Diamonds come in a variety of colors and different clarity grades.  You can research and read all you want online, but things can tend to get confusing for the average consumer who doesn’t really know what they are seeking.  Oftentimes, customers tell me that they want a ‘white diamond with lots of sparkle’.  I know what they are seeking, but we still have to put it in terms of both color and clarity.

We offer lots of great information online to help educate you on loose diamonds (see our jewelry education section) but even after reading you still may not know where to turn.  We put our heads together and decided to break down our diamond options into easier groups for customers to choose from.  For most of our diamond jewelry, which includes eternity rings and five stone rings, we offer three diamond qualities: Good, Better and Best.

Our ‘Good’ quality diamonds are G-H color and I1 clarity.  A diamond that is G-H color will be considered ‘near colorless’.  This means that the diamonds will be very white.  I1 clarity does mean that the diamonds are included.  I1 diamonds can sometimes show eye visible inclusions but since one of our staff gemologists hand selects the diamonds, we aim to use diamonds with white inclusions and we do everything we can to make sure the diamonds will be as eye clean as possible.

Our ‘Better’ quality diamonds are G-H color and SI clarity.  Again, a diamond that is G-H color is considered ‘near colorless’ so it will be very white.  In this category, the SI diamonds we use are both SI1 and SI2 clarity.  SI diamonds will be eye clean and show no visible inclusions to the naked eye.  Of course, when you inspect the diamonds under 10X magnification, the diamonds will have some inclusions.  Note that SI stands for ‘slightly included’.

Our ‘Best’ quality diamonds are F-G color (colorless to near colorless) and VS clarity.  We use VS1 and VS2 diamonds, which means the diamonds will be ‘very slightly’ included.  VS diamonds have inclusions that are even sometimes hard to view under 10X magnification.  All VS diamonds will be 100% eye clean.

The ‘Best’ quality is the highest grade we offer in our diamond jewelry, but will obviously command the highest price.  When customers ask for my opinion, I try to direct them to the ‘Better’ quality diamonds.  You will not notice any significant difference in color between F-G verses G-H.  Also, in terms of clarity, you will not notice a difference unless you put the diamonds under 10X magnification.  Our VS and SI diamonds will all be 100% eye clean so nothing will be different in terms of brilliance and/or sparkle.  The cut grade will really determine sparkle and brilliance and we use very good to excellent cut diamonds for all of our side stones.

If you need any further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.  We have three GIA gemologists on staff eager to help guide you with your diamond purchase.