There are some key vocabulary words worth knowing about before buying your diamond.

What’s a Carat?
According to legend, the word carat is derived from the word carob. The seeds of this plant are so uniform that a set number of them always weigh the same, no matter when or where they are collected. This became a standard measure of weight. Today, a carat is 1/5 of a gram or 100 points (cents). Usually diamonds above certain points (usually 0.23 carats) are also called solitaires. 1.00 Carat solitaire makes a perfect diamond for an engagement ring.

The Culet
The tiny facet found at what would be the apex of the pavilion or the bottom of the diamond is called the culet. However, some gem cutters leave out the culet in a brilliant cut gem.

The Crown
The crown is the top of the diamond. Several cuts of diamonds such as round brilliant, heart shape, princess cut, emerald cut etc. have a large, flat facet in the crown called the table. The table facet is most visible facet when diamonds are set in ring,earrings or pendant.

The Pavilion
The bottom of the brilliant cut diamond is called the pavilion.

The Girdle
The thin line separating the pavilion and the crown is called the girdle. It’s also the widest circumference of the stone. The diameter of a diamond is measured at the girdle of a diamond. The unit for measuring the diameter of a diamond is millimetres. When diamonds are set in jewellery, they are held in place by prongs that often grip them at the girdle.

Diamond Polishing or Faceting

When diamonds are first pulled out of the ground, they are quite dull and may be covered with greyish surface coating. Early gem cutters removed this film by rubbing one diamond against the other. Over the centuries, the art of diamond polishing evolved to allow the diamond to display its great power to refract light. Even today the only thing that can properly polish diamond is another diamond. Polishers often use disks coated with diamond dust to bring out the inner beauty of the gem.

Total Depth

The depth of the diamond is the distance from its top to its bottom. An experienced gem cutter must take into account the depths of the diamond they cut and polish, for if the cut is too deep or too shallow, the gem will not refract light the way it should.

Although most online jewellers  educate their customers about diamonds, it’s always a good idea to know the above mentioned vocabulary words especially if you are buying your diamond jewellery for the first time.

Besides understating these basic key words, it is highly recommended that you buy your precious diamond jewellery from reputed jewellers  that sell fully certified jewellery made from conflict free diamonds.

You Have Time to Learn
In most traditional jewellery retail stores, employees earn commission based on the volume of sales generated. Therefore, a sales representative is most likely interested in generating a success full sale rather than spending enough time and energy to educate customers about their precious diamond jewellery.

There is so much more to diamond rings, earrings or pendants than just how big the stone is. Yes, the carat weight does give you a rough idea of how large the gem is, but it won’t tell you why the stone sparkles and catches the light as it does. To truly understand the beauty of diamond jewellery you wish to buy, an expert jewellery consultant is required to explain how the 4Cs of a diamonds, cut, clarity, carat weight and colour affect the brilliance and value of a diamond.

Most online diamond jewellers provide a detailed explanation about different aspects of diamonds as well as various jewellery items.  When you buy jewellery online, you can take as much time as you’d like to research these features. Online simulators give you the opportunity to play with different combinations of the 4 C’s and find the best price-to-beauty ratio for you without any high-pressure tactics from a sales employee.

Wide Range of Options
In typical brick and mortar store that carries limited physical stock, a salesclerk might show you five or ten diamond engagement rings. Even if you want to see more, there is a limit to how many diamonds the store has in stock.

On the other hand, the selection of diamond rings online practically never ends. When shopping diamond jewellery online, you can compare prices of different jewellery  items as well as prices from different online jewellers.

If you find a winner right away, there’s no one stopping you from adding it to your cart and checking out. However, if you want to continue your online online diamond jewellery browsing, you can keep comparing one piece after another for as long as you’d like until you find the diamond of your dreams. In fact, if you want to browse jewellery online  all night long, you can.

Furthermore, since most online jewellery start manufacturing jewellery items after an order is placed, they offer full flexibility of customization. In other words, for each design you can choose different metal grades such as 18K gold, 14K gold or even platinum to suit your style or change diamond quality to fit your budget.

You Can Save up to 20-30 %
Since online jewellers do not have to bare huge inventory expenses or other retail expenses, they can offer highly competitive prices compared to traditional retailers.

