Diamond Education

At Mancuso we believe in building a strong relationship with our customers and rely very highly on word of mouth referrals. We want our customers to be as educated as possible when making such an important purchase. While we do have a variety of stock on hand, almost everything we do is custom made and requires specific inventory. If you would like to view a range please feel free to make an appointment.

Diamonds are generally graded in to four categories, Carat, Colour, Clarity and Cut. More commonly referred to as the Four C's'.

Carat 

When diamonds are spoken of in carats we are referring to the physical weight of the diamond. 1ct is equal to 0.2 grams, which could also be put as 1 gram equals 5ct.

So the combination of diameter or width of the diamond, along with depth and girdle thickness will result in the carat weight. A large diamond is not always the best if it is too shallow or too deep, and this is where the Cut of the diamond is important.

Colour

Colour in diamonds that we stock occurs naturally, usually as the diamonds are forming there is some form of trace element that enters and causes colour.

The most common colour is yellow, caused by nitrogen, and how strong this colour is showing in a particular diamond is represented by a letter ranging from D-Z, where D is the purest and colourless diamond.

We are able to stock diamonds from a large range anywhere on the scale, but generally advise anywhere from D-G for high quality diamonds.

Clarity

Clarity refers to any impurities that are present in a diamond. These are graded under 10x magnification and in most cases are exceptionally difficult to see with the naked eye. 

Flawless being the rarest, and therefore the most expensive, clarity grade then workings its way down all the way to Included. At Mancuso Diamonds we only go as far as Si2. When diamonds go beyond this point the inclusions are far too easily seen with the naked eye. 

Cut

A high quality cut of diamond is absolutely essential in bringing a diamond to life. This is the key attribute which gives a diamond its fire. Cutting refers to the physical shape of the diamond; in round brilliant diamonds it is quite scientific.

Round brilliant cut diamonds are designed specifically to refract all the light entering through the crown(top) of the diamond, around the pavilion facets, and back through the crown to the wearers eye. Diamonds which lack exact cutting will have areas in the diamond that do not shine as much as others, usually leaking light through the pavilion(bottom) of the diamond. Round Brilliant cut diamonds have 3 grades of cut, they are;

• Cut – This is the overall cut of the diamond. A diamond does not need an absolute set of specific angles to achieve a high cut grade. It is a combination of everything that is taken into consideration, and most importantly, does the diamond appear bright? The ‘Cut’ grade appears only on Round Brilliant diamonds.
• Polish – This refers to the physical polishing of the diamond. For example, as you would use progressively finer sandpaper if finishing a piece of furniture to achieve a fine finish, the same is with diamond. Rather finer and finer diamond wheels are used to ensure that no scratches are evident on the surface.
• Symmetry – Quite simply put this determines how well one half of the diamond mirrors the other. This is generally one area of the diamond that we refuse anything other than the highest grade of excellent, as it is very apparent when a diamond is not symmetrical.

Fancy cut diamonds, which are anything other than round diamonds, work quite differently however. There are only 2 cut grades in fancy shapes(Polish and Symmetry) and not all of these diamonds are cut to appear bright. Some diamonds, such as emerald cut diamonds, are cut to show colour, which is why many high quality white and coloured diamonds are cut this way.

To find out more on the specifics of each diamonds, please feel free to make an appointment.