Selecting Your Perfect Diamond
Charles Rose diamantaires carefully select all their diamonds to ensure consistent high quality and use stricter selection criteria than all domestic and international competitors.
We fully document, certify and guarantee your purchase, including the provision of an independent and internationally recognised diamond grading certificate. We do not sell clarity or colour enhanced diamonds or inferior stones that hide chips and inclusions.
You can be confident that Charles Rose provide only the finest high-quality diamonds from which to choose, upholding the ethos of quality, beauty and timelessness in every jewellery design. Our four Cs (4Cs) diamond grading guide below can help you select your perfect diamond.
4Cs DIAMOND GRADING
A universal diamond grading standard helps assess a diamond's quality using the 4Cs: Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat. Together, the 4Cs contribute to a diamond's beauty, but diamantaires agree that a high-quality cut is of utmost importance.
Cut
Cut refers to proportion, symmetry and polish – factors which affect howlight reflects (brilliance), disperses (fire) and flashes (scintillation) off adiamond surface. The following grades are used to assess cuts:
· Top grades: "Triple Excellent (Xc, Xc, Xc)" and "Ideal".
· Average grades: VG (Very Good) and G (Good).
The highly skilled jewellers at Charles Roseperfectly cut rough diamonds to maximise their natural beauty, scintillation,brilliance and fire. We specialise in the supply of Triple Excellent/Ideal cutdiamonds. You can find out more about diamond cut here.
COLOUR
Shade refers to adiamond's colour, which can range from rare pure white to fancy coloured vividshades like yellow, pink and green, although most tend to yellow/brown. Thereare four primary shades (Yellow, Dark Tinge, Brown and Dark Brown) furtherclassified for intensity. The lack of colour in a diamond determines itsgrading, with higher colour grades assigned to diamonds with less colour. Thisis because colourless diamonds exhibit greater sparkle than yellowish/brownishtinted diamonds.
Diamond grades arestandardised on a D–Z colour grading scale. Colourless diamonds graded D, E andF are the most expensive. The white (non-fancy colour) grades are ExceptionalWhite Plus (D), Exceptional White (E), Rare White Plus (F), Rare White (G) andWhite (H), with tints ranging from I, J, K… to X, Y, Z. There are also severaltop grades for colour diamonds: Vivid, Fancy Intense, Fancy and Light fancy.Fancy colour diamonds are often more valuable than high-grade white diamonds.For more information about white diamond colour grades, read our guide here.
CLARITY
Clarity refers to inclusions, which are small marks, fissures or foreigncrystals in the diamond. Every diamond has billions of inclusions. However,many inclusions are not visible to the naked eye, so the diamond is “eye clean”(SI grade to VVS1). Flawless diamonds are “Loupe Clean”, meaning thatinclusions are invisible even when using a 10x magnification lens.
There are several clarity grades: FL(internally and externally flawless – without surface blemishes), IF(internally flawless), Vvs (1/2), Vs (1/2), SI (1/2) and Pk (1/2/3).
Numerous tiny inclusionscan form milky white or grey “clouds” in a gem. Milkiness is also graded on thefollowing scale: VSL (very slight), SL (slight), CVSL (centre very slight), CSL(centre slight), MED (medium) and Heavy. Before purchasing diamond jewellery,see our ultimate guide to diamond clarity.
FLUORESENCE
Diamond fluorescence refers to the phosphorescent after-glow that occurswhen exposing the diamond to ultraviolet light, including sunlight.Fluorescence can be Nil, Faint, Medium, Strong or Very Strong. Faintfluorescence can brighten and whiten a gem’s appearance without affecting brillianceand can enhance fancy coloured stone hues further. However, strong fluorescencecan look cloudy or impart a yellow/orange hue to a white diamond, making itappear of a lower colour grade.
Our clients can be confident in the knowledgethat all Charles Rose diamonds are fluorescent free.
Shape
Jewellers cut diamonds into a variety of shapes. Some traditional shapes were fashioned hundreds of years ago and exude a timeless aesthetic and old-world charm (such as emerald and cushion shapes). Others reflect elegant contemporary styles popularised within the last 20 years (for example, Asscher and princess shapes).
A classic round brilliant diamond is the most enduringly popular shape due to its exceptional radiance, brilliance and sparkle. Other highly favoured styles include alluring square and rectangular shapes.
Superb crafting enables the beauty of a diamond to be enhanced – the jewellery artisans at Charles Rose expertly shape the finest of diamonds into exquisite styles that captivate and dazzle with their transcendent beauty and sparkle. See our jewellery collection online here or in-store at one of our Melbourne or Geelong showrooms.
CARAT WEIGHT
Carat weight measures a diamond’s weight, not size. The weight of a diamond is expressed in“points” up to 99 points (for example, 25 points refers to a 0.25 weight), with100 points equal to 1 carat. Jewellers express diamond weights equal to or heavier than 1 carat in carats and decimals (for example, 1.25 carat). Many people mistakenly believe that a larger carat weight is preferable to a smaller carat weight. However, carat weight does not affect sparkle – brilliance and sparkle relate to a diamond’s cut. For example, a well-cut .98 carat diamond may appear larger and more sparkly than a poorly cut 1-carat weight diamond with great colour and clarity.
Nevertheless, carat weight has the biggest impact on price, so it is an important consideration when selecting your perfect diamond.
"Ideal"or "Triple Excellent" cut diamonds have the best dimensions(proportion, symmetry and polish). View our carat weight chart to find out moreabout ideal cut gems. If you print the chart without rescaling, it will accurately print the true physical sizes of different carat weights for different diamond shapes. Keep in mind that some diamond shapes may appear larger than their actual carat weight. Also, diamonds can appear larger in certain ring settings, such as halo settings. Our helpful guide to diamond carat weight provides an in-depth understanding of this diamond 4C. Learn more here.
Remember, this diamond 4Cs chart is a guide only – the best way to select your perfect diamond is to consult with the skilled jewellers at Charles Rose. Our expert team are always available to help you learn more about the diamond 4Cs before choosing your ideal diamond cut, colour, clarity and carat, which our artisans lovingly handcraft into a show stopping jewellery design.