diamond buying guidelines

• Make sure that you are buying from a jeweler that is a member of the Jewellers Association of Australia. This is a regulating body that binds all its members to moral selling regulations.
• Ask as many questions — a reputable jeweller will actually spend time answering all your queries and help you find the diamond that is a perfect fit to both your standards and price range.
• Explicitly ask if the diamond has been treated and if it is, ask what are the effects of the treatment.
• Examine the diamond under good lighting conditions.
• Ask for a grading certificate from an independent laboratory GIA (Gemological Institute of America) if you’re looking to purchase a 0.5 carat diamond or more.
• Upon paying a deposit, request a detailed receipt enumerating the characteristics of the diamond and any linked piece of jewellery.

carat

Carat is a unit of weight for precious stones and pearls. One carat is equivalent to 200mg and is split into 100 points. However, small weight differences that are virtually invisible to the naked eye – say a 0.99 carat compared to a 1 carat diamond – can actually make a huge difference to the stone’s value.

All things considered, weight isn’t the only factor that determines the value of the diamond. A smaller high-quality diamond may be worth more than a larger one of lesser quality.

cut

Cuts in a diamond refer to the shape that the raw diamond has been cut into. The three common possibilities are brilliant (round), marquise (pointed oval) and princess (square). Request to see different samples of diamonds with different cuts and go with the one you prefer or with the one you think will look best on the intended wearer of the sparkle. The higher the standard of the cut and the quality of the finish, the more brilliant is the diamond.

Clarity

Because diamonds are formed deep within the earth and went through extreme pressure and heat for millions of years, virtually all diamonds contain “birthmarks” – imperfections or foreign materials (like other stones or minerals) called “inclusions”. Diamond clarity may be the least important of the 4Cs because more often than not, most of the inclusions are microscopic.

A diamond’s clarity grading is what’s used to tell you if inclusions are present. There are different grading systems – ranging from flawless (loupe-clear) to a small inclusion that can only be seen through a 10x loupe (VS1), and finally, to those visible to the naked eye (I3 or P3).Needless to say, the fewer the inclusions, the higher the grading and the more expensive the stone.

colour

Diamonds come in a wide range of colors but a perfect diamond is colourless. The presence of a yellow tint will lower the price of the diamond. The clearer body color of the diamond, the more colors it will reflect; therefore, the greater the value.

The diamond industry follows the GIA diamond color scale. The GIA grades diamonds on a scale of D (exceptional white) up to Z (tinted, usually yellow and sometimes brown). All D-Z scale diamonds are considered white.