The Kimberley Process
The Diamonds For Today collection is manufactured in Hatton Garden, London, to exceptional standards and employs the finest craftsmen and women to transform two-dimensional ideas into three-dimensional forms. The company operates strict ethical policies regarding the purchase of raw materials, the employment of staff and relationships with suppliers, thus ensuring that only the finest materials are used and no corners are cut in the preparation of each of the pieces in this collection. All diamonds comply with the Kimberly Process and are conflict free and from legitimate sources.
Our Guide to the 5 C’s
Clarity, colour, cut, carat weight and certification are the five most important things to consider when assessing the value and quality of a diamond.
Clarity: The fewer inclusions or characteristics that appear within the structure of a natural diamond, the rarer and therefore more valuable the stone. A diamond’s inclusions are natures fingerprint and can sometimes be used to identify the country of origin and even the mine. A flawless diamond is graded IF – Internally Flawless – on the GIA grading scale.
Colour: The most valuable colour for a diamond is white or colourless. On the GIA grading system this is a D colour. Diamonds generally contain a hint of colour, usually yellow or brown, caused by the presence of other elements during their formation deep within the Earth, billions of years ago. These stones are less rare and therefore less valuable than the finest and whitest stones.
Certification: When falling in love with a Diamond, look for a Certificate supplied. This will be a unique verification for your stone. It will give you the peace of mind when looking to create your bespoke ring; this will pull all important credentials for your Diamond and put it on a certificate, which will be supplied by a well known independent laboratory.
Certificates are supplied only to clarify the engagement ring your fiancé-to-be has chosen for you, and we would advise not to be obsessed with the certificate, but more the diamond itself.
Cut: The cut refers to the angles of the facets of the diamond – in particular to the size of the girdle and the angle of the top and bottom facets to the girdle, known as the critical angle. The critical angle is important because it is that which enables the reflection and refraction of light and releases that fire for which the diamond is renowned.
Carat Weight: Carat is the most asked about aspect of a Diamond, each diamond is sold by weight; known as the metric carat, 0.20 gram. The word carat is derived from the carob bean, found in many Mediterranean countries and originally used to weigh the diamonds. You may think the higher carat the more valuable the Diamond may be, however, if it possesses a far superior cut, higher colour and internally flawless clarity; it can be a higher value. With diamonds, it is about every aspect of the stone, quality over quantity or quantity over quality. Be sure to mention which you prefer when purchasing your dream piece, you are then guaranteed to be ready for your memorable date.
The Noble Metals
The precious or noble metals are gold, silver & platinum. The Diamonds For Today collection uses a selection of these metals all of which is obtained from known sources and comply with our strict ethical policies.
The term carat or karat, when used as a measure of the purity of gold, is different to that used to measure the weight of diamonds and other precious gemstones. Pure gold is 24 carats and the terms 21 carat, 18 carat, 14 carat and 9 carat all describe the percentage of gold to other alloys.
In the UK, our Hallmarking Act ensures that all precious metals bear a stamp which indicates the mark of the maker, the assay office, the date and the purity of the metal – for example, 750 for 18ct gold and 950 for platinum. For further information on hallmarking, please visit the British government web site.