Certification and the four C's

As we looked at last week, the cut has a lot to do with how the aesthetics of the ring. The way the gemstone is cut can affect how big that diamond, emerald, or tanzanite appears. But this is not the only factor that one needs to be aware. The four C's are commonly referred to as being determining factors in the quality of the jewelery and usually when a gemologist examines your ring these are some of the factors that they will take into consideration: These are: colour, the cut of the diamond, the carat weight and finally the clarity of the diamond. The colour refers to how well the diamond or other gemstone retains and reflects the light and also of course about its natural colour properties. Often pink diamonds are sought after because of their rarity. In terms of cuts, usually the most popular tend to be the round brilliant cuts and the princess diamond cut. But of course there are so many to choose from. The carat weight is often one that people focus on and perhaps overlook the others slightly. However carat weight is not a factor that denotes the quality of a diamond, so going for rings with a large number of carats doesn't necessarily mean the ring is of considerable higher quality than one with a lesser number of carats. The clarity is also important as a mark of quality. It refers to the existence and visual appearance of internal characteristics termed inclusions.  If you are in doubt about the authenitcity and quality of either your palladium engagement or diamond engagement ring, then always get a second opinion from a qualified source.

It's all in the cut

There seems to be a growing expansion in the types of cuts you can now get for your engagement rings. New and imporoved cuts are increasing in popularity such as the marquise cut. Of course most people for palladium engagement rings still favour many traditional cuts such as the brilliant round cut or princess cut. It's very important you get the right cut for your ring. The marquise cut for example, creates a pointed shape which makes the gemstone appear larger. Whereas, something like a emerald cut will give the diamond or other gemstone a rectangular shape.

Also it's not just the cut to give careful consideration to, it's also the setting. A prong type setting can also give the apperance of the gemstone appearing bigger than it is. Generally high prongs, will make the stone look bigger. Also you may want to consider adding accent stones to the main center piece stone. As by themselves small accents stones are pretty worthless, but adding to the a small gemstone you will add to the carat weight therefore adding to the value of the ring.

It's been a while.............

Apologies to all those of you who have been following the blog. I've been out at various gem and jewellery exhibitions recently. Collecting some great ideas for a new collection I'm going to bring out in the fall. Meanwhile, I'd like you to keep on sending your email and feel free to post any questions or comments on here for people to read. Also if you've got any questions about engagement rings, be it palladium or other materials drop me a line!

Look forward to hearing from you,