About Diamonds

"Nature's Perfect Partners"

Diamonds are the result of a natural process that takes millions of years and forces that we can only dream about, as you will know, natural diamonds are very rare and the prices will reflect that rarity. Absolutely clear stones are the most sought-after and therefore the most expensive. However, most diamonds have inclusions, blemishes, and due to the characteristic translucency of diamonds, these may be visible. The trapped detritus of Mother Nature such as trace minerals or fissures etc. can detract from the ultimate beauty of the diamond, but, are non the less nature's encapsulation in a diamond time capsule, every one unique.

At Pearl Magpie, we look for designs that we feel are a harmonious collaboration between Nature's stone and Man's creativity in setting that stone into a unique and wearable piece of art. We are looking to get the most value for our customers no matter what our customers budget.

Would you like some technical information now?

When buying diamonds these are the "4Cs" to remember 

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• Colour
• Clarity
• Cut
• Carat

Colour

The colour grade of a diamond refers to how closely its body colour approaches colourlessness. The best colour for a colourless diamond is, in fact, an absence of colour. A truly colourless stone is very expensive, and the larger that diamond, the greater the premium per carat.

To grade diamond colour, an alphabetic scale is used, starting with highest colour D.

This is the whitest colour exhibited by diamonds. A typical commercial colour seen in jewellery shops in the UK is probably around J to K which is still very pleasing when set in jewellery.

Diamond colour grading chart:

Most diamonds have at least a trace of yellow, brown, or grey body colour. Though a lot of diamonds will appear to be colourless, most actually possess subtle shade differences. These variances in colour are due to traces of elements such as nitrogen and boron that become assimilated into a diamond's atomic structure during the original formation.
Most commonly, a diamond will have a hint of yellow or brown due to traces of nitrogen.

Diamonds with increasing shades of brown and yellow are referred to as champagne diamonds, and diamonds with exceptional colour, such as pink, red, green, blue, and amber, are called Fancies. With the exception of some natural fancy colours, such as blue, pink, purple, or red, the colourless grade is the rarest. Colours of high saturation such as red and green, which have no modifying secondary colours, are very rare indeed and priceless.

Clarity

Describes the clearness or purity of a diamond. This is determined by the number, size, nature, and location of the internal (inclusions) and external (blemishes) imperfections.

Nitrogen and other elements trapped within a stone during its formation effect the ultimate colour, and minerals embedded in a diamond during crystallisation will influence the stone's clarity.

These natural characteristics, called inclusions, make each stone unique; they're nature's way of personalising each diamond.

Gemologists even use these inclusions to determine a diamonds age. The fewer the inclusions, however, the more rare and precious the stone will be because nothing will interfere with the passage and reflection of light. The number, colour, size, and position of any inclusions will specify a diamonds clarity, but most will not endanger its durability. To establish a diamonds clarity, it must be examined by a trained eye under a 10x magnification; the fewer the inclusions, the more valuable the diamond will be.

Clarity Grading Scheme

(In accordance with the Gemological Institute of America)

Cut

Regardless of the size or shape of a diamond, the cut will be the ultimate determinant of a diamond's brilliance and fire. Most round, brilliant-cut or fancy-shaped diamonds have fifty-eight delicately angled flat surfaces, called facets. The placement of each facet is intrinsic to the brilliance and beauty of the stone; if the cut is too deep, light will escape through the opposite side of the pavilion, or bottom, of the diamond before it can be reflected. Similarly, a shallow cut will allow light to pass directly through the pavilion. The cut of a diamond is graded on the basis of how well the diamond handles the light coming into it from above.

The Main Diamond Cuts Are:

• Round Brilliant
• Emerald Cut
• Princess Cut
• Heart Cut
• Oval Cut
• Marquise Cut
• Pear Cut

There is an approximate relationship between weight and diameter of a round brilliant cut diamond. This is useful when trying to estimate the size of a diamond.

Carat

The weight of a diamond is measured in Carats.

1 Carat equals 0.2 gram and there are 100 points to a carat.

Thus a 50 point diamond is half a carat (0.50ct) and weights 0.1 gram.

A Grain, no longer used, is accepted to be 0.050 grams.

Many dealers still use the terms a grainer meaning 0.25ct, two grainer - half carat, six grainer- 1.5 carats etc.