Purchasing an engagement ring is one investment which every bachelor needs to provide his utmost consideration and concentration. Since this will be an investment of a lifetime, you wouldn’t want to put your money into nothing. Here are some tips on what to look for when purchasing your most precious diamond engagement ring.

In purchasing an engagement ring that is to be studded by a diamond, it is a must to consider these four important aspects about diamonds. These are the cut, colour, clarity and carat. These determine the quality and worth of the diamond. For this article, we will only focus on how to choose an engagement ring based on the diamond’s cut and colour.

The Cut

What are the ways by which a diamond can be shaped? Is there a difference between the cut and the make of a diamond?

The diamond’s cut refers to two associated characteristics: the shape of the stone (pear, oval, round, etc.) and the make (how well it is cut and proportion). It is very important to know the table percentage of diamond cuts. An ideal table percentage is between 55-60%. It is necessary to determine the measurements of the diamond in an engagement ring because these measurements would never change. They must match the certificate and/or the previous appraisal. It is important to determine the proportion of the diamond; the better the proportion, the sparkler the diamond.

Not all jewellers know the meaning of the term “cut”. Cut can be used to mean the shape of the stone (whether a diamond is round, square, oblong, pear, etc.) and the make (on how well the stone is cut and proportioned). It is indeed clear that there is a difference between the cut and the make of a diamond.

There are ways on how to shape a diamond. The first way is with a use of a chisel. The diamond cutter will strike a sharp blow along one of the directions of the cleavage, which will eventually make the diamond cleave along the cleavage plane.

The second way is to grind the stone. It is ironic because the diamond is the hardest natural substance and cannot be abraded; however, not all of the stone is equally hard in all directions. Turning the stone into its weak orientation will make the stone be grounded or polished.

The third and modern way is by sawing it. A very thin diamond-filled blade is needed so as to cut the stone.

The gemstones shapes are of various kinds. The more popular diamond shapes are the following: Marquise, Round, Oval, Princess, Radiant, Pear, Heart and Emerald. For engagement rings, the most popular shape is the round diamond.

When it comes to the quality of the cut, it is important to know the make of a diamond for the following reasons: it determines the beauty of the diamond, every diamond has a unique make and a grade for the make is not included on most diamond certificates.

The Colour

Another aspect in determining the quality of the engagement ring’s diamond is its colour. Diamond colour ranges from colorless to many shades of yellow. The colorless diamonds are the most rare and precious while diamonds with yellow shades are the less rare. The second biggest impact on the diamond’s price is its color, after the carat weight. The diamond’s colour comes from any colour of the rainbow.

In the diamond trade, colour usually refers to the amount of yellow in a stone, but can also consist of colours brown or gray or all of the three. The most treasured of all diamonds are the ones graded as colorless.

The Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) has developed the standard colour grading scale that we’ve been using until today. The GIA scale starts with D for perfectly colorless stones to Z for diamonds with yellow shades. Letters D to L are the most attractive colours and are the rarest. People find these colours very attractive which means that these are indeed very expensive. So as to spend less, some prefer the diamonds with yellow tints to be used in their engagement rings.

Diamonds that make it to the GIA’s scale are valued based on clarity and colour. A “D” or “E” rated diamond which are colorless is much valuable than an “R” or “Y” rated diamond which is light yellow or brown. This is because of two reasons: high-coloured diamonds are rarer and has limited supply; and the bright white appearance of high-coloured diamonds is preferred more by consumers which make the demand to increase.

However, the diamonds that didn’t make it to the GIA scale are considered as “fancy colour” diamonds. The light shades other than light yellow or light brown falls out of the scale automatically. These diamonds are valued using different criteria. The rarer and more intensely the diamond’s colour is, the more valuable it becomes. Another criterion is the fashion trends. Pink diamonds became more valuable because a famous actress, J-Lo, was photographed wearing a heart shaped pink diamond.

For engagement rings, fancy coloured diamonds is a No-No even if you are on a very tight budget. If your finances are constrained, then it is better to choose a yellowish diamond for the engagement ring. So to summarize this article, the best stone for your engagement ring based on this two criteria is a round and sort of yellowish diamond.