Overall, online jewellery shopping gives you full control of the buying process from the beginning to end. You can take your time to learn as much as you would like about diamonds and use online visualization tools to know exactly how the diamond jewellery would look in real life. You can browse thousands of designs, and compare as many pieces as you want. And finally, you can buy your dream ring, whether from home or office and save up to 20-30%.

Step 1: Pick a stone
To diamond or not to diamond? Well, diamond rings have remained popular for a reason. Diamonds are nature’s hardest yet one of the most beautiful materials. And since engagement rings are typically worn every day, this is an important factor to consider. Recently, however, diamond rings have been losing ground to other gems, such as sapphires and rubies. In order to solve this stone conundrum, consider what type of jewellery your soon-to-be fiancé wears. If they are partial to diamond earrings, diamond pendants, or other diamond jewellery then chances are diamonds are now your new best friend.

Step 2: Create a budget
The old adage is you need to spend two months’ salary on a rings. Can we please put this one to rest? If you are not too sure about the type of rings you want, try looking at examples of engagement rings online, figure out a rough estimate of how much similar rings typically cost, and then spend what you are comfortable spending. After all, this is a symbol of love, not some status symbol to impress other people.

Step 3: Time to go shopping
In days of yore our only option to get an engagement rings was to either inherit one or buy one at a brick-and-mortar store. Luckily because we now live in a world where there are a myriad of options to buy jewellery online, shopping for an engagement rings has never been easier (or even the matching diamond earrings and diamond pendants, hint hint). When it comes to buy diamond jewellery online, the benefits of convenience, selection, and most of all price can’t be ignored. Low overhead means low prices and more selection of jewellery  designs for you. Just remember, when browsing for jewellery online, be sure to stick with reputable online diamond jewellery brands that use conflict free diamonds and can offer certification  from a trustworthy grading lab, such as the Gemological Institute of America.

Step 4: Get ready for the memory of a lifetime
Different people use different rules. This is your engagement and there are no right or wrong answer. Sure it’s traditional to pop the question on one knee, but what if that’s not your style? Don’t let others dictate what you can and can’t do. Take some time to really think about what speaks to you as a couple. If that means a quiet dinner in a candlelit garden, then you go right ahead. Or if that means writing your proposal in the sky for the whole world to witness, then don’t let anyone stop you. Love is such a personal treasure that too often gets blurred by what we’re told to expect. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember to listen to your heart and not your brain.

The Colour
To untrained eyes, the colour of a diamond may not be too visible, especially in the colourless and near-colourless range, as the colour difference in this range is very subtle. However, the price goes up exponentially as the colour of a diamond goes from near colourless to colourless range. The GIA colour grading scale goes from D to Z. A diamond classified as a D is rare, expensive and colourless. Diamonds in the D-F or colourless range have almost no other impurity elements other than carbon atoms. An engagement ring made with a D colour diamond sparkles the brightest compared to other colours. As the scale goes farther towards the Z classification the rarity of the individual stone decreases and so does its price. When purchasing any solitaire diamonds or diamond jewellery online, fully understanding the colour grading system is critical.

The Clarity
Clarity is the second ‘C’ that determines the value of a diamond. The clarity of a diamond is graded based on the flaws or imperfections present inside or on the surface of the diamond. A flawless diamond is the most expensive diamond due to its rarity as majority of natural diamonds contain one or another form of impieties introduced during their grown process underneath the surface of the earth. GIA clarity grading system includes FL (Flawless), IF (Internally Flawless), VVS (Very Very Slightly Included), VS (Very Slightly Included) and I (Included). As we move from FL to I, the visibility of the inclusion becomes more and more obvious to the naked eye when seen from the table of a diamond. VS and SI clarity diamonds yield best value for the money.

Diamond jewellery made from VVS diamonds cost significantly high compared to VS or SI. However, to the untrained eye, both the VVS and VS clarity diamonds look almost indistinguishable. One key factor to consider when buying a diamond with SI or I clarity diamond is to make sure that the diamond does not contain a flaw in the centre of the diamond when seen from the table of the diamond. A reputable online jeweller online jeweller will transparently disclose the clarity of the diamond jewellery you purchase.

The Carat Weight
To many customers, Carat Weight is one of the most important factors as it is directly related to the size of the diamond. An interesting fact to note is that the Carat is actually the measure of the weight of a diamond and not its size. Due to their rarity, heavier or higher carat weight diamonds have higher price tags. A skilled diamond cutter can retain higher carat weight in a polished diamond by manipulating cutting parameters of a rough diamond. Therefore, it is important to consider the cut of a diamond when buying a higher carat weight diamonds. In many cases, if a diamond is not cut properly, a smaller but better cut diamond may shine more brilliantly that a bigger but poorly cut diamond.

