Buying a Diamond

Going diamond shopping can be equal parts daunting and exciting, especially in a market that’s populated by suppliers and dealers from far and wide. Search the web for diamonds for sale and you’ll find endless options to choose from.

Here at Pawan Jewellers, we want to make your diamond buying journey as easy and as smooth sailing as possible. This is why we have put together this simple guide to help you navigate the diamond market and make sure that you are getting your money’s worth.

Buying diamonds typically goes hand-in-hand with special milestones in life, ranging from engagements to birthdays, anniversaries, and other momentous occasions. As such, you could face a lot of pressure just to get your purchase right. To make matters even more confusing, diamonds go through an incredibly technical and sometimes intimidating valuation system made even more complex by the range of information that’s available on the subject. No wonder diamond shopping is an incredibly overwhelming prospect for most people.

If this sounds like you at the moment, don’t worry. Arming yourself with the correct information is important before you go ahead and take the plunge. Here are some expert tips to remember when shopping for this precious rock.

You’ve probably heard of the term ‘4Cs’ by now: Cut, Colour, Clarity, and Carat. When shopping for diamond, you will most definitely come across these all-important factors by which diamond’s quality is measured.

These are critical diamond properties that have a huge impact on the stone’s appearance, size, and overall value. All diamonds are unique in their own way and their appearance is mainly determined by the way they are cut, the colours they radiate, their clarity and purity, and their carat weight.

Carat refers to the weight measurement of diamond. It defines the physical weight of the stone.

The carat system is an age-old standard that takes back to the early 1900s. The weight of gemstones has been determined and measured in carats ever since.

A single carat is equivalent to 0.2 grams or 200 milligrams. Everything else being equal (cut quality, colour grade, and clarity), a diamond of a higher carat weight can be significantly more valuable (and therefore more expensive) than those of a lower carat weight.

A diamond’s appearance is significantly influenced by the colour that it produces. The colour scale that jewellers use when determining a diamond’s colour value range from D to Z (colourless to light yellow).

The value of a piece of diamond is generally scored by how closely it approaches the colourless spectrum. The less colour that it has, the higher its value.

Colourless diamonds exude light beams in a huge spectrum of colours, which likewise adds to its brilliance and beauty. This is why colour in a piece of diamond largely inhibits the gemstone’s ability to reflect the same kind of light.

Diamond has a clarity scale that is defined in 11 different grades, ranging from Flawless (F) to Included grade 3 (I3).

A flawless diamond is extremely rare because nature imprints its natural birthmarks into each piece of diamond in the form of inclusions, on a Flawless diamond there are no inclusions or clarity characteristics. These clarity characteristics are exactly what make each piece of diamond unique.

Nevertheless, the less visible these inclusions or blemishes are within a diamond, the greater its clarity, which is why diamonds that are graded high on the clarity scale are considered more valuable.

Cut defines the geometric proportions of a diamond—the way that it is cut affects its brilliance and sparkle. This is why precision and great craftsmanship are crucial to ensure the right proportions and the exact symmetry and polish. This way, the diamond’s magnificence is maximized and its brilliance is made to stand out.

It is true that clarity and colour contribute greatly to the appeal and value of a diamond, but it is the cut that ensures the symmetry of diamond’s facets, its proportions, as well as its ability to reflect and bounce light around. Out of the 4Cs of diamond, cut is often the most difficult to determine, especially to the untrained eye, as it is an incredibly scientific and technical aspect of quality that goes through a highly precise process.

Determining which of these aspects and characteristics you should focus on when shopping for diamonds is important so you will have an easier time choosing the right piece for the occasion. This way, you will know where and how to make compromises as you choose between potential pieces to buy. For instance, if the size is more important to you, you will know to prioritize size over colour and/or cut and vice versa.

The great thing about buying a diamond is that you never have to go through the process alone. Come by Pawan Jewellers and our experts will help you make the best choice based on your preferences and your price range.