Buying Loose Diamonds

Diamonds have been around for ever and are the definitive symbol of eternal love, but most people possess only a cursory knowledge about these stones. When you hold a diamond in your hand do you have the faintest idea of whether it is the real thing or a cubic zirconia?   Do you have a clue what you should be looking for?  Be careful as it could be a piece of glass for all you know!
 
Individual diamonds should be purchased with a certified appraisal (grading certificate) by a leading international gemmologist laboratory like the GIA or EGL.  This is the safest way to buy an individual loose diamond as it details the 4Cs representing the cut, clarity, carat weight and colour of the stone, and these are the all important factors which need to be considered and determine whether or not you are getting value for money.

To protect your individual diamond you should be aware of proper diamond care. Be sure to understand the types of cuts available – pear, oval, marquise, round brilliant, heart and emerald are the most popular shapes.  If an individual diamond is well cut it will offer ideal proportions for all the light entering it to bounce back and be reflected in its sparkle.  If the stone is too shallow or deep some light will escape through the bottom of the diamond giving a shadowy appearance.

The individual diamond’s colour is a very important factor.  The nearer it is to being completely colourless the more rare and valuable it is.  Because the graduations in colour are so subtle an intricate international grading scale has been devised with the categories defined by letters and the exceptional whites falling into D, E and F and the tinted stones ranging from M to Z.

Also think about what setting you would like – prong or claw are the most secure for individual diamonds.

Last Autumn the diamond giant DeBeers announced that individual loose diamond sales rose by 7% in the first six months of the year. And the gems are not just gracing feminine fingers, with men now purchasing around 10% of precious metal jewellery (more often than not set with diamonds) for themselves.