The Cut
The Cut of a diamond is the only factor that can be influenced by a diamond cutter and polisher. All the other three C’s of a diamonds are pre-determined by Mother Nature. Cutting a diamond is intricate work and must be done precisely to reveal the maximum beauty of the diamond. A ray of light should bounce perfectly from one facet of the stone to the next to form a beautiful array of sparkling light. If a diamond is not cut properly, the light will enter form the table and will leak out form the pavilion causing the diamond to appear dull or greyish.

Online Diamond Shopping
Beautiful diamond jewellery can be purchased online at an excellent price. You simply need to understand the four C’s before making your selection. There are numerous reputable online jewellers that offer incredible designs. You can simply browse or buy amazing diamond rings, pendants or earrings that may take your breath away. There is no better time than right now to gift yourself or your loved ones a timeless piece of diamond jewellery.

Princess Cut

The princess cut is a square cut with fearlessly sharp corners. The best of them have a fiery sparkle, and they are popular for engagement rings ,wedding rings and diamond rings. A princess cut diamond makes an excellent solitaire on a band of white gold or platinum, but those corners are best protected in a prong setting.

Cushion Cut

The cushion cut diamond has been popular since the 1920s, and technologies have allowed lapidists to make modifications to the pavilion facets. Unlike a lot of cut and polished stones, the pavilion of a cushion cut diamond makes up most of its weight. Because of this, a cushion cut jewel does well on diamond jewellery items such as diamond earrings or diamond pendants.

Asscher Cut

The Asscher cut diamond was developed in 1902 from a simple step cut diamond that resembled the emerald cut. Modifications have added 72 facets, a high crown and perfect symmetry. Looking down through a perfect Asscher cut diamond reveals series of glittering, nested squares.

Radiant Cut

The radiant shape was the first truly square cut to be cut in the brilliant style, which means it has many facets arranged to provide maximum light dispersion and fire.

Point Cut

The point cut isn’t really one of the most popular cuts of the 21st century. It is simply a diamond that is cleaned and polished just enough to become more symmetrical while retaining a natural point. Point cuts were very popular during the Renaissance and can often be seen in the portraits of royal personages.

Table Cut
These are diamonds that have a large table facet. They’re not necessarily square unless they are mirror or spread table cut. Mirror or spread table cut stones are mostly made of their table facet and have a shallow pavilion, or lower part. Rough, twinned stones called macles are often formed into mirror table cut gems.

French Cut

A French cut is a square table cut that appears as a diagonal, four pointed star when a person looks straight down into the crown.

Old Mine Cut
This is a type of cushion cut popular in the 18th and 19th centuries after the old diamond mines in India had been depleted and lapidists learned how to make the brilliant cut. The first mine cut diamonds were simply modifications of table cut stones whose corners had been chipped off.

Buying Square-Shaped Diamonds
The best to buy a certified square shape diamond ordiamond jewellery is to shop online. Most online stores provide in depth education of the 4C’s of the diamonds. Furthermore, online diamond jewellery shopping allows customers to conveniently compare prices without the pressure of commissioned sales representatives.

So, for those wondering what shape of diamond to get for the lady in their life, whether it be for diamond earrings, a diamond ring or diamond pendants, here are some suggestions:

Round
The round cut diamond is for the lady who is classy and traditional. The round brilliant shape is the most popular cut for a diamond and is found on all sorts of diamond jewelry, especially in engagement ring , from the most humble to the most grand. The round brilliant has become one of the most traditional and sought after cuts of all, even though it was only perfected during World War I.

Some jewelers, including those who sell online diamond jewellery, use shape and cut interchangeably. Others use cut when they mean the way the gem cutter actually shapes the stone. In the case of the round brilliant, a cut that’s too shallow or too deep ruins the diamond’s ability to sparkle.

Princess
The princess cut is a square cut with sharp corners and is just the thing for the lady who’s playful, cheerful and really a girl at heart. As even a diamond can be chipped, it is best to put this gemstone in a prong setting on an engagement ring to protect those corners.

