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Diamonds Buying Guide

Shapes

Diamonds come in different shapes. And while different people prefer different shapes, the round diamond shape is the most popular: About 80% of engagement rings contain a round diamond. Whatever your taste or preference, however, Almas online have access to a large pool of diamonds stones of various shapes.

Diamonds are renowned for their ability to transmit light and sparkle so intensely. We often think of a diamond’s cut as shape (round, heart, oval, marquise, pear), but a diamond’s cut grade is actually about how well a diamond’s facets interact with light.

Precise artistry and workmanship are required to fashion a stone, so its proportions, symmetry and polish deliver the magnificent return of light only possible in a diamond.

Diamond Types

The 4Cs: Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight

Cut

The cut of a diamond not only refers to the diamond’s shape, it also refers to how effectively the diamond returns light back to the viewer’s eye. A well-cut diamond will appear very brilliant and fiery, while a poorly cut diamond can appear dark and lifeless, regardless of its color or clarity.

Not only do well-cut diamonds appear more brilliant, they also tend to appear larger than other diamonds of the same carat weight. An "ideal" diamond has both increased brilliance and diameter relative to more deeply-cut diamonds.

Understanding Brilliance, Dispersion & Scintillation

A well-cut diamond exhibits three different properties: brilliance, dispersion and scintillation. As light strikes a diamond's surface, it will either reflect off the table of a polished stone or enter the diamond. The light that is reflected off the diamond is known as the diamond's brilliance. As light travels through a diamond, some of the light rays are separated into flashes of color. This is known as dispersion. The result of dispersion—the separation of white light into its spectral colors— is known as fire. Scintillation is flashes of color that are viewable as an observer moves a diamond back and forth.

Grading Scale

Use the slider to see cut grade details or view the Cut Grade Chart below.

Color

Diamond color is graded on a scale from D-Z and is divided into five broad categories (colorless, near colorless, faint, very light and light). Diamonds come in all colors of the spectrum. The predominant color you see in a diamond is yellow, which is caused by the trace element nitrogen.

As you can see from the Grading Scale images below, when diamonds are in the face up position it is almost impossible to see any color. When viewing the diamond from the side profile, you may start to detect some color; however, diamonds are admired for their beauty from the face up position and not the side.

Grading Scale

Use the slider to view color grade details

Clarity

Diamond clarity is the assessment of small imperfections on the surface and internally. The surface flaws are called blemishes, and internal defects are known as inclusions. These tiny, natural blemishes and inclusions are microscopic and do not affect a diamond’s beauty in any way. Diamonds with the least and smallest inclusions receive the highest clarity grades.

Clarity is one of the 4Cs of diamond grading and quality. Diamond clarity is the least important factor when choosing to buy a diamond because most diamonds have blemishes and small inclusions that are microscopic, unable to be seen with an untrained or unaided eye.

It is also a good idea to balance the clarity grade of your diamond with the color. You may compromise a little on the clarity in exchange of choosing a better color grade.

Grading Scale

Use the slider to see Color grade details or view the Color Grade Chart below.

Carat

Diamond Size and Carat Weight

The size of a diamond is proportional to its carat weight. When rough diamonds are cut and polished into finished diamonds, up to 65% of the total carat weight may be lost. Since larger rough gems of high quality are found less frequently than smaller rough gems of high quality, a single two carat diamond will be more expensive than two one-carat diamonds of the same quality.

Diamond carat is often misunderstood and refers to a diamond's weight, not necessarily its size. When comparing diamond carat sizes, take a diamond's cut into consideration as well: a high-carat diamond with a poor cut grade may look smaller, often cut deeper, than a diamond with smaller carat weight and a better cut. Use our buying tips, diamond carat size chart, and expert tips to help you choose the best diamond carat weight for you.

Which Carat Weight Is Right For You?

It is a choice that depends on personal preference and budget. When looking at a diamond engagement ring, what is most visible is the size of the surface area on the top of the diamond. It is difficult to measure a diamond’s carat weight simply by looking at it. Although carat weight influences cost quite a bit, it is advisable to focus on diamond cut and diameter.

Buying Tips

Carat is the most misunderstood of the 4Cs. It actually refers to a diamond's weight, not the diamond’s size.

Consider cut and carat together; a larger carat diamond with a poor cut grade can appear smaller than a smaller diamond with a higher cut grade.

To get the maximum return on your investment when purchasing diamonds for jewelry pieces, consider selecting a carat weight slightly below the whole and half carat marks. For example, instead of a 2.0-carat diamond, consider buying a 1.9-carat weight. This will save you a considerable amount of money and the slight size difference will be hardly noticed.

Grading Scale

Use the slider to see cut grade details or view the Cut Grade Chart below.

Diamond Types
Diamond Types
Diamond Types
Diamond Types

Excellent Cut

This rare cut represents roughly the top 3% of diamond cut quality. It reflects most light that enters the diamond.

Shop Excellent Cut Diamonds

Certification

At Almas-online, it is our mission to take the mystery out of your purchase by offering only the best quality loose diamonds available, along with expert guidance and education. Our diamonds are certified by top certification bodies in the world. We're confident that you won't find a better diamond for the price.

This combination of exceptional quality and extraordinary value has drawn a lot of people to Almas-online.

Highest Diamond Quality

Almas-online offers one of the most extensive collection of the world's finest cut diamonds. Selected for exceptional quality, cut, color, and clarity our loose diamonds are evaluated based on a standardized grading scale. Each loose diamond is accompanied by a grading report from the GIA, HRD or IGI , which are the top independent diamond grading labs that are highly respected for their consistency and stringent grading standards.

Glossary

KPCS https://www.kimberleyprocess.com/

Kimberley Process Certification Scheme,

DMCC https://www.dmcc.ae/

Dubai Multi Commodities Centre

GIA https://www.gia.edu

Gemological Institute of America. It is the world foremost and trust gemological.


Origins of Diamonds

Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. At certain temperature and pressure, another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form, but diamond almost never converts to it. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are utilized in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth.

Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid, few types of impurity can contaminate it (two exceptions being boron and nitrogen). Small numbers of defects or impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (boron), yellow (nitrogen), brown (defects), green (radiation exposure), purple, pink, orange or red. Diamond also has relatively high optical dispersion (ability to disperse light of different colors).

Most natural diamonds have ages between 1 billion and 3.5 billion years. Most were formed at depths between 150 and 250 kilometres (93 and 155 mi) in the Earth's mantle, although a few have come from as deep as 800 kilometres (500 mi). Under high pressure and temperature, carbon-containing fluids dissolved minerals and replaced them with diamonds. Much more recently (tens to hundreds of million years ago), they were carried to the surface in volcanic eruptions and deposited in igneous rocks known as kimberlites and lamproites. Approximately 70% of the worlds diamonds comes from Africa and the remaining 30% comes from other parts of the world in location such as Canada, Australia and Russia.

Once a diamond stone is certified by a reputable certification lab, its geographical origin becomes irrelevant, what matters is the specifications of the stone as certified by the lab.

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