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Looking for a diamond? Or perhaps you have just started the search for a diamond and don’t know where to begin? You came to the right place! Our extensive knowledge of diamonds and diamond grading combined with our experience, gives us the expertise in the field that will be able to find the perfect diamond for you at the best price the world has to offer from world leading diamond suppliers! When looking for a diamond, there are specific criteria we must decide, some of which are more important to some of us than others and this is where our help comes in eliminating the options and selecting the perfect diamond for you!
Would you like to learn more about diamonds and how to select the best one under which criteria? Feel free to read the information below or schedule an appointment with us at our Sydney Showroom!
Please schedule a free consultation below for your time of convenience to meet at the Sydney showroom with our Award-Winning jewellery designer and gemologist Maria!
Diamond Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight are collectively termed the 4Cs – the factors that, when combined, define a diamond’s quality and ultimately determine its value. GIA created the 4Cs of Diamond Quality , which has become the universal method for assessing the quality of any diamond, anywhere in the world. The creation of the 4Cs means that diamond quality can be communicated in a universal language so diamond purchasers know exactly what they are buying.
GIA’s diamond color grading system measures the absence of color, starting with D as colorless and continuing to Z representing light yellow or brown. The distinctions between color grades are so subtle that they are often invisible to the untrained eye but can make a big difference in diamond quality and price.
A diamond’s cut determines its sparkle. To fashion a stone with proportions, symmetry and polish worthy of an excellent cut grade requires artistry and workmanship. The finer the cut quality, the more sparkle the diamond has.
Natural diamonds form from carbon exposed to tremendous heat and pressure deep in the earth. Diamonds often contain clarity characteristics, called inclusions or blemishes. Inclusions are enclosed within the gem and blemishes are on the surface of the diamond. If all else is equal, the closer a diamond is to flawless, with no inclusions or blemishes, the higher its value.
Diamond weight is measured in carats. One carat is equal to 0.2 gram, about as heavy as a paperclip. Since larger diamonds are more rare, they will cost more than a smaller gem with the same color, clarity and cut grades.
The GIA Diamond Grading Report includes an assessment of a diamond’s 4Cs – Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight – along with a plotted diagram of its clarity characteristics and a graphic representation of the diamond’s proportions. GIA Diamond Dossier® includes these without the graphical representation of the clarity characteristics. The GIA laboratory issues diamond grading reports for loose, natural diamonds in the D-to-Z color range that weigh 0.15 carats or more.
Established in 1931, GIA protects the public through gemological research, education, impartial gem identification and grading services, and instrument development. The world’s foremost authority in gemology, GIA sets the global standard for determining the quality of diamonds and performs research-based identification of colored gems and pearls. GIA created the GIA Diamond Grading Report and the International Diamond Grading SystemTM, providing all who buy or sell gemstones with a common language for describing diamond quality. As an independent nonprofit organization, all of GIA’s activities are governed by its mission to serve the public.
GIA
fluorescence is the visible light some diamonds emit when they are exposed to invisible ultraviolet (UV) rays. On a GIA diamond grading report, fluorescence refers to the strength, or intensity, of the diamond’s reaction to long- wave UV, which is an essential component of daylight. The light emitted lasts as long as the diamond is exposed to the ultraviolet source.
While treatments can improve a stone’s color or clarity, the presence of such enhancements may affect the diamond’s value – particularly if the price reflects its appearance after treatment. Buyers have a right to know whether a stone is natural, a diamond simulant or a diamond created in a lab, and whether or not the stone has been treated to enhance its appearance.
While the appearance of diamond simulants is similar to that of natural diamonds, they are not diamonds. Common diamond simulants include glass and cubic zirconia (CZ), both of which are completely unrelated to diamond at the atomic level. Simulants are generally less expensive than the real thing. They allow consumers to enjoy the flash and dazzle of diamond-like jewelry and to inexpensively complement the latest fashion trend. But no matter how convincing the illusion, all diamond simulants have optical and physical characteristics that can be identified by a trained gemologist.
A lab-grown diamonds (sometimes called man-made or synthetic diamond) is the result of a technological process, as opposed to the geological process that creates natural diamonds. Lab-grown diamonds have essentially the same chemical composition, crystal structure, optical and physical properties of diamonds found in nature. Most lab-grown diamonds are categorized as either high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamonds, depending on the method of their production. Since HPHT and CVD diamonds grown in a laboratory are virtually identical to natural diamonds, differences only become clear when they are analyzed in a gem laboratory.
Natural diamonds are the result of carbon exposed to tremendous heat and pressure deep in the earth. This process can result in a variety of internal characteristics called ‘inclusions.’ Many diamond clarity and blemishes are too tiny to be seen by anyone other than a trained diamond grader. This is why expert and accurate assessment of diamond clarity is extremely important.
Flawless (FL): No inclusions and no blemishes are visible to a skilled grader using 10x magnification
Internally Flawless (IF): No inclusions and only blemishes are visible to a skilled grader using 10x magnification
Very, Very Slightly Included (VVS): Minute inclusions that range from extremely difficult to very difficult to see are visible to a skilled grader using 10x magnification
Very Slightly Included (VS): Minor Inclusions that range from difficult to somewhat easy to see are visible to a skilled grader using 10x magnification
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