Firstly, the most important tip is to buy your diamond from a reputable source! Preferably, ask to be helped by a qualified gemmologist who has been professionally trained in looking at and grading diamonds as they can explain all the things to consider and guide you appropriately. Chloë, our in-house gemmologist, loves answering questions about diamonds and is always happy to help.
should i choose Lab-grown or Natural?
One big decision you need to make now is whether you would like a lab-grown diamond or natural diamond. There are many arguments for and against both sides so it’s really about doing your research and figuring out what you prefer.
For our own Aril Jewels collection pieces, we only use natural diamonds.
How do I choose a diamond?
1. Pick the shape
Firstly, try to pick which sort of shape you prefer. Diamonds come in all shapes and sizes so having an idea of your favourite diamond cuts can help to narrow down your options.
Generally, the most popular diamond cut is round brilliant, but ovals, pears, and emerald cut diamonds have also been gaining popularity in recent years. Diamond cuts can generally be split into two types – brilliant cuts and step cuts.
Brilliant cuts, like the ubiquitous round brilliant cut diamond, are designed to be very sparkly and reflect all the light back to your eye. They have lots of triangular or angular facets to split this light up.
Step cuts, on the other hand like emerald or Asscher cuts, reflect light almost like mirrors with rectangular facets. Due to this mirror-like effect, step cut diamonds have the appearance that you can see right into the diamond. This means you will often have to opt for higher colour and clarity grades with these diamond cuts because inclusions cannot hide in the same way as with brilliant cut diamonds and the tint of the diamond is more obvious.
If you’re a fan of Aril Jewels, you’ll know that we love old cut diamonds. These gorgeous antique diamonds were pre-cursors to the modern round brilliant and cushion cuts. Cut by hand and designed to sparkle beautifully in candlelight, they have a very different sparkle.
2. Figure out your priorities and your preferences:
After picking your shape, the easiest thing to start with is what you would like to spend on it. Ask whoever is helping you to show you a selection of diamonds within this budget. Diamonds are graded on the 4 Cs: colour, clarity, carat weight and cut (take a look at our guide here). These all represent sliding scales of quality and the highest grades command the highest prices.
By seeing a selection of diamonds within your budget you will be able to decide which of the 4Cs you would like to prioritise. For example, you may prefer the diamonds with higher colour grades (D, E or F) and want a diamond that colour. This may mean you have to compromise a little on the clarity or carat weight in order to keep the diamond within your budget. Similarly, you may like the look of a larger diamond and be willing to go for a lower colour grade or clarity grade to get the larger size.
TOP TIP 1: If possible, try to always prioritise the cut of a diamond, as this is important to how a diamond sparkles and has less of an impact on your budget. Our other tip would be to avoid very included diamonds if possible as these inclusions can have a detrimental effect on how durable the diamond is and how much it sparkles. Try to stick to SI (slightly included) grade diamonds and above rather than going down to Included.
TOP TIP 2: For an engagement ring with a brilliant cut diamond, especially if it is set in platinum, we would suggest prioritising colour over clarity. This is because with a brilliant cut the light is bouncing all over the place and inclusions will be less visible. Also, no one (apart from us) will be looking at your ring with a 10x loupe to see the inclusions in your diamond, they will just be marvelling at it with their naked eye. Therefore, you are better off using your budget to go for a slightly higher colour grade rather than the clarity grade.
TOP TIP 3: For an engagement ring with a step cut diamond, we would suggest prioritising clarity over colour, as inclusions in these mirror-like stones are a lot more obvious and you will want your diamond to be what we call "eye clean" (i.e. no inclusions can be seen with the naked eye).
3. Pick a favourite
Once you have worked out what your preferences are in terms of the 4Cs, look at a selection of diamonds of similar size and grade. Sometimes, people refer to a 5th C for “character”. This is really how you respond to a diamond’s sparkle or unique characteristics. As previously stated, natural diamonds are all unique so there will be one option that you may prefer more than the others, although you can’t always articulate why. Some people prefer more “fire” (light split up into different colours), whilst others may prefer more “brilliance” (white light). The balance between these types of light is down to the proportions of the individual diamond’s cut. Similarly, diamonds of the same clarity grade could have inclusions in different places which may be more or less obvious, or may be easily hidden by the diamond's setting.
Your gemmologist will also be able to help you with this and may well have searched through many gemstones first before giving you the best selection available for your budget. At Aril Jewels, before showing you a selection of diamonds, we will have looked through many more before showing you only the best options in our professional opinion.
Is a diamond report important?
Diamonds above a certain size now often come with a report from a gemmological lab, detailing the grades for each of the 4 Cs for that diamond. The most prestigious for diamonds these days is the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) and this remains the industry standard for diamond reports.
The diamond report helps to categorise the diamond appropriately for its quality and is mostly how diamonds are traded worldwide now.
Can you buy a diamond from its report?
While a report can give you a good indication as to the quality of a diamond, they are fundamentally still subjective as they represent a diamond grader’s professional opinion. It’s also very important to remember that natural diamonds are all unique and different. Diamonds with seemingly identical reports may look vastly different to each other in real life. We would recommend always either seeing the diamond in person or high-quality videos and photos (that have not been photoshopped) to see how it appears in real life. Finally, always buy your diamonds from a trusted source even if they come with a report. This way you can have more peace of mind that the diamond you are buying is legitimate.
how do i know if my diamond is ethical or conflict-free?
If ethical considerations are top of your list in choosing a diamond, there are a few things to consider:
The Kimberley Process
The Kimberley Process was instituted in 2003 as a multilateral trade regime with the goal of preventing the flow of conflict diamonds. 99.8% of the world’s diamond production go through this process and can be certificated as “conflict free”. This means any diamonds mined and then traded by reputable sources since 2003 have gone through this process and have not funded conflict.
The Kimberley process isn’t perfect as it only covers diamonds in their rough state but, on the whole, it has meant it is very unlikely that a diamond that has gone through the process has funded conflict.
How do I know where MY diamond is from?
The Kimberley process doesn’t track a diamond from mine to market, it only ensures a rough diamond cannot be bought or cut unless it has a certificate it has been legitimately mined. So, for the vast majority of cut diamonds it’s almost impossible to know. However, increasingly this technology is being developed.
Diamonds from Canada have a special Canadamark and individual serial number to allow them to be tracked from the mine to you. So, if you’re looking for peace of mind that your diamond has been mined ethically you can always consider a Canadamark diamond, although they come with a price premium.
Antique diamonds
At Aril Jewels, we absolutely love using old cut diamonds not only for their individual beauty and charm but also for their ethical benefits. By choosing an old cut diamond you’re giving an antique diamond a new lease of life and also reducing the demand for new diamonds to be mined. We’ve also loved transforming heirloom diamonds that may have been in the family for a long time into brand new pieces of jewellery to be enjoyed for many years to come.
Are Lab-Grown Diamonds more ethical?
As with many things, lab-grown gems can be created ethically or unethically. It’s important to understand how the diamond has been produced at that particular factory. The majority of lab-grown diamonds are created in China or India, where the huge amount of power required to create them is produced predominantly by coal. However, there are other lab-grown factories elsewhere who use renewable energy and even carbon capture to create their diamonds so it's really about the standards and environmental practices at each specific facility.
Are Aril Jewels diamonds ethically sourced?
All diamonds used in Aril Jewels pieces are natural and ethically sourced. We only deal with diamond dealers who can assure us that the diamonds they supply have gone through the Kimberley Process and wherever possible we ask other questions about where the diamonds have come from. Also, we make it a point to try to use antique, recycled old cut diamonds as much as possible for our collection pieces.
