“NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU ARE FROM, OR WHAT SIZE DIAMOND YOU POSSESS
THE EMOTIONAL CONNECTION THAT A DIAMOND EVOKES IS UNDENIABLE.”
A diamond is the most prized of the gemstones, it symbolizes the timelessness characteristic of love, commitment and purity. It is of utmost importance, that you as an individual who desires to possess one of these special artefacts to learn and understand what it is and how to determine its purity and quality.
With this being said, it is important for you to note that nowadays there are 2 main types of diamonds present, the first: natural diamonds and secondly: man-made synthetic diamonds. At 8HEARTS, we only deal with 100% natural / earth-made diamonds as with the 85 million years of history contained with each individual piece, we believe they truly embody eternal passion and dedication.
While each diamond is unique, all round diamonds share certain attributes that allow their comparison and evaluation. These features are commonly know as the 4Cs :
- cut
- colour
- clarity
- carat weight
Diamonds at 8HEARTS are of colour: D-H, clarity: IF-VS, and cut: Ideal Hearts & Arrows; all other diamonds do not meet the quality and value standards at 8HEARTS.
DIAMOND CUT
The cut of a diamond, strictly dependent on the craftsmen who carefully refines the diamond, can be defined by the number, exact shape and the alignment of each facet; the beauty of a truly well-cut diamond, however, lies in how well the stone reflects light that touches it, not just its shape. A poorly cut diamond will appear lifeless and dull, where as a diamond that is cut well will exude brilliance and possess a fiery and scintillating appearance.
The cut of a diamond plays a significant role in determining the quality of a diamond.
Ideal Cut
An ideal perfectly cut diamond has has very exact proportions with very tight size tolerances, precise angles, excellent polish and excellent symmetry, and will appear larger and brighter than other diamonds of the same carat weight. Due to the “perfect” cut, brilliance, fire and scintillation required by the “ideal cut diamond” it ensures that it refracts light to produce the perfect amount of fire and brilliance allowing the diamond’s beauty to stand out.
Hearts and Arrows Cut
A special subcategory of the ideal cut diamond, is the Hearts & Arrows Cut.The Hearts & Arrows Ideal Cut diamond is cut to an even more precise proportion and symmetry than the traditional ideal cut diamond. When looking at H&A diamonds from the table down, a radial pattern of 8 arrows is visible, and when looking at H&A diamond from the pavilion up, a radial pattern of 8HEARTS with “V”-shapes is visible. Since these diamonds are cut to exacting standards,they reflect and refract light to the fullest extent possible and hence are the best performing diamonds in the market – less than 1% of diamonds in the world are H&A ideal cut diamonds.
This level of perfection can be acquired only with immense expertise in diamond cutting, which is what we at 8HEARTS and our in-house craftsmen ensure! All the diamonds from 8HEARTS and our parent brand V&V Jeweldiam are Hearts & Arrows Ex.Ex.Ex. Plus cut diamondswhich refers toexcellent cut, excellent polishandexcellent symmetry.
3 properties that define the performance of a well-cut diamond are :
Brilliance: to the reflection of white light
Fire: the dispersion of light into the colours of the rainbow
Scintillation / Sparkle: the contrast between dark and light areas
DIAMOND COLOUR
The colour of a white diamond is graded on a scale from D-Z.
Colourless Diamonds (D, E, F): The rarest and most expensive group of diamonds. D is the highest colour grade for a diamond. Stones belonging to this colour grade are colourless and white. E and F colour graded diamonds have very very slight traces of colour in them that remain undetected unless examined by an expert gemologist. Such diamonds are best mounted on white gold or platinum. Yellow gold are generally avoided as the diamond will look more yellow than it is.
Nearly Colourless (G, H, I, J): This colour grade displays nearly no colour but very slight traces can be visible my a gemologist. The diamonds in this category appear colourless to the naked eye.
Faint Colour (K, L, M): Diamonds in this colour grade possess a slight tint of yellow that can be seen even with the naked eye. Due to this, diamonds of this group are not as desirable. They are also not as rare.
Very Light Colour (N, O, P, Q, R): This group of diamonds has visible colour. Often the colour is a tint of yellow or brown. 8HEARTS does not promote diamonds in this colour range.
Light Colour (S-Z): The diamonds belonging to this colour grade exhibit easily noticeable yellow or brown tint. 8HEARTS does not promote diamonds in this colour range.
DIAMOND CLARITY
Natural diamonds are the result of carbon exposed to immense pressure and heat deep in the core of the earth. The formation process can result in a variety of internal characteristics called ‘inclusions’ and external characteristics called ‘blemishes.’ Inclusions and blemishes are referred to as ‘clarity characteristics’ and the evaluation of diamonds for clarity is standardized at 10 power magnification; meaning that the described clarity characteristics can only be observed when the diamond is view with a 10x loupe or eye glass.
Clarity is an important value factor for a diamond, because the size, number and location of clarity characteristics impact the durability of the diamond. Even though a diamond is the hardest material on earth, it is not unbreakable.
FL and IF – Flawless, Internally Flawless: Diamonds with these grades are flawless. The 10x magnification doesn’t show any internal inclusions when you view a diamond with this clarity.
VVS1 and VVS2 – Very Very Slightly Included: Only some inclusions that are hard to see even with 10x magnification. Inclusions in the VVS1 gems are visible from the bottom-up view while that of VVS2 are visible in the face-up view.
VS1 and VS2 – Very Slightly Included: Small inclusions, such as crystals of other elements, show up in diamonds under the 10x magnification, they get this clarity grading. You need to look very hard to find these imperfections.
SI1, SI2, and SI3 – Slightly Included: Diamond with a presence of clear inclusions under magnification feature this low on the clarity chart. 8HEARTS does not promote diamonds of this clarity range.
I1, I2, and I3 – Included: These diamonds contain obvious inclusions. You can see the inclusions in these diamonds with 10x magnification and often with the naked eye. 8HEARTS does not promote diamonds of this clarity range.
DIAMOND CARAT
Carat is the standard unit for expressing the weight of precious stones like diamonds and gemstones. Karat, on the other hand, refers to the purity of gold. The abbreviation for carat is ‘ct’ while that for karat is ‘k’ or ‘kt’.
It is important to note that 2 diamonds of same carat weight can have different sizes.
Diamonds with higher carat weights are cut from larger rough crystals that are harder to source than small crystals which is why higher carat weight diamonds are more expensive, they are more rare.
Carat weight has the largest influence when it comes to pricing a diamond henceforth has become an indication of a person’s status and wealth, but when it comes to diamonds, bigger is definitely not always better. Instead, focus on a balance of the cut, clarity, colour, and carat to make a smart purchase. A diamond with a higher carat weight with poor cut will look significantly worse than a diamond with a lower carat weight and an ideal cut.
