Diamond Colour

The scale for grading colour ranges from 'D' which is totally colourless, to 'Z' which is a pale yellow or brown colour.

The untrained eye will find it very difficult to distinguish between colour grades close to each other in the scale, as the differences between one grade and another are very subtle. You can buy an "F", "G", or "H" colour diamond and it would be difficult to see the difference in colour.

'G' and 'H' grades are often called 'rare white' and represent excellent value for money as they will face-up completely white and are not as expensive as 'colourless' diamonds.

We recommend - F or G colour. G represents the best value for money and the diamond will appear completely white. F is the best value for money out of the 'colourless' diamond grades.

Diamond Clarity

This tells us whether a diamond is flawless, or whether there are what the experts call inclusions, small imperfections which are often not visible to the naked eye.

Fewer inclusions raises the cost of the diamond, more inclusions lower the cost of the diamond.

To determine a diamond's clarity, it is viewed under 10x magnification by a trained gemologist. Untrained individuals will not see the difference between a VS and an SI graded diamond without using 10x magnification.

We recommend: VS2 or SI1 (if you're looking for an eye-clean diamond, without the price-tag associated with a VVS grade)

Note: For 'Emerald cut' diamonds, we recommend VS2 as a minimum. Emerald cuts that are SI1 or SI2 will most likely have visible inclusions, this is because of the way emerald cut diamonds are cut, making the inclusions much easier to see than in other shapes such as round or princess cut.