Asscher
Though this is a modern cut, having been developed in 1902, it’s for a woman who possesses an old-fashioned femininity. It’s of step cut that has squares steps with cropped corners.

Oval
This cut is for an imaginative lady who likes to experiment and embraces the latest in all things, whether it’s art, food or fashion. This is the piece of diamond jewellery that makes a short finger look long and elegant when it’s set on a ring

Radiant
This sparkling cut is for a positive and energetic woman who likes to flirt, even if she is engaged. This rectangular-shaped diamond has a brilliant cut, which makes it especially fiery on diamond ring

Pear
Made for a bold yet charming and somewhat idiosyncratic lady, the pear-shaped diamond has been heralded in song. Pears are great for diamond pendants.

Heart
Who else but a tender-hearted romantic would go for a heart-shaped diamond?

Marquise
This cut was said to be inspired by the lips of the mistress of one of those French Bourbon kings. Accordingly, it is for a woman who’s dramatic, outgoing, yet refined.

Cushion
For a lady who is fancy and chic yet delicate, cushion cut diamond jewellery is a perfect fit. It looks like its name. It is a square with round corners and is interesting because much of its carat weight is in the bottom part, or the pavilion.

Buying a Perfect Diamond
The very best and costliest diamonds are flawless, truly colorless and expertly cut and polished no matter their final shape. The size of the carat is up to what the wearer wants and the buyer can afford. If a fancy, or colored diamond is bought, the clarity is not as important as the richness of the color. The trend of buying certified diamond jewellery Online has increased tremendously in the past decade.

We realized that some of our customers weren’t sure about the exact shape and size of their jewellery form the pictures and videos provided online at viranigems.com. They missed the whole “Touch and Feel”experience. Therefore, we introduced innovative 3D printing models to the world of jewellery retail to help our customers make an informed purchase. By using exact 3D printed replicas of our actual jewellery pieces, our revolutionary retail concept takes our zero inventory, “Made-to-Order” business model to the next level by adding the missing “Touch and Feel” factor to our online shopping experience. We want all of our customers to be absolutely sure about the exact shape and size of their jewellery before they place an order of their IGI certified diamond jewellery form Viranigems.com.

“We do not believe in the business model of producing unnecessary stock of diamonds and gold jewellery and charging our customers for inventory maintenance as well as jewellery melting and recycling expenses of unsold goods. That traditional business model is inefficient. Instead, we have come up with a cost effective and innovative way of implementing 3D printing technology to the jewellery retail which fills the gap of “Touch and Feel” factor which was missing from our luxurious online shopping experience. Our customers get the best of both online and offline shopping experiences: competitive prices, flexibility of customization, a wide range of selection of online shopping and the “Touch and Feel” factor of offline shopping at a physical store. They have all the information they need to make an informed purchase while saving up to 30% on fully certified Diamond jewellery.” – Chirag B. Virani, Co-founder and CEO of Viranigems.com.

“We believe that our hybrid cost effective business model has the potential to transform global US$ 100 billion supply driven jewellery industry with unnecessary stock pile ups at different stages of the pipeline into a revolutionary demand driven model where the customers have the ultimate decision making power with full flexibility of customization. And we are the first company in the world to implement this futuristic concept in the jewellery retail industry.” – Hetal C. Virani, Co-founder and CFO of Viranigems.com.

How Virani Gallery is different than a traditional jewellery retail store?

1. No Physical Inventory of Diamond and Gold Jewellery. Only 3D Printed Replicas of Finished Jewellery Items

The first and the most obvious difference between a traditional jewellery retailer and Virani Gallery is the fact that Virani Gallery does not carry millions of dollars of physical inventory made of diamonds and gold that customers can purchase directly from the retail store. Instead Virani Gallery uses very cost effective and innovative exact 3D printed replicas of 1000s of designs that give a perfect idea of the exact shape and size of a particular jewellery item.

What is a 3D printed Model?

A 3D printed model is an exact 3Dprinted replica of a diamond jewellery item. It is printed using latest 3D printing technology and has the exact same dimensions as well as intricate design details that a finished jewellery item made of gold and diamond would have. Once customers have a clear idea of the exact shape and size of a jewellery item from the 3D printed models, they can easily view 360 degree photos and videos of finished diamond jewellery items on their personal smartphones or big display screens, tablets or holograms available at Virani Gallery. 3D printed models combined with the 360 degree videos give customers all the information they need to make an informed purchase.

