Beautiful they certainly are, but beauty alone isn't enough to categorise a diamond. The quality, and indeed uniqueness, depend on several universally recognised attributes; 'Cut', 'Colour', 'Clarity', 'Carat'...to ensure above all, confidence.

Here we outline briefly what these terms mean. Of course we are only too happy to provide more information and advice during your private consultation in our Dublin office. Please Contact us to arrange a consultation.

Cut
The cut of a diamond is the first thing you will notice. It describes the proportions, symmetry and finish of a polished diamond and affects the way it handles light - the better the cut, the more it will sparkle.

Colour
Colours range on an alphabet scale from D to Z - colourless to light yellow. The more colourless the diamond, the more precious it is. The most sought after and magnificent colourless diamonds are known as 'blue white'. Diamant supplies diamonds at the top end of the scale, ranging in colour from D to F.

Clarity
A little-known fact is that diamonds are not actually completely clear. Like any natural substance, they contain small flaws, known as inclusions. These inclusions give a diamond its 'fingerprint', each one different. The fewer the inclusions, the fewer obstructions to the path of light and hence the greater the brilliance and the greater the value.

Carat
Believe it or not, the word carat comes from the carob bean, traditionally used to weigh precious materials. The name remains, but beans have now been replaced with much more sophisticated measurements for classifying weight. There are one hundred 'points' to a carat, and five carats to one gram. The value of a stone tends to rise exponentially with its weight, as larger diamonds are significantly harder to find.