HOW TO BUY A DIAMOND

Shopping for diamonds should be a pleasure, not an arduous journey full of perils, pitfalls and perplexities. A good jeweller should be knowledgeable and generous with advice and help. We take time to educate our customers, leading them carefully through the four C's - cut, colour, clarity and carat weight - the guide to each diamond's quality and value. There is really nothing mysterious about it. Let's briefly look at each of these characteristics.

CUT

The way a diamond is cut and polished is, perhaps, the least understood of the 4C's, but it is the most critical to the look of the stone. The better the cut, the greater the brilliance, sparkle and fire. It's all about light - how it is internally reflected from one facet to another, and dispersed through the top of the stone. If the cut is too deep or too shallow, light will escape through the stone. A properly cut diamond is comprised of facets angled to perfectly reflect and refract light. There should be 57 or 58 facets in a modern round brilliant-cut diamond.

COLOUR

In the extreme temperature and pressure that created diamonds, trace elements were incorporated into the atomic structure of most stones, giving them subtle hints of colour. The closer the diamond is to having no colour, the more valuable it becomes. Truly colourless diamonds ("D" colour) are extremely rare.

CLARITY

During the crystallization process, minute traces of other minerals are often trapped in the rough diamond. These natural characteristics, called "inclusions," are absolutely unique to each stone. The number, colour, nature, size and position of inclusions determines the clarity grade of the diamond. The closer to flawless, the more valuable the stone.

CARAT WEIGHT

This is the easiest of the 4C's to measure. A carat is a unit of weight which derives from the carob seed. The seeds of the carob tree are tiny and remarkably consistent in weight. They were used by early gem traders to weigh their diamonds. We have become a little more sophisticated lately. A carat is now a standard metric weight of 0.2 grams, divided into 100 points.

HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?

The diamond you select should match both your dreams AND you wallet. Spend your money wisely. Comparison-shopping can be tricky, because no two diamonds are exactly alike. Two stones that weigh the same and have the same colour grade may vary vastly in cut. And nowhere is the adage more appropriate than when buying a diamond: If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is. You get what you pay for.

DeBeers, the world's largest diamond selling organization, has been using two months' salary as a guideline for how much you should reasonably expect to pay for an engagement ring, usually the first major diamond purchase. This is well and good. Some people can afford more than that, but for many, it creates the impression that a decent quality diamond is beyond their financial reach, which is not necessarily so. Diamonds come in all sizes and qualities. We always stress colour and cut over size. A high-colour stone of exceptional cut is something you can be proud of for a lifetime, even if it's not the size of a dinner plate. And diamonds really are forever, so buy quality.

You should understand that the larger the diamond, the rarer, and consequently, the more expensive. A nearly flawless diamond that weighs one carat (100 points) will cost substantially more than ten diamonds each weighing 10 points, even if the colour and clarity are equal.

 CANADIAN DIAMONDS

Some of the world’s best diamonds now come from Canada’s frozen north.

There are a number of companies cutting high quality Canadian diamonds, each bearing its own distinctive "tattoo" or logo, along with certification and grading reports.

In addition to the well-known four "C’s" (cut, colour, clarity and carat weight) may we add four more:

CANADIAN: These diamonds are mined in Canada by Canadians.

CONFLICT FREE: In a world troubled by the flow of diamonds used to finance civil wars, Canadian mined diamonds are as pure as an arctic glacier.

We are proud to carry the Hallmark of Quality Canadian Diamond, which complies 100% with the Canadian Diamond Code of Conduct and monitors the whole process of mining, production and cutting under one operation.

CERTIFIED: Each diamond over ¼ carat in weight is laser engraved with a microscopic image or logo, along with a distinctive serial number, and comes with a certificate guaranteeing grade and authenticity.

Each Hallmark of Quality Canadian Diamond is graded to the strictest standards with the world's most sophisticated instruments:

Cut grading: Measured using Megascope diamond technology and G.I.A. Facetware reporting all diamond cut information in a complete format with all relevant angles and percentages
Colour Grading: Measured using a G.I.A. registered master set and backed up by the Gran full- spectrum colorimeter.
Clarity Grading: A grade is arrived at using the opinions of at least two experts, all G.I.A. trained.
CanadaMark™:
The CanadaMark logo on the girdle of our diamonds is the absolute guarantee that the Canadian diamond that bears it has never left the custody of the mine owners from crystal rough to final production. It carries the full power and authority of BHP.Billiton, operators of the Ekati mine, the largest mining company in the world.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: At Finlayson’s we offer free, professional and friendly diamond education to our customers. Come and see us if there’s a diamond in your future.