If a customer wishes to review the quality and craftsmanship of a finished jewellery item, Virani Gallery also carries around 5-10 sample pieces made of diamonds and gold form their collections of 1000s of 3D printed designs. Customers can compare both the 3D printed model and a sample piece of finished jewellery item to see that they are both identical in shape and size. The only difference is their material.

2. Unique Shopping Experience

Step 1: Browse 1000s of Stylish Designs & Try on 3D printed Replicas

At Virani Gallery, you feel like you are physically walking inside our online store. Just like shopping online at ViraniGems.com, you can casually browse our latest collections at the Virani Gallery. Each design contains a 3D printed replica of a finished jewellery item, name and price of that particular jewellery item and a QR code that leads directly to the product detail page on Viranigems.com where customers can view photos and 360 degree videos of finished a jewellery item.

Step 2: Scan QR Code for more Product Details

When you find a particular design you like, simply scan the QR code from your phone or in-store tablets and you will have all the information you need about that jewellery item including its exact dimensions, number of diamonds, and grams of gold used in that particular design. Furthermore, you can also review a detailed price breakdown of how much you pay for your conflict-free diamonds, metal and jewellery making charges.

Step 3: Customize to Suit Your Style and Add to Cart

Once you try on the 3D printed replica of the jewellery item you like to get an idea of its size, you can customize its diamond clarity and metal colour to suite your style.

The revolutionary “Made-to-Order” business model gives customers full flexibility of customization. Customers can choose their desired gold color and gold purity from 6 different options to suit their style. They also have an option to choose from 6 differnet qualities of diamonds to fit their budget. In other words, each design has 36 unique customizatoin options in all possible sizes which is simply not possible at a retail store carrying physical inventory.

3. No Commissioned Sales Reps

Most traditional jewellery retail stores are staffed by commissioned sales associates. Their primary focus is to generate sales from customers and earn as much commission as they can rather than focusing on helping and educating the customers about their purchase. For many first time buyers or those who do not know much about diamond jewellery, this may be an intimidating rather than a pleasant shopping experience.

At Virani Gallery, it’s quite the opposite. Customers have a direct access to all the information at their fingertips that a typical sales rep would have. If customers need any help with their purchase they can contact one of our non-commissioned expert jewellery consultants. Since the salary of our jewellery consultants is not depended on the number of sales they generate, they feel free to take all the time they need to help and educate customers with their purchases.

Customers can choose to place an order in one of the in-store tablets, on their personal smartphones or at their home or office whenever they feel ready to make a purchase. All transitions are done online where the customers have the full control.

Once you place an order, a beautifully wrapped box with IGI certified Virani jewellery will appear at your door step within 7-9 working days. And In case you are not 100% satisfied with your jewellery for any reason, you can simply return it within 30 days and get a full refund.

4. Save up to 30% on Diamond Jewellery

Traditional jewellery retailors follow a “Supply Driven” business model. In this model, each stage of the diamond pipeline, starting from rough diamond trading, diamond cutting and polishing, polished diamond trading to jewellery manufacturing, carries a certain unnecessary stock of diamonds. Along the pipeline, profit margins are added at each stage and customers ultimately end up bearing the overall price mark-up added along the value addition chain.

Many jewellery retailors outsource either some or all of their manufacturing operations, and have to bare extra margins added at multiple stages by middlemen throughout the entire diamond pipeline. Furthermore, since these retailors cannot overlook different stages of diamonds and jewellery manufacturing pipeline, they do not have full control over maintaining quality and craftsmanship of every single jewellery item.

All Virani jewellery items are crafted at our in-house facility that has over 50 years of experience perfecting every single step of their value-addition chain starting from conflict-free rough diamonds procurement, inhouse diamond cutting and polishing operations, jewellery design, manufacturing and finally online retail sales through Viranigems.com. Customers get superior quality and best value products while saving up to 30% on diamond jewellery.

Furthermore, to create and sustain a physical inventory of diamonds and gold, traditional retailers have to make huge initial investments and bare high fixed costs such as interest on investments as well as jewellery recycling costs. Every year they have to melt and recycle unsold stock that goes out of fashion. No wonder the multi-billion global jewellery melting and recycling industry is thriving. This entire business model is inefficient and customers ultimately have to pay for these unnecessary expenses.

