What You Need To Know About Diamonds When Choosing Your Wedding Ring

You may have heard of the term 4C’s when it comes to diamonds. Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat. There is a 5th C too, Cost which is the result of the choices of the other 4Cs.

Let's go through them one by one:

COLOUR

Diamonds are graded by colour. The whitest being D and going down through the alphabet to Z. Anything from D/E is bright and sharp white, F/G is still white and is most common in retail jewellery. H/I/J/K start to show tinges of yellow.

It's important that the diamonds in your wedding ring match or are very close in colour quality to your engagement ring diamond. By very close we mean 1 colour grade difference is fine but any more than that you really will see a difference. 

The last thing you want is to outshine your engagement ring with your wedding ring. Keep your partner’s ego intact, and make sure your rings complement each other.

CLARITY

Diamonds are also graded by clarity.  When diamonds form under intense heat and pressure in the earth, tiny minerals can be trapped in the process of the carbon crystals bonding together. These are called inclusions, and are completely natural. The clarity grade is based on how many and what kind of inclusions are present in the diamond. They are often pin prick in size or are like tiny white or black freckles on a very minuscule scale and can only be seen when looking through a 10 x magnification eye glass/loupe. Clarity does effect how sharply a stone sparkles as inclusions can affect the way the light passes through a stone, blocking some of the light.

The Clarity grades are deemed as follows:

IF = Internally Flawless speaks for itself.

VVS1, VVS2  = which stands for very very slightly included 1 and 2. 

VS1, VS2  = you guessed it very slightly included 1 and 2. 

Si1, Si2 = slightly included 1 and 2.

I1, I2, I3 = Included 1 and 2 and 3. 

IF, VVS1 and VVS2 stones are very rare so are not seen often, except in high-end luxury retail. 

VS1 and VS2 are clarity grades where the inclusion cannot be seen with the naked eye and are generally a pin prick size under 10x magnification. This grade is ideal for a bright sparkling wedding ring.

Si1 can be seen with the naked eye if you are a professional grader and depending on the type of inclusion and the size of the stone. Si 1 may be spotted by the customer with a jeweller's loupe/eye glass. These are fine for small size stones too. 

We don’t recommend using Si2 or Included 1, 2 or 3 stones in wedding ring diamonds as the stones generally look dull plus the saving is not worth the compromise when the diamonds are less than 0.15 carat. 

When it comes to your wedding ring, Si1 is the lowest clarity grade we recommend, if your engagement ring is higher than Si1 you should match to the clarity of your engagement ring.  If you want to go for large size diamonds in your wedding band but don’t have the budget to match Vs1 or VS2, we recommend Si1 graded stones and we can help you pick out the best ones within the grade.

One thing to note with step cut shapes such as baguettes, carré cuts, emerald cuts, trapeze step cuts, tapered baguettes is a minimum clarity grade of VS2. Step cuts are unforgiving when it comes to inclusions, so if you want a clean bright ring , best to spend a little bit extra to get eye clean stones.

CUT

Cut refers to a grading scale of symmetry, ratio and polish.

All these factors effect the geometry and most importantly how much the stone sparkles because the different angles and measurements affect how the light passes through the stone and reflects back out – making it sparkle.

A triple excellent cut means excellent symmetry, excellent ratio and excellent polish. 

The cut grades are Excellent, Very good, Good and Poor.

Anywhere between Excellent and Very Good is fine for small wedding ring stones. Cut becomes more important the larger the stone size. For example 0.50 carats and above. However we don’t recommend going below Very Good in cut grade for any stone large or small. After all you want your stones to sparkle to their full potential!

Many people think that cut relates to the shape of the diamond; Round Brilliant cut, Princess cut, Pear cut etc. 

There are many different shapes to choose from when considering your wedding ring design. 

This is where you can get creative based on your style. Just because you may have a Round Brilliant cut solitaire diamond doesn’t mean you need to match the wedding ring with round brilliant diamonds. 

A combination of different stone shapes can make a ring floral, art deco, geometric or classic in style.

This is where it gets creative, fun and allows your personality and style to shine.

Fitted Double Sided Art Deco Jacket

Fitted Crown Ring Eight Three Stone Pear Shape Center

CARAT

Carat is a weight terminology that reflects the size of the diamond by weight relative to the cut grade.

In design we usually refer to millimeter sizes, especially with stones below 0.15 carats.

However, when you are pricing diamonds they are priced per carat, so often the total carat weight of a diamond wedding ring is quoted.

COST

Cost is determined by a matrix of $ per carat based on the colour, clarity, cut grade and carat weight.

Stone size is the biggest factor that affects price. The bigger the diamond the more expensive, increasing exponentially. I always recommend to stick to a colour grade G and above. And, if you are sticking to a budget, think of how many stones you want in your band. In my view it's better to have higher quality stones and only set them a third or half of the way. Ring size will also affect how many stones reach across the ring

Full eternity bands are beautiful, but do bear in mind you can not resize an eternity ring without remaking the ring. Getting the ring size correct is important. What many of us do not realise is that our ring size can fluctuate in size from summer to winter and over years of wear.

If you have your heart set on an eternity band, opt for a quarter to a half size bigger if you buy one in winter so it still fits you in summer.  Otherwise, one thing we offer at Kate McCoy Bridal is to have a small resizing gap at the base of an eternity ring allowing for a resize of two – three sizes.

If you have diamonds in the band of your engagement ring, we can also set the start and finish point of the diamonds on your wedding band to match.

Another factor of the cost is the shape and size. For example emerald, baguette and princess cut stones are slightly heavier than round brilliants for the spread of the stone so will cost a little more. However, a combination of different shapes can be what really make your wedding ring stand out and be the unique factor that you love.

When it comes to spending on a wedding ring, we think it's worth it. Whilst your dress is a show-stopper, you get to wear your wedding rings every day for this rest of your life. Rings can be passed down through the family and are an investment for the long term. A high quality custom made wedding ring will stand the test of time, sparkle even when you haven’t cleaned it for months and will always mark that very special commitment of love.

Elin Bandmann Photography