Diamonds are forever
Traditionally a diamond represents indestructible love. What do you have to pay attention to when buying a diamond? How can you save on diamonds? And all the things you didn't know yet about these precious, shiny gems. The perfect wedding band has a diamond in it. The word `diamond` comes from the Greek word ‘ademas’ which means untameable and uncontrollable love. Diamonds are the strongest and hardest mineral on earth and are formed in billions (!) of years. Most diamonds are found in volcanic rocks or rivers. When time passes they’re ‘pushed’ to the surface of the earth.
Alright, enough with the history lesson…back to the present: what do you have to pay attention to when you’re buying a diamond? And how can you save?
The four C’s
The price of a diamond is based on the four criteria below, also known as the four ‘’C’s”:
- cut
- clarity
- color
- carat (the weight)
Below we'll give you more details on each ‘C’ and advice on whether it's smart to save on this ‘C’ or not.
Cut is important!
Cut refers to the way the diamond is...well...cut. Facets are flat faces on gemstones. Gemstones commonly have facets cut into them in order for them to be able to catch the light better and shimmer and shine even more. The right symmetry and proportions make that the diamond will shine to its fullest potential.
A badly cut diamond, without the right symmetry, won’t reflect the light as beautifully, no matter how big and clear it may be. And you’ll be able to tell right away! Conclusion: to save on the cut is a definite no-no!
There are several possible facet arrangements:
- Brilliant: round with 58 facets
- Princess: a rectangular shape with 76 facets
- Oval: counts 56 facets
- Marquise: counts 56 facets in a lens shape
- Pear: 58 facets in the shape of a drop
- Heart: 59 facets
- Emerald: 48 to 50 facets
Color
A clear diamond is usually colorless. Exceptions exist, but they’re rare and a lot more expensive - like red, pink, back or blue diamonds. Some diamonds however, have a slightly yellow color. The color of diamond can be categorized on a scale by a letter code:
Colorless | D-E-F |
Near colorless | G-H-I-J |
Faint yellow | K-L-M |
Very light yellow | N-R |
Light yellow | S-Z |
To most people diamonds with an S-Z appreciation have too much color. Also N-R diamonds aren’t very popular in general. Diamonds in D-J however, are very popular and a good choice if you want to save a little money. In case of a color difference that isn't visible to you, the worth of the diamond will still decrease immediately in the eyes of a diamond dealer. So save on the color by choosing a diamond in the G-H-I-J classification, no one will ever be able to tell the difference!
Clarity
Clarity stands for how pure a diamond is. Cheaper diamonds often have some impurities on the stone. When a diamond is truly pure, the price goes up as well. There is a special table to determine the clarity of a diamond. This table lists the most clear to the least clear variants.
LC | Loupe-clean | There are no impurities visible by lens at all. |
VVS1 en VVS2 | Very very small internal characteristics | The impurities are almost impossible to find with a lens. |
VS1 en VS2 | Very small internal characteristics | The impurities are relatively easily found by lens. |
SI1 en SI2 | Small internal characteristics | The impurities are quite easy to find by lens. |
P1 | Pique 1 | The impurities are quite hard to see with the naked-eye when looking through the top side of the diamond. |
P2 | Pique 2 | The impurities are quite easily visible to the naked eye but hardly influence the shimmer of the diamond. |
P3 | Pique 3 | The impurities are easily visible to the naked eye and strongly influence the shimmer of the diamond. |
At a certain point the impurities are no longer visible to the naked eye. This is when you start paying for something your fiancé won’t even be able to see. When it comes to clarity it is therefore really a matter of what is visible and what isn't. This is a great ‘C’ to save on! Can’t find any impurities by the naked eye? Buy it!
Carat: bigger is better
The weight of a diamond is expressed in carats. A carat is 0.2 grams. The more carats, the more expensive the diamond is. To save on carats luckily is very easy to do!
Diamonds that have an exact weight, meaning an exact carat or an exact half carat, are dis-proportionally more expensive and just as beautiful (clarity, color, cut) as diamonds that don’t lie exactly on the whole and half points of the carat scale. So instead of a 2 carat diamond you might just as well buy a 1.95 carat diamond. This difference is so minimal that no one will ever be able to tell. Conclusion: save on carat, you'll make both your bride and your wallet happy!
Diamond saving tips
Now that you've read this all you know:
DO save on:
DO NOT save on:
What you might not know about diamonds yet
- Diamonds are pure carbon. Indeed: the stuff of which the inside of a pencil is made of. Of course a diamond is a couple thousand times more compressed. But still: strange idea…
- Carbon becomes diamond when heated to around a 1000 degrees Celsius (~1800 degrees Fahrenheit).
- When heated to 4000 degrees Celsius (7200 degrees Fahrenheit) a diamond vaporizes.
- Around 22%, Russia has the highest diamond production in the world.
- After Russia come 2. Botswana, 3. Congo, 4. Australia, 5. South-Africa, 6. Canada, 7. Angola, 8. Namibia, 9. Ghana, 10. Brazil.
- The red diamond is the rarest one in the whole wide world.
- Each and every ‘corner’ of a diamond has a different name.
- 80% of all diamonds is used for industrial purposes.
- There is also such a thing as synthetic diamonds. These can only be distinguished from the real ones in a laboratory.
- Diamonds are mined ever since the eighteenth century before Christ.
- In ancient times people believed diamonds possessed healing powers.
- When a rough diamond is polished it loses half of its weight.
Also make sure to check out the jewelers in our vendor directory.