Even after baring extra cost, customers have only fixed supply of pre-made products with limited or no flexibility of customizations at a traditional jewellery retail store. Customers are forced to choose one of the items from their limited physical collection. They can neither change the gold colour or metal purity of a particular jewellery item nor can they change the diamond quality of pre-set jewellery items to fit their budget. At times even if they like one of the pre-made designs, that particular item, a ring for an example, may not be available in their finger size.

Viranigems.com’s futuristic Virani Gallery, on the other hand, has created a unique “Demand Driven” and zero inventory “made-to-order” business model that cuts the operations cost by around 25-30% compared to traditional retailers and passes down the savings to the customers. We start manufacturing a customer’s unique jewellery item only after an order is placed. That way there is no need to bare a huge inventory cost as well as on going melting and recycling costs of unsold pre-set jewellery items. Furthermore, this business model gives customers full flexibility of customization of changing diamonds quality and metal colour while offering incredible savings.

5. IGI Certified Jewellery and Transparent Business model

Most online as well as brick and mortar jewellery retailors only provide their own independent jewellery grading certificates. These grading certificates might be biased and may defer from one retailor to another as they may not comply with strict international diamonds and jewellery grading standards.

“At Viranigems.com, it’s our mission to promote transparency throughout the jewellery purchasing process.”
– Hetal Virani, Co-Founder and CFO of Viranigems.com.

Every single jewellery item from Virani Gems comes with a certificate of authenticity from leading gemological institutes such as Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and International Gemological Institute (IGI). These are unbiased third party grading institutes that have no influence of any retailors. The unique certificate number is microscopically laser inscribed on all jewellery items by the grading institute to further authenticate Virani diamond jewellery. Customers can check the certification number on the grading institutes’ online database to check the authenticity of their certificate.

All jewellery pieces purchased from Virani Gmes not only come with a certificate of authenticity from leading gemological institutes, but also showcase a detailed price breakdown of how much you pay for your conflictfree diamonds, metal and jewellery making charges. Furthermore, we also display exact number of diamonds, their weight and gold grams used in every single jewellery item.

Interesting Trivia: A Round Brilliant Cut diamond has 57 facets. If the culet of a diamond is also faceted, then the diamond would have 58 facets. Anything more or less means the diamond is not cut ideally.

1. Table: The table is the flat plane that sits on top of every Round Brilliant cut diamond. It is also the biggest single facet of the finished diamond. When defined and cut precisely, it helps bring out the most beautiful aspects of the diamond.

2. Crown: As the name suggests, it is the top part of the diamond. It starts from the outer edge of the table and ends at the upper end of the girdle. There are several facets cut into the crown, each perfectly balanced and identical to its neighbors.

3. Crown Angle: The angle formed by facets on the crown of the diamond with the imaginary plane of the girdle. The crown angle and the size of the table determine the amount of light that enters, reflects and refracts inside a diamond which directly affects the fire and brilliance of a polished diamond.

4. The Girdle: The outer edge or diameter of the diamond. It is the girdle that separates the top part of the diamond from the bottom. Since the girdle represent the highest diameter of a diamond, a slight variation in girdle thickness can greatly affect the carat weight of a diamond. Typically, all solitaires have faceted girdle while smaller diamonds may sometime have unpolished girdle.

5. Pavilion: This is the bottom part of the diamond – starting from the bottom edge of the girdle and reaching down to the very tip of the polished diamond. The pavilion angle can greatly affect the light performance of a diamond. If the pavilion is too deep or too shallow the diamond may look grayish.

6. Culet: It is a special minuscule facet added at the bottom of the pavilion to keep the tip of the diamond from getting damaged. In an Ideal cut diamond, the culet would be almost non-existent and undetectable by the naked, untrained eye.

7. Total Depth: In the simplest of terms, this is the height of the diamond as measured from the table to the culet.The above aspects give a diamond its shape and its allure. In addition to these, there are certain other important aspects that also need to be taken into consideration.

a. Symmetry: A diamond that is cut with perfect symmetry would yield the best light performance, brilliance and fire. It takes a highly skilled craftsman to cut and polish a perfectly symmetrical diamond as all the relevant facets must be identical and fully aligned

b. Polish: The smoothness of the diamond facets, small flat panels that are etched all over the surface of the diamond, greatly affects the amount of that enters inside a diamond.  When a diamond is cut with perfect symmetry and polish, all the facets bring out the best fire, brilliance and scintillation.

