Selecting solitaires for your beautiful solitaire jewellery is not child’s play. The more careful you are, the better diamonds you get. Even though solitaires are expensive, the best ones are a combination of great quality and pricing with reliable asset value. Today, the value of diamonds is appreciating as much as that of gold. To be able to get the best out of this, selecting solitaires of the highest quality is necessary. Even if you want them on a budget, there are ways to avoid compromising on quality.

There’s a difference between diamonds and solitaires. Many jewellers many not explain this to you. But know that solitaires are cut from larger roughs whereas diamonds are from smaller ones. The trick lies in the way they are cut. Hence, the price difference between solitaire jewellery and diamond jewellery is apparent.

The role of the 4Cs of a diamond

There is more than enough reading material online about the 4Cs of a diamond. You can either do a very brief reading or delve deeper into the information. It all depends on how much you want to know.

Cut: There are cut grades that determine the fire, sparkle and brilliance of the diamond. These parameters constitute the light performance of a solitaire. The grades are Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good and Ideal or Excellent. You should always a Very Good or Ideal cut for solitaires. All Divine Solitaires diamonds have the Ex.Ex.Ex Plus cut, which means excellent cut, excellent polish and excellent symmetry. 

Carat: This is not the same as the gold karat which refers to the purity of the metal. While most of us think that carat refers to the size of the solitaire. But it is the stone’s weight. When it comes to diamond pricing, the slightest difference in carat can change the pricing. This is only noticeable through its weight and not its size. 

Clarity: Nearly all diamonds have some flaws inside them as well as on the surface. These blemishes and inclusions, as they are called, are formed inside the Earth. They’re completely natural and may or may not affect the beauty of the stone. However, the presence of these flaws reduces the value of the solitaire.

Colour: Almost all diamonds have a slight yellowish tinge. The colour grades range from D-Z. Divine Solitaires has diamonds in the colour range of D-K. A diamond of D colour is colourless. As you go down the scale, the amount of colour increases with each grade. However, such stones are of less value than the colourless ones.

Your checklist for selecting solitaires

Diamond education has a lot of information. What we know is quite basic. What diamond graders know is much more. You only need to know things that will enable you to buy the best diamonds for your jewellery. They mostly pertain to the quality and pricing.

The best diamond one can ever know of is colourless, clear and has the best cut. But won’t such a diamond also be expensive? Of course, which is why you can adjust some of the parameters to fit them into your budget.

Avoid compromising on the cut to bring down the price of the solitaire. Instead, you can always downgrade the colour and clarity, just a little. When it comes to smaller solitaires, always keep the cut, colour and clarity on the higher end of the scale. That way, even a small solitaire appears quite brilliant. With larger solitaires, it is possible to downplay the colour and clarity, just a little.

A quick read through the basics of diamond education can be very helpful. That way, you have better quality solitaires that are completely worth it!