It has often been said that "Diamonds are Forever." The timeless appeal of a diamond is a testament to its durability, beauty, rarity and strength. It is a fitting symbol of love and affection. Let us offer you and your dear one’s some guidelines to help you choose the perfect diamond for your exquisite engagement ring.

Does your heart sing to the tune of light that reflects out from a round brilliant cut diamond? Perhaps your contemporary sensibility attracts you to the princess cut, which is square in shape, but brilliant like the round? Or do you love the elegance of a marquise-shaped diamond that marks your presence everywhere? Each diamond shape has its own attribute. Be it a pear shape, oval shape, heart shape, cushion, emerald, escher or radiant, we have it all. But shape preference is primarily a subjective statement of style that reflects the personality of the woman who wears it.

A diamond’s weight is measured in 'carats' and 'cents' with one carat equaling to 100 cents in the metric system and five grams approximately equals to one carat.

Years ago, carat weight was considered to be the defining characteristic of a diamond. Cut is probably the most important and most challenging of the four Cs to understand. The brilliance of a diamond depends significantly on its cut. Gemologists all over the world consider Cut quality to be the most important diamond characteristic because even if a diamond has a perfect color and clarity, a diamond with a poor Cut will have reduced brilliance. Cut is not a shape of the diamond but it refers to the quality of the proportion of the angle with which the diamonds are cut to perfection. When a diamond is cut to good proportions, light is reflected from one facet to another and is dispersed through the top of the diamond.

The best proportionate round diamonds, with perfect angles, will make it the most beautiful diamond, called the “Hearts and Arrows” (H&A). H&A are even better than the excellent cut diamonds. H&A cut commands a premium price in the market. We grade H&A diamonds with extra specification and do not include them in the regular cut criteria.

Symmetry is an important element of diamond finish. Symmetry refers to the exactness of the shape and arrangement of facets. This includes naturals, misshapen and extra facets, off-center culets and tables, wavy and out-of-round girdles, misalignment of crown and pavilion facets. To the unaided eye, finish features usually have little effect on appearance; they are like pin point inclusions. The importance of symmetry is of lesser consequence in diamonds that have lower clarity grades whereas, it is more important in diamonds that have high clarity grades.

A diamond is the most desired element in the world. Luster is one of its two most valued attributes, brilliance being the other one. It is one of the most important parameters of grading diamonds. It describes about the fire, sparkle and scintillation of the diamond. We at SGS, grade diamonds depending upon the light reflected from it on the basis of two levels of luster:

Milkiness is an effect that we get looking at the diamonds due to some inclusions like clouds present in the diamond. These avoid reflection of light from the diamond. Such milky diamonds are further classified depending upon the magnitude of milkiness:

Fluorescence, when exposed to ultraviolet radiations, glows if it carries the characteristic  of fluorescence.

Black Inclusions or Natts in general, are the inclusions that are found in the diamonds.

(i)   Table black inclusion

(ii)  Side black inclusion

We grade diamonds on the basis of five types of inclusions such as, Pin Points (PP), Clouds (CLD), Crystals (CRL), Feathers (FR) and Spreaded (SPR).

Pin Point (PP): It is a very small crystal that looks like a tiny dot while using a 10 x loupe. Pin Points are generally white in color but occasionally they can be dark also.

A cloud consists of many tightly grouped pin points. Some clouds look like a light haze, while others are dense and almost impossible to see through the naked eye.

Crystal (CRL): It is a mineral crystal contained in some diamonds. A crystal can be of almost any size, colored or colorless, and can appear alone or in groups.

A feather is a general term for any break in the diamond.

A spreaded inclusion appears when the feather inclusions are in greater number, spread across and not grouped together.

(i)   Table other inclusion

(ii)  Side other inclusion

Open Inclusions are the inclusions that are on the surface of the diamonds. We at SGS, grade diamonds with open inclusions on the basis of five types that are mentioned below:

(i)   Table open inclusion

(ii)  Side open inclusion

Extra facet is that extra facet placed on the normal facets of the diamonds without considering the symmetry of the diamond. These facets are additional to those required for making the diamond a brilliant cut diamond.

(i)   Slight Internal Graining

(ii)  Heavy Internal Graining