Diamond Guide

Shape

Round

The round brilliant-cut diamond is by far the most popular choice due to its light return and sparkle. This classic shape is perfect for a diamond engagement ring or any other piece of jewellery. It will always be in fashion and remains a popular first choice.

Princess

Designed for maximum brilliance, the princess cut is fast becoming the most popular fancy-shaped diamonds. The face-up shape of this cut is square and its side profile is an inverted pyramid. Its unique, defining look makes it a bold choice for any piece of jewellery.

Emerald

With its large pavilion in the lower half, the emerald cut shaped diamond has a unique style. Due to the large table, it highlights the clarity of the diamond. Its rectangular shape makes it easily identifiable by the naked eye and sets it apart from other shapes.

Oval

At first sight, an oval cut diamond looks quite similar to a round brilliant. The difference, however, is its longer sides and two sharper corners. This shape is excellent for a person who has long, slender fingers and who enjoys a more unique style of jewellery.

Marquise

A traditional shape which can be described as the “skinny” brother of the oval. This shape enhances the diamond’s brilliance when surrounded by other shaped smaller diamonds. This unique shape has one of the largest crowns, making it a good choice to maximize the perceived size.

Pear

The pear, also known as the teardrop, is a traditionally shaped diamond which becomes wider as opposed to longer when the carat increases. This shape is more popular in pendants and earrings, but it also makes for a stunning ring.

Cushion

The cushion cut diamond is a square cut with rounded corners, much like a pillow (hence the name). This classic cut has been in existence for almost 200 years. It was the most popular shape in its first century of existence, much like the round brilliant today.

Clarity

Because diamonds are formed under extreme pressure deep within the earth, virtually all diamonds have a birthmark known as an inclusion. Diamonds are, after all, a product of mother earth and were created over a period of thousands of years. The lesser the inclusions are, the more valuable the diamond becomes. The levels of inclusions are:

Internally Flawless
(IF)

No inclusions are visible to a skilled grader at 10x magnification.

Very, very small inclusions
(VVS1, VVS2)

Minute inclusions are extremely difficult for a skilled grader to see at 10x magnification.

Very small inclusions
(VS1, VS2)

Minute inclusions are difficult for a skilled grader to see at 10x magnification and are still invisible to the naked eye.

Small inclusions
(SI1, SI2, SI3)

Inclusions are visible under 10x magnification and might be visible to the naked eye, particularly in the case of SI3.

Inclusions
(I1, I2, I3)

Obvious inclusions are visible to the naked eye and may affect transparency and brilliance.

Carat

Diamonds are weighed in metric carats shown as ct. When the diamond is smaller than 1 carat it is described in pointers. “Carat” comes from the word “carob” which is a seed that was used as the original unit of measurement for diamond traders. 1 Carat is equal to 0.2 grams which equates to 100 points. Diamonds are weighed very accurately to the closest hundred thousandth point because 1 point can alter the cost. Carat is completely unrelated to “karat” which relates to the purity of gold.

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Detail

Colour

Diamonds come in a variety of colours ranging from D to Z. Diamonds of J colour or higher are considered extremely white. Apart from the fancy-coloured diamonds like blue, pink, and orange they can range from colourless (colour D) to an intense yellow (colour Z). The more colourless or “white” the diamond is, the more expensive it becomes.

Cut

Cut refers to the level of quality when a diamond is polished. The quality of the cut determines the amount of fire and sparkle which is unleashed. If a diamond is not polished well, light will leak out the side and the lustre is lost. With the modern technology available to us, we at Daneel Diamond Manufacturers pride ourselves in offering you a wide range of top quality diamonds to choose from.

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