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- The “cut” isn’t necessarily about the shape. It’s about what makes the diamond sparkle. The diamond is cut in a way that when it interacts with the light, it gives off that “bling” factor. Cuts are graded from poor to excellent.
- The weight and size of a diamond is measured in carats. The average diamond in a ring or earring is about 200 milligrams which equals 1 carat.
- Small imperfections in a diamond determine clarity. The smaller the imperfection the higher the “clarity” and the higher the price.
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- While diamonds come in a spectrum of colors and shades, the rarest ones have no color. The most expensive diamonds are colorless while the least expensive have a visibly yellowish hue. Antique diamonds commonly have a hint of color to them. Then there are deep, natural colors that are becoming increasingly more fashionable like pink, red, blue, and chocolate. These offer more character. Diamonds are assigned a letter grade according to the color spectrum.
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- D through F – “colorless”
- G through J – “near colorless”
- K through M – “faint”
- N through R – “very light”
- S through Z – “light”
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- Visiting antique dealers in Chicago could give you more information on buying antique diamonds. Selecting a diamond shouldn’t be about what you should like because the way a diamond is cut could mask its true color. That means two diamonds can be the same technically but look very different in reality. Your attention to detail is a bigger gift than the earrings themselves.