Diamond Cut Grades

Blue Nile Signature Ideal cut: Our most brilliant cut, representing roughly the top 1% of diamond quality based on cut. The highest grades of polish and symmetry allow it to reflect even more light than the standard ideal cut.

Ideal cut Diamonds: Represents roughly the top 3% of diamond quality based on cut. Reflects nearly all light that enters the diamond. An exquisite and rare cut.

Very good cut: Represents roughly the top 15% of diamond quality based on cut. Reflects nearly as much light as the ideal cut, but for a lower price.

Good cut: Represents roughly the top 25% of diamond quality based on cut. Reflects most light that enters. Much less expensive than a very good cut.

Fair cut: Represents roughly the top 35% of diamond quality based on cut. Still a quality diamond, but a fair cut will not be as brilliant as a good cut.

Poor cut: Diamonds that are generally so deep and narrow or shallow and wide that they lose most of the light out the sides and bottom. Blue Nile does not carry diamonds with cut grades of poor.

Type of Diamonds

Natural Diamonds

Natural diamonds are classified by the type and quantity of impurities found within them.

* Type Ia - This is the most common type of natural diamond, containing up to 0.3% nitrogen.
* Type Ib - Very few natural diamonds are this type (~0.1%), but nearly all synthetic industrial diamonds are. Type Ib diamonds contain up to 500 ppm nitrogen.
* Type IIa - This type is very rare in nature. Type IIa diamonds contain so little nitrogen that it isn't readily detected using infrared or ultraviolet absorption methods.
* Type IIb - This type is also very rare in nature. Type IIb diamonds contain so little nitrogen (even lower than type IIa) that the crystal is a p-type semiconductor.

Synthetic industrial diamonds

Synthetic industrial diamonds are produced the process of High Pressure High Temperature Synthesis (HPHT). In HPHT synthesis, graphite and a metallic catalyst are placed in a hydraulic press under high temperatures and pressures. Over the period of a few hours the graphite converts to diamond. The resulting diamonds are usually a few millimeters in size and too flawed for use as gemstones, but they are extremely useful as edges on cutting tools and drill-bits and for being compressed to generate very high pressures.

Thin Film Diamonds

A process called Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) may be used to deposit thin films of polycrystalline diamond. CVD technology makes it possible to put 'zero-wear' coatings on machine parts, use diamond coatings to draw the heat away from electronic components, fashion windows that are transparent over a broad wavelength range, and take advantage of other properties of diamonds.

Diamond Color grades

Colorless diamonds and diamonds that are yellow or yellowish brown are grouped into the categories shown below. These grades do not apply to fancy colored diamonds--they have their own color grading standards.

D-E-F
Colorless.

G-H-I-J
Nearly colorless.

K-L-M
Faintly tinted, usually yellow.

N-O-P-Q-R
Lightly tinted, usually yellow. Tint can be seen with the naked eye.

S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z
Tinted, usually yellow, may progress to brownish. Tint visible to the naked eye, even when mounted.

Purple diamonds

Purple diamonds and Violet diamonds are extremely rare and often considered collector items. In nature you can find purple in lavender and orchids. It is considered precious, delicate and often associated with royalty.

Purple diamonds have the same romantic effect as pink diamonds with a touch of mystery. It is a special color which combines both red and blue – which mean it has both warmth and cool effects.

Peled Diamonds presents a wide selection of purple diamonds. You can buy the romantic fancy purple pink diamond or the mysterious and intriguing natural fancy grayish violet diamond.

Blue diamond engagement rings facts

Colored diamonds like blue diamonds have become more and more popular in the 90s and they have maintained their fame up to these days mostly because of celebrities that are location up different trends in jewelry selection. As natural blue diamonds are rare they are also very luxurious, and blue diamond engagement rings are among the most exclusive options when buying diamond engagement ring, if not of course you go for some diamond imitation or choose to choose some lab created diamond.

When it comes to price of a natural blue diamonds then get ready you to spend a real fortune because (natural) blue diamond engagement rings cost in standard 10 to 50 times more than their white counterparts, and are therefore actually intended for people with the uppermost financial power. Like with many other colored diamonds infrequency and high demand result in very high price that only few people are prepared to pay.

Diamond engagement rings with deep blue color are surely amongst the most attractive diamond engagement rings but only few fortunate ladies have the freedom to wear these valuable stones while other can only dream of it or they need to be content with some simulation.

Blue colored diamond engagement rings also make very good asset, since natural blue diamonds are very rare, and in high demand they keep (and even increase) their value over time compared to white diamonds that in most cases lose their value as soon they get out of the diamond jewelry store.

Diamond Grading and Gemological Reports

There are a range of gemological institutes that assess diamonds and issue Diamond Gemological Reports, as well as measure and certify loose diamonds and diamond jewelry. Depending on your region, there are a number of highly regarded companies including the following listed below.

HRD - Hoge Raad Voor Diamant (The Diamond High Council). The officially recognized representative of the Belgium diamond trade and industry. HRD headquarters are situated in Antwerp, World Diamond Center.

GIA -Gemological Institute of America. Founded in 1931 in Los Angeles, the GIA formed and introduced the international grading system. Headquarters are still situated in Los Angeles.

IGI - International Gemological Institute. The oldest institute of its kind in Antwerp. Set up in 1975 with labs in New York, Bangkok, Mumbai and Tokyo.

GemScan - GemScan International was included in 1985 as an autonomous jewelry appraisal laboratory if gem identification. GemScan is based in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

AGS - American Gem Society Founded in 1934 by Robert M. Shipley who also founded the GIA. The AGS is based in Nevada, USA.

EGL - European Gemological Laboratory. EGL was initially opened in Antwerp in 1974, and now has laboratories in Antwerp, New York Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Paris, London, Israel and Seoul.

Champagne diamonds

Champagne diamonds are in nature coloured diamonds that are fashioned in a wide range of colours from light straw to rich cognac.

The 4C's of colour, cut, clarity and carat weight apply to coloured diamonds just as they do to colourless diamonds apart from the intensity of colour, not lack of it, plays a greater part in the assessment.

Argyle Diamonds created the following scale especially for champagne diamonds. The diamonds are graded on a C1-C7 colour scale. C1 and C2 symbolize light champagne, C3 and C4 medium champagne, and C5 and C6 dark champagne. The fancy cognac diamond is graded C7.