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Diamond Color or Diamond Clarity?
We get asked this question every day...
A customer is contemplating purchasing one of our Super-Ideal Cut SuperbCert Hearts and Arrows Diamonds, is working within a given budget, has already correctly decided that cut matters most and is now looking to sacrifice a little bit on the diamond specifications.
Diamond Color or Clarity; Which To Choose?
Part of the beauty of maximizing on the precision cut quality of your diamond is the resultant effect it has on the diamonds visual appearance and beauty. A diamond that has been crafted to achieve maximum cut precision will have significantly greater brilliance, fire, and scintillation than a poorly cut diamond which will appear completely dull and lifeless to the eye.
A diamonds color and clarity grade as good or as poor as it may be, will have almost no effect on the diamonds physical beauty or lack thereof.
The most important factor to consider when purchasing your diamond (and unfortunately the least understood of all....) is the diamonds cut quality, which will determine whether you are buying a visually stunning diamond, or a piece of frozen spit the likes of which you will see on Ebay or at your local mall (a.k.a. maul) store.
By increasing the cut quality of your diamond you are ensuring that the diamond will face up eye-clean and completely white due to its incredible brilliance.
This means that you can sacrifice quite a bit (and save quite a bit of money in the process...) on the color and clarity grades of the diamond with the knowledge that your SI clarity, I color stone will be eye-clean (you will not see the diamonds inclusions with your naked eye...)and face up completely white.
Once you have done this, then the question of what to choose vis a vis color/clarity becomes more psychological than anything else, since unlike with poor cut quality diamonds; you will not be able to see the inclusions or coloration in your ideal cut diamond.
Some customers will say o.k., all of this makes sense but how about from the side of the diamond.. in the profile? Won't people be able to detect slight coloration from the side where there is no brilliance to mask it?
My answer to this is #1; once the diamond has been set into an engagement ring setting of 4/6 prongs it will be extremely difficult altogether to view the sides of the diamond which will be obstructed by the prongs. #2 an excellent cut quality diamond will appear whiter from the sides as well. #3 If anybody gets that close to your diamond, that they are now dissecting the sides of your diamond through the ring basket, you ought to alert the police and have them immediately arrested!!
Remember; the diamonds that you are used to viewing in the typical jewelry stores look nothing like a super-ideal hearts and arrows diamond. Comparing the two would be akin to comparing apples to oranges.
The diamond in the jewelry store when taken away from the glare of the high intensity halogen showcase bulbs (...ever wonder why they put those things in there....) will discriminate against lower color/clarity grades and you will definitely be able to see the interanl inclusions and brownish color.
Not so with a Super-Ideal Cut diamond, which will sparkle like crazy in any lighting environment and mask your ability to see the internal inclusions and coloration with your naked eye.
We regularly set our I and even J color SuperbCert Diamonds (SI all the way up to VVS) in precious Platinum (which incidentally discriminates against lower color diamonds more than any other precious metal type) and they face up absolutely white and eye-clean for the savvy consumer who has just saved a small fortune!!
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