How to Select the Perfect Diamond at Blue Nile
Diamonds that are absolutely clear are the most sought after and bring the most money. Detracting from the pure beauty of the diamond are inclusions – scratches or trace minerals. The GIA and AGSL use a rather complicated method of determining clarity according to number, location, type, and size of the inclusions present in a diamond. A flawless diamond has no internal or external flaws and is very beautiful and rare. After you have selected the cut (we’ll get there in a minute), color, and clarity of a diamond, determining the carat weight is a cinch. Large diamonds cost more (and the price goes up exponentially) because they’re less likely to be found than smaller diamonds. A two-carat diamond will bring more than two one-carat diamonds of the same quality.
So, we now know something about color, clarity, and carat weight, but we haven’t discussed what it is that makes a diamond brilliant. Cut determines brilliance. According to Blue Nile, “The diamond’s proportions, specifically the depth compared to the diameter of the diamond, determine how well light will reflect or refract within the diamond.” When it comes to brilliance, the cut of the diamond will determine how well light travels through it causing it to either appear shallow, just right, or too deep. If the brilliance is shallow, light is lost out the bottom, and if it’s too deep, light escapes out the sides causing the diamond to look dark and dull.
Polish and symmetry determine the sparkle of the diamond. Poor polish means the surface of a facet can be dulled and may create blurred or dulled sparkle. With poor symmetry, light can be misdirected as it enters and exit’s the diamond. Blue Nile has half a dozen cuts ranging from poor to Blue Nile Signature Ideal cut, which “represents roughly one per cent of diamond quality based on cut. The highest grades of polish and symmetry allow it to reflect even more light than the standard ideal cut. Our most brilliant cut.”
We know a little something about diamonds so let’s go purchase one.
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We will let our mouse do the walking through this virtual marketplace, and we’ll call up Blue Nile again. Apparently, there are ten different shapes: round, princess, emerald, asscher, marquise, oval, radiant, pear, heart, cushion. Blue Nile has 32,700 round diamonds ranging in price from $363 to $974,994. That’s a lot of diamonds and a vast price range. Just for the sake of sanity, let’s choose a radiant diamond for under$100,000, but more than $50,000.
For $99,930, we can get a rock – I mean a rock – that’s 6.02 carats in very good condition. However, this is a round diamond and we want a radiant, so we must continue our search. But first we come upon a section on the website that says “Build Your Own Ring,” and we’re game. We’re going to build our own ring. I have further narrowed my search to diamonds that cost between $50,000 and $51,000 in order to expedite matters. I’m looking at a “Very Good” 3.01-carat radiant diamond that sells for $50,099. Polish and symmetry are also rated as very good. There is a 3.21 for $50,264, but it doesn’t get a “Very Good” across the board like the other one. The cut is only “Good,” and the extra few dollars only means it’s a fifth of a carat bigger. Since cut determines brilliance, and since that is the quality we’re most concerned with, we will consider purchasing the first choice because the first choice gets a “Very Good” on brilliance from yours truly.
I have found a Princess cut ring, 3.34 carat, for just $50,116. I can only presume that it is beautiful; the sample on the page looks rather dull and lightless. However, the gem is rated as a “Very Good” cut, but symmetry and polish are merely “Good.” For a diamond to be rated as “Good” speaks to the way I respond when someone asks me how I feel. Good is twice removed from Ideal, and while the 3.01 diamond is a solid buy, we should really consider a diamond that is, in fact, Ideal, even though we will have to establish new parameters which will skew and stew the results . . . “Double, double, toil and trouble” when you try to write an essay and you come to the realization that you’re not as prepared as you thought you were, because you don’t know anything about diamonds – what makes them “Very Good” or Ideal or even real; at best, you’re scratching an itch, so let’s spend $100,000 on a Marquise diamond and be done with it.
After all, I’m not going to consider all ten diamond shapes just to make this essay somehow polished and symmetrical. I see it all now; you could spend the rest of your life trying to find the perfect diamond. Perhaps one late evening I could stop by the Smithsonian and pick up the Hope Diamond and fall prey to its curse, as my luck would have it, or I can research a Marquise diamond and see if I can find an Ideal gem for my betrothed.
Nope, it’s not going to be the Marquise. There are no ideal ratings under that style. However, I know for a fact that there are some round diamonds that are Ideal. In fact, I have found a whopping 4.75 carat round cut diamond that is Ideal, even though it is slightly included, meaning inclusions (scars or particles) are visible at 10x magnification, and may be visible with the unaided eye. This gem is an ideal buy at $100,458.
We know that cut determines brilliance, and this diamond is an Ideal cut, representing the top 3 per cent of diamond quality based on cut. It reflects nearly all the light that enters the diamond. It’s an exquisite and rare cut, and it is absolutely colorless so it emits a brilliant fire. Although it is flawed by inclusions we are willing to take a chance on this one. The 4.75 carat gem seems to be the best buy we’ve come across today. Of course, there are several other shapes we didn’t check, but we believe this round cut diamond for $100,000 will astound us when it arrives.
Buying a diamond can be a dizzying experience. One doesn’t want to be hasty and make a bad choice that may later turn up as a regret. Thank God no two diamonds are exactly alike, and as far as finding the perfect diamond you may as well get a bucket and a shovel and start digging up your backyard because perfect diamonds don’t exist. Perfect diamonds exist in the mind only, for if you look closely enough in time you will find a flaw. Perfect only means what’s perfect for you. The perfect engagement ring might be a one carat solitaire that looks as perfect as a brilliant fire; yet, it may have inclusions. Flaws abound in the diamond market, so before you rush out to buy that perfect piece of jewelry, take note of the stone and its characteristics. Even cubic zirconium looks like light pasted and dried beside a real gem. Therefore, use as much discretion as you can muster, have fun, and don’t let her know it’s imperfect.
