Diamond Buying Tips

Carat

The word carat actually comes from the word carob (from carob seeds), which was how ancient civilisations measured the weight of diamonds on their scales. Today, 'Carat' is a unit by which a diamond's weight is measured. Each Carat is divided into 100 parts called 'points'. So a 1-carat diamond has 100 points, a ¾ carat has 75 points and so forth.

However, a carat is not a measure of a diamond's size, since cutting a diamond to different proportions can affect its weight.

Cut

While nature determines a diamond’s colour, clarity and carat, the hand of a master craftsman is needed to release its fire and beauty. The cut gives each diamond its unique sparkle and brilliance by allowing the maximum amount of light to enter. It is the closest you will ever get to a star, some say, to the cosmic power of pushing back the ocean, a sheet of white paper, a small digital scale, a clear glass plate, stones so dense they slow the speed of light by one-third. A well cut diamond does not allow any light to escape offering the greatest brilliance.