Things to know before buying a diamond?

Buying a diamond?

Buying a diamond is a huge investment - it can cost a lot depending on the size and quality of the diamond. The real diamond buying is definitely a confusing process like when it comes to purchasing diamonds so the question comes from which shops to purchase, what quality to buy, will there be any certification for the diamonds you can get, and many others. By this blog, I will try to give you a little bit of knowledge in simple words so you can learn and understand while shopping for diamonds with complete confidence. 

Things to be taken into consideration:

While anyone wants to buy a diamond, there are many prospective to learn or understand. Starting directly with the steps which will help you in your buying process.

Understanding the 4Cs of Diamond Quality:

Diamond quality is determined by four specific characteristics that are evaluated and graded by a highly skilled and trained professional. The 4Cs of diamonds include the cut, color, carat and clarity. Each of these four factors is measured against the respective ranking system developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The quality report is generated by many institutions like GIA, IGI and many more,  noting the color, cut, shape, defects and many things, for each stone. Here is what you should know about each of the 4Cs.

Cut 

The Cut of a diamond can be of many types but an excellent cut will give a proper shining and luster to a diamond. If for example, the color of a diamond is premium white quality that is D, but the cut for the same is fair the diamond will show less shining and sparkle than the one with different white quality diamond with ideal cut. The GIA cut grading system was specifically designed for the evaluation of standard round diamonds with color grades ranging from D to Z, though it can also be adapted to other shapes as well. The six grades are Ideal, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair and Poor.

Color

Once the diamond cut is determined, it’s important to consider the color of a diamond. The diamonds occur in a variety of colors – steel grey, white, blue, brown, yellow, pink to purple, red and black. The pure diamonds are perfectly transparent and colorless. The most colored diamonds used are White, yellow and brown. Other colors are considered as a fancy color. And according to the GIA color grading scale begins with the grade D, representing a perfectly colorless diamond, and continues to grade Z, with each subsequent letter of the alphabet delineating an increasingly strong hue. These can be categories in mainly fives, to acknowledge that some grades are similar in appearance and value. 

These catagories are colorless, near colorless, faint, very light and light.

Categories	Gradings
Colorless	D,E,F
Near Colorless	G,H,I,J
Faint	K,L,M
Very light	N,O,P,Q,R
Light	S to Z

Clarity

Clarity here refers to the degree to which the imperfections or defects are present in the diamonds. Considering the number of Inclusions is an important part while buying a diamond. The inclusions can be small, medium or large and in an inconspicuous place. So, to understand it better, what kind of categories are their will be a great help while buying a diamond. So, there is the table down below mentioning the gradings with the determing factors.

INTERNATIONAL CLARITY GRADING:

Category	Grade	Determining factors
Flawless	FL	No inclusions are visible under microscope
Internally Flawless	IF	NO inclusions are visible under microscope but a very minute on the surface of the diamond.
Very Very Slightly Included	VVS-1	Inclusions are very minute and difficult to see from naked eyes.
Very Very Slightly Included	VVS-2	It denotes less than VVS-1, as have a bit of more inclusions than VVS-1.
Very Slightly Included	VS-1	Inclusions are very small but visible, under 10x magnifications.
Very Slightly Included	VS-2	Inclusions are visible quite easily than in VS-1
Slightly Included	SI-1	Inclusions are visible from the very first look under the 10x magnifications.
Slightly Included	SI-2	Inclusions are seen very frequently than SI-1.
Included	I-1	Inclusions can be seen without lens, with some efforts given.
Included	I-2	Inclusions can be seen from the naked eyes and without any efforts.
Included	I-3	Inclusions affects the brilliance and structure of a diamond, fully defective.

Carat

1 CARAT = 100 CENTS

It is truly a measure of the weight of the diamond. Diamond weight is so precise that polished diamond is weighted to a thousandth of a carat and then rounded off the third decimal. So, in simple words the carat is the weight of the diamond which means the larger the stone, larger will be its weight and higher will be the prices. So, it’s very important to know the carat weight while purchasing the diamond. A simple example will help you to understand, If I want to purchase a diamond and I have a budget of say 10,000 bucks and for say the I’m looking for 1 carat diamond with the color of white premium D, and it cost me like 15,000 bucks, and if I don’t have that much budget and also I don’t want to compromise on the color quality, what can I do is I can select the diamond less than 1 carat, which can be under my budget and without compromising on my needed quality.


4Cs of Diamond Quality - which can be chosen over all?

All 4Cs are important while buying a diamond, but in my opinion every person should select the cut of diamond above all the other Cs.

Example: 

When it comes to buying a sparkly diamond, many beginners simply look at the 4Cs and the grading scales to make a purchase decision.
The biggest misconception and mistake that first-time shoppers make is to assume that high clarity (e.g. Internally Flawless) and high color (e.g. D rating) are required for a diamond to be beautiful and sparkly. As a result, many beginners place their priorities in the wrong Cs and end up paying a lot more for features that their eyes can’t see. So, In my opinion, CUT is the most important diamond quality one should pay attention to.

WHY??

Well, having better cut quality means that the diamond has better light coming back, sparkle and proportions. This directly improves the face-up size of the diamond due to better edge-to-edge brightness. Which makes the diamond looks bigger and more shinning or Sparkling.

After the 4Cs, then comes the Grading Report or Institutional Certificates for the diamond which is provided by the many laboratories like GIA, IGI, EGL and many more. Down below are some guidelines for understanding the Grading Reports.

ASK FOR THE GRADING REPORT

Important question will there be any proof of the quality of diamond? The answer is Yes, there are many different laboratories in the world which helps to understand the diamonds better. As an unbiased, scientific grading report will provide the information on the diamond you are purchasing and act as proof of the stone’s quality as well. Typically, these reports come from the laboratories like GIA or IGI or many more, providing a proper certification of the quality of diamonds that have been tested. Providing down below the sample of diamond certification comes from GIA, Gemological Institute of America.

Now, the main question arises in the mind - Where to buy from?

When it comes to buying diamonds, it’s important to purchase it from who have the proper training that makes you feel you can trust, such as a dimaond jewellers or gemologist. Select this person with as much attention as you would go to a doctor, or other trained professional. The right person to work with will be armed with the appropriate training, open to questions, and able to explain things easy and in clear ways. They will not make you feel uninformed, belittled or swindled. And they will work according to your needs, requirement and provide you with the best suggestions and advices.

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