Catheralls Quality Jewellery

CUT		The cut of the diamond describes the finished shape and quality of workmanship that went into shaping the stone.	COLOUR		Most diamonds appear white, however many display hints of colour which can dramatcally affect a stone's value.
CLARITY		Most diamonds appear clear to the naked eye, but many have natural 'birthmarks' which affect the stone's value.	CARAT		The carat, or 'weight' of the stone determines its size and is the most obvious influence on value.

Every single diamond hewn from the living earth is totally unique. This combined with their astounding beauty, internal fire and immortality has made them the de facto way of saying "I love you" for time immemorial.

Catheralls Diamond Merchants specialise in guiding you through the process of finding the perfect stone. Whether it be for inclusion in one of our exclusive bespoke designs, a replacement for an existing piece or perhaps to be held as an investment, you can rest assured you are getting the best advice available.

Take a look below at our guide to choosing the right diamond then give us a call for our personal recommendation

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The crafting of the diamond from raw material to finished gem is a time consuming and highly skilled art.
The diamonds' final beauty, fire and brilliance depend on the craftsman's skill in fashioning the stone to internally reflect as much light as possible back into the eye of the observer.

Well cut

Too deep

Too shallow

The shape of a diamond is a matter of great personal taste and we can provide whichever you desire. The traditional round stone is still the most popular, but each has it's own characteristic, for example an oval shaped gem will appear larger than a round stone of the same carat.

The majority of diamonds have some sort of "inclusion" or flaw but most are invisible to the naked eye and require magnification to be identified. The number, size, type, position and colour of the inclusions will affect a stones value. Indeed totally flawless stones are extremely rare and highly prized!

FL/IF
(Flawless/
internally
Flawless)

WS1-WS2
(very, very small inclusions)

VS1-VS2
(very small inclusions)

SL1-SL2
(slight inclusions)

I1, I2, I3
(Inclusions visible to the naked eye)

While most diamonds appear white to the naked eye many display hints of colour, particularly noticeable under the microscope. Colourless diamonds are much rarer than tinted stones and the closer a stone approaches to colourless the more valuable it is.

If a diamond has a strong pure colour it is known as a "fancy". These stones are extremely rare and valuable and can be found in pink, blue, yellow, green and orange amongst others.

Before standardisation the units used to weigh diamonds and all precious stones were the seeds from the carob tree, and it is from this that we get the word "carat". Nowadays a carat is described as being 0.2 grams with each carat divisible by up to 100 "points", hence a diamond of 25 points is a quarter of a carat, or 0.25 carats.

The size of a diamond is the most obvious contributor to the final value but is also affected by the stones clarity, colour and cut. At Catheralls we specialise in guiding you through the process of finding the right stone for your needs.