Diamond Quality

When understanding the quality of a diamond people commonly refer to the 4 C’s. The 4 C’s stand for: Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat Weight. The 4 C’s provide a very good starting point but further analysis is required in order to find a truly beautiful diamond.  If you limit it to the 4 C’s then it would be like referring to your partner by their height and hair colour. There’s more to her than that! Even if two diamonds are the same on paper they can look completely different.

The Inspired Collection only uses diamonds of the highest quality. We have a very strict assessment criterion to ensure we only chose the finest diamonds.

Just as you are unique in every way, so are diamonds.  The beauty of diamonds is that no two are the same and thus it is important to have experienced diamond buyers when selecting diamonds. In most cases our buyers would only purchase 10% of diamonds actually viewed.

Diamond Shape

Diamonds can be cut in many different shapes. A fancy cut diamond is the term given to non-round cut diamonds.  A diamonds shape will have different attributes. The individual beauty of the shape will be dependent on the owner’s preference and the ring design that it is incorporated with. Each piece from The Inspired Collection is designed specifically for a particular shaped diamond.

Diamond Cut

The ‘Cut’ or ‘Make’ refers to the proportions and finish of a diamond and is an important factor in the diamonds appearance.  A well cut diamond will increase its brilliance, sparkle and appeal to the eye. A bad cut can make a diamond look dull (‘sleepy’), glassy and lack fire.  An experienced diamond cutter will ensure that the diamond is cut to exacting proportions. In many cases this will mean that the stones size (carat weight) will need to be sacrificed to ensure maximum brilliance, dispersion and scintillation (sparkle).  A perfectly cut diamond will ensure that as light enters and exits a diamond it reflects from each mirror like face to another and back up through the top. It will sparkle and radiate in all lights.

To ensure you get the ‘wow’ factor we only use diamonds with a Very Good and Excellent cut grade.

Diamond Carat

The weight of the diamond is expressed in carats. 1 carat equals 0.2 grams. This is further broken down into points, one carat equals 100 points. Diamonds are expressed as points or to two decimal places. Therefore a half carat stone will be expressed as 50 points or 0.50ct. It is always important to look at a diamonds cut, colour and clarity when determining whether it is a good stone. No matter what size diamond it is The Inspired Collection only uses diamonds of the highest cut, colour and clarity to ensure the stones maximum brilliance.

Diamond Colour

The less colour in a diamond the more rare it is. Stones colouring starts from D and descends towards Z, where more colour is present.  The Inspired Collection only uses colours D through G, which are the rarest and the most valuable.

Fancy coloured diamonds are an exception to the rule because they are extremely rare. For example a one carat pink coloured diamond could sell for 5 to 15 times more than a D coloured diamond of the same size and quality.

Clarity

All diamonds contain imperfections, most of which are too small to be seen by the unaided eye.  The fewer less noticeable flaws, the higher the value. Clarity is the extent to which the stone is free from external marks (blemishes) or internal features called inclusions.  Diamonds that have no inclusions are called Flawless (FL) or Internally Flawless (IF). Clarity grades are determined through a 10x magnification and in general the size and number of inclusions within a diamond will determine the clarity grade.

The Inspired Collection only uses diamonds in the top clarity grades and any inclusions present will only be visible under 10x magnification. We do not go below the SI1 grade.

Diamond Certification

As part of our strict criteria when selecting our diamonds, The Inspired Collection is committed to using only diamonds sourced from trusted and reputable diamond suppliers. We provide diamonds with certificates from some of the worlds most reliable and reputable diamond institutions including the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), and the Diamond High Council of Belgium (HRD).

All of our diamonds over 0.30ct will be supplied with a diamond certificate from an independent diamond grading laboratory.  Each diamond certificate includes details of the diamonds size, colour, and clarity.  Round diamonds will also be assigned an overall cut grade.

Our diamond certificates are provided by the following:

• Gemological Institute of America (GIA)
• Diamond High Council of Belgium (HRD)
• American Gem Society (AGS)
• Quasar Diamonds (NZ)
• Premier Certificates (NZ)

Read more about the history of diamonds here

  View an example GIA certificate