Cut

Contrary to popular belief, the ‘cut’ of a diamond refers to its reflective qualities rather than its shape. The brilliance of a diamond depends heavily on its cut, so the angles and finish of any diamond are the key factors in its ability to negotiate light. A good cut gives a diamond that magical brightness that seems to emanate from deep inside itself.

Clarity

Most diamonds contain some minor imperfections that have occurred during their formation. Industry experts call these imperfections ‘inclusions’.  The number, size and visibility of these inclusions are what determine the overall clarity of a diamond. Diamonds rings which are free of inclusions are fantastically brilliant and so are very highly sought after.

Colour

A colourless diamond allows more light to pass through it than a coloured diamond and so creates a greater sparkle. Completely colourless diamonds are rare so the more “white” a diamond’s colour is, the greater its value.

Carat Weight

A carat is the unit of weight by which diamond jewellery is measured, with one carat being equal to 0.2 grams (200 milligrams). Larger diamonds have a greater value per carat as they are discovered much less frequently than smaller diamonds.

A diamond that has fewer inclusions has a higher clarity, and is therefore of more value. The internal characteristics that are present in diamond jewellery can only be seen by looking through a special jeweller’s magnifying glass, known as a loupe. With a loupe, diamond jewellery can be divided into six main categories:

FL
Diamonds with no inclusions are referred to as ‘Flawless’ and are incredibly rare. Brilliant, flawless diamonds are the most beautiful jewellery of all.

IF
IF means that the diamond is Internally Flawless and that no flaws are visible under magnification, only small blemishes on the diamond’s surface.

VVS
The VVS grade means that the diamond is ‘Very, Very Slightly Included’.

VS
VS stands for ‘Very Slightly Included’ and means that minor imperfections are visible under magnification.

SI
SI means that the diamond is ‘Slightly Included’ and imperfections are visible under magnification and possibly with the naked eye.

I
I stands for ‘Included’ and means that imperfections are visible with the naked eye.

Numbers are used after some categories to grade the diamonds further. For example, a VS2 will have more or larger inclusions than a VS1.

At ROX, all of our diamonds are carefully selected for their quality. Available loose or in settings for rings, diamond bracelets, necklaces or earrings, we supply a wide range of diamond jewellery.

Tiny bubbles, cracks, and imperfections inside the diamond (or any other precious brilliant stone for that matter) can lower the clarity. Those that don’t have what it takes to warrant inclusion in jewellery are used for industrial purposes or are broken up so that the high clarity pieces can be used as smaller secondary stones. Fancy cuts can sometimes be used to remove areas of lesser clarity too.

Clarity is measured on a number of different scales, but most of them have the first few categories in common. F stands for flawless, and is the best possible class. It means there are absolutely no flaws that a trained eye can find under a microscope at 10x magnification. Next is IF or internally flawless. Stones of this class are still considered outstanding and ideal for inclusion in fine jewellery like wedding, eternity and diamond engagement rings.

After that come the VVS (very very small flaws) and VS (very small flaws) classes. These are still very good diamonds, clarity-wise. They can be found in all kinds of jewellery. While they have flaws that are visible under magnification, any stone in either of these classes will look perfectly clear to the naked eye.