.

5.      Certification

GIA stands for the Gemological Institute of America and is the leading independent diamond laboratory and sets the standards and grades to which others adhere to and obviously is primarily based in America.

HRD is based in Antwerp one of the largest diamond dealing cities in the world and HRD can be said to be the leading diamond laboratory in Europe.

IGI stands for the International Gemological Institute and like HRD is one of the leading diamond laboratories in the world.

EGL stands for the European Gemological Laboratory whilst being less prestigious than the others is still a leading laboratory.

AGI stands for Antwerpse Gemologische Instelling is a premier diamond grading laboratory, which has its roots one in Antwerp one of the major diamond trading centres in the world. See http://www.agigems.co.uk/

All these laboratories can be researched on the internet so if you are thinking of choosing a diamond with a particular kind of certificate then it can help to research who is offering it.

The Ring

Having decided what size and quality you want the next consideration will be what design and metal of ring do you want your diamond to sit in. The diamond ring you are choosing must also go with any wedding rings that you are likely to choose. Many more people are choosing the wedding rings and diamond engagement ring at the same time so as to ensure compatibility.

Have a look on the site at the complete range of made to order rings and there is also another set of designs under the design your own diamond engagement ring section which can be delivered in 10 to 14 days.

We also offer diamond rings in a range of metals including gold, platinum and palladium.

Conflict Diamonds

You may have heard talk of conflict diamonds and are rightfully keen not to inadvertently buy a diamond ring classed in this way.

What are "Conflict Diamonds"

In 1998 it was discovered that UNITA, a rebel group in Angola was funding its war against a legitimate government by the control and sale of rough diamonds, these have since been known as "conflict diamonds" and rebel groups in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo also funded conflicts in this way. At its peak the trade in conflict diamonds was estimated to be less than 4% of annual rough diamond production and is now estimated to be less than 1%. But we believe that one diamond traded in this way is one too many, hence our efforts to get written assurances from all our suppliers that all our jewellery including our diamond solitaire and diamond eternity rings is conflict free. Also all the diamonds that have one of the certificates listed above are guaranteed by the laboratory not to come from a conflict diamond source.

I hop you have found our diamond ring buying guide helpful, if after reading this you still have some questions regarding buying your diamond ring then you can contact us through the site or call us on 01995606965.