Most people link the Carat Weight to the size of the diamond. However, Carat is a unit of measurement of weight used to weigh a diamond. The actual size of the diamond is always measured in mm.
To understand carat weight properly, let us look at how it compares to normally units of weight.

1 Carat = 0.200 grams or 200 milligrams (yes, it’s that light).

As I mentioned in my Diamond Formationblog, it takes extremely high temperature and pressure for a diamond to be formed from carbon molecules. In fact, the chances of a diamond being formed and successfully making it to the surface of the earth are much lower than winning a lottery. Hundreds of kilometers underneath the surface of the earth, it is very unlikely that these extreme conditions remain stable and favorable for a long period of time for the growth of a large diamond. Therefore, it is very rare to find a large sized rough diamond.

No doubt, only a few monster-sized rough diamonds have been mined through history – the most famous being the 3104 carat Cullinan diamond. However, majority of the diamonds mined today are quite small in size. Here’s an interesting statistic – it requires close to one million diamonds to be mined before a one carat stone happens to be found.

Interesting Trivia: The word “Carat” comes from the ancient practice of using “Carob” seeds for measuring weight. The fact that these identical seeds were perfect in size and weight compared to one another made them ideal as a unit of measurement.

Due to this shortage of bigger diamonds, carat weight has always played a significant role in determining the price and the value of diamonds. The bigger the diamond, the rarer it is to be found. And hence the bigger the stone, the more expensive it is per carat. The price of a diamond per carat weight increases exponentially with size. For example, while a one-carat stone can fetch anywhere from $6,000 to $15,000, a sparkler of 3-4 carats could demand a price of more than $18,000 per carat depending on its color and clarity.

It is also interesting to note that as the carat weight of a diamond increases, the relative size does not increase in the same proportion. For example, the diameter of a one carat diamond is approximately 6.4 mm. However, the diameter of a two carat diamond is only 8.1 mm.

Hard Fact: Gold and diamonds, the two major components in precious jewelry, use Karat and Carat, respectively, as a unit of a measurement.  Carat with a “C” applies to diamonds and it indicates the weight of the diamond. Karat, with a “K”, on the other hand, refers to the purity or fineness of gold.

Interesting Trivia: Most people, outside the diamond industry, believe that the Cut of a diamond refers to the shape of a diamond. However, a trained gemologist refers to specific cutting parameters that bring a particular shape to life with highest fire, brilliance and scintillation.

Based on classifications and nomenclatures followed by the diamond industry around the world, the Cut of a diamond is divided into five categories.

1. Excellent Cut:The design of this cut is such that it ensures every shard of light entering the diamond is reflected multiple times and in all directions, thereby literally setting the stone afire from within. Achieving the Excellent Cut requires exceptional expertise and craftsmanship.Excellent cut diamonds show equal dark and light shades, creating an impression of play of shadows and light.

2. Very Good Cut:Very Good Cut diamonds have slightly more flexible cutting parameters than Excellent Cut. When skilled craftsmen attempt to retain higher carat weight by slightlycompromising onthe light performance, the Cut becomes Very Good. Diamonds with Very Good Cut still show good deal of sparkle, brilliance and fire, but their price per carat is much lower than that of an Excellent Cut diamond.

3. Good Cut:Just like the Very Good Cut, Good Cut diamonds are created by sacrificing quality of the cut over carat weight of a diamond. Most of the size proportions of diamonds in this cut are quite broader than those of the Excellent or Very Good Cut as the target is to get maximum stone size rather than focusing on the light performance. Such diamonds are ideal for the more budget conscious buyers who want to have a pretty stone that is larger in size.

4. Fair Cut: A cut that is almost at the bottom of the grading spectrum in terms of quality and preference. The only aim of those working with this cut is to get the maximum possible carat weight out of the rough diamond. There is very little consideration given to the color or clarity of the stone. The value of Fair Cut diamonds is based largely on their carat weight.

5. Poor Cut: The lowest of cuts in diamonds. These diamonds perform very poorly when it comes to the light performance inside the diamond based on internal reflection and refraction. They are just stones that have been processed to look big. As the cut is not optimized, there can be multiple inner impurities as well as outer surface defects. For those only looking to own a gem that is called a diamond without any other specific considerations, these are the diamonds to buy.