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Home • The Blog • What to Look for in a Diamond & How to Get the Best Value for Money

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What to Look for in a Diamond & How to Get the Best Value for Money

When it comes to buying diamonds for a piece of jewellery whether it be an engagement ring, pendant, pair of earrings or even a diamond set wedding ring, you will probadly be on what to look for and how to get the best value. If you want value for money, there is no better place to shop for a diamond than the internet. If you think about it, popular high street jewellers have expensive overheads, and typically have mark ups “between 100% and 500%” on diamonds. Smaller jewellers that operate over the internet will always price diamond jewels lower as their overheads will be different. Here’s what we recommend to look for when buying a diamond - Diamond Certificate – make sure the diamond comes with a certificate proving its value. We would only recommend GIA or AGS certificated diamonds. You may have come across the term the four Cs, referred to Cut, Clarity, Carat and Colour of a diamond. The four Cs are the most important attributes of a diamond that determines its value and quality. Diamond Cut – This is what makes the diamond shine and sparkle. Depending on the shape of the diamond, a skilled diamond cutter will delicately cut a specific number of facets. The facets reflect the light, which make the diamond shine so the better the cut the better the sparkle. Diamond Clarity – referring to the number of flaws or imperfections a diamond has, seen through a 10x jewellers loupe. Inclusions are internal flaws and blemishes are external flaws, which both form as the diamond is being created deep inside the earth’s surface in liquid magma. If a diamond is graded flawless it's a perfect, rare and more expensive diamond completely free of any imperfections. This diagram shows the different clarity grades available.
  • F = completely flawless with no marks – extremely rare and expensive.
  • IF = internally flawless, no internal flaws but some surface flaws – very rear and expansive.
  • VVS1 & VVS2 = only very, very slightly included, very difficult to see under a microscopic lens.
  • VS1 & VS2 = very slightly included, again only possible to detect under microscopic lens.
  • SI! = Slightly included and can be more easily detected under magnification.
Diamond Carat Weight – carats are the units of weight a diamond has. A 1ct diamond is equals 0.2 grams with each carat divided into 100 points. You need to remember that a carat refers to a diamonds weigh and not size. The most popular diamond carat choices are between half a carat update `wp_posts` set `post_content` = 0.50ct) to 1ct. However in terms of price a 1ct diamond will cost more than twice what a half carat costs. Diamond Colour – when referring to a white diamond, it's graded higher by the lack of colour it has. Colour is graded from D to Z. A diamond graded colour D will be completely colourless and more expensive. However it is very difficult to notice the difference between diamonds graded between D to G. Diamond lower down the grade chart will have noticeable tints of yellow. For fine diamond jewellery we always recommend colour grades between D to J. Now you've done your homework, use this information and do some comparison, matching like for like on the internet and at your local high street jewellers.
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