BEARDS GUIDE TO CHOOSING THE PERFECT DIAMOND



When purchasing a diamond ring with Beards, we select only the best F colour VS2 clarity diamonds. This offers you the best value and visual brilliance for your money.

If you require a different colour grade or clarity, we are more than happy to help. Keep reading to learn more about diamonds and their grading.

COLOUR

A colourless or "white" diamond is more sought after and more valuable than one with slight tinges of yellow colour. These tinges can be seen due to the presence of other elements within the diamond and can sometimes not even be seen with the naked eye. With 23 colour grades being recognised by the major international diamond grading laboratories, the colour can vary greatly, and only 3 of those are classified as colourless. The further towards colourless the diamond is, the rarer it becomes.

There are also diamonds with a strong, pure colour such as orange, green, yellow, pink and blue. These are called "fancy" diamonds and are also extremely rare and valuable.



CLARITY

During a diamond’s formation small particles can develop inside the stone, called inclusions. Most diamonds have an inclusion of some kind, even if they can only be seen through a microscope and this makes each diamond distinguishable and is part of a diamond's individual nature.

The clarity scale is also internationally recognised with seven categories. The fewer and less noticeable the inclusions are, the greater the value. A diamond completely free of any inclusions, internally or externally is classified as flawless, and these are extremely rare.



CARAT WEIGHT

The carat weight of a diamond is its physical weight; one carat is equal to one fifth of a gram and is divided into 100 point increments. For example, a 0.25ct diamond is 1/ 4 of a carat, or 25 points.

The carat weight of the diamond is obviously an important factor in the value of a diamond however two diamonds of the same carat weight can have completely different values, based also on its colour, clarity and cut.



CUT

The cut of a diamond is how it has been shaped and faceted in production by the industry. The outline shape of the stone does not necessarily determine what the cut is. There are many different cuts available, however, the most common are:

• Round brilliant cut
• Princess cut
• Radiant cut
• Oval cut
• Baguette cut
• Emerald cut
• Pear cut
• Marquise cut







The shape of a diamond does not affect a diamond's value and the choice of its shape is usually down to the customer's personal preference. The cut of the diamond is the more important factor, as a well cut diamond will show light and brilliance better than a poorly cut diamond. If the diamond is perfectly cut, light entering the diamond will be refracted internally from facet to facet before emerging through the top of the stone, producing a dazzling "fire" that no other gemstone can provide.