PB Diamond Buying Guide
Love! Celebrations!
Milestones!
Ask any woman about a piece of jewelry, and she will tell you a story. Jewelry commemorates occasions and evokes cherished memories.
At Parker Bingham we offer a unique shopping experience. Our client driven model is a fusion of concierge service backed by a brick-and-mortar boutique, as well as decades of well established relationships with top designers and diamond cutters. As your own personal jewelry concierge Patty will send time listening to each clients individual wishes, taking great care to learn their sense of style and what is important to them. This tailored approach goes beyond the ordinary shopping experience, creating a sense of connection between the client and their dream jewelry.
Choosing the right diamond
The Cut
Cut is considered the most important factor in ensuring the brilliance of a diamond. It is often misunderstood as the shape. But it actually refers to how well the diamond is cut, the proportions and finish.
Cut is graded on a scale from excellent to poor. Cut takes into consideration the diamonds brightness, fire, scintillation, weight ratio, polish, and symmetry.
Generally, a diamond should not be cut too shallow or too deep in order to ensure the maximum light return, or sparkle, in each stone. Most importantly, the quality of the cut can mask other diamond characteristics. Remember: color, clarity, and even carat weight are mostly determined by mother nature, however, cut is determined and engineered by man to maximize brilliance and sparkle
The Carat Weight
Carat weight is the measurement of how much a diamond weighs. Each carat can be subdivided into 100 points. This allows very precise measurements to the hundredth decimal place. For example: a 125 point diamond is 1 1/4 carats.
The Color
Color describes how white a diamond appears. The color ranges from colorless to light yellow. The evaluation of diamond color is based on the absence of color beggining at “D” and going through to “Z”.
The Clarity
Clarity describes the purity of the diamond. Most diamonds contain tiny, natural marks called inclusions. The number of inclusions, their size, their nature, and location all affect the diamonds clarity grade.
Certification
What is a certification?
A certification is an independent quality report on a specific diamond. It is issued by a diamond grading laboratory with no affiliation to any retail outlet, giving the consumer a completely objective opinion on the diamond’s quality.
The certification includes the exact measurements, proportions, color grade, clarity grade, cut grade, and carat weight of the diamond. It also included specifics , such as the diamond’s fluorescence, polish, and symmetry. Each certificate is numbered, dated, and illustrates the internal and external characteristics of the diamond.
A vast majority of our diamonds are certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which is recognized as the world’s foremost authority in diamond grading.
Our Diamond experts will guide you through the criteria and key value points of each diamond to help you make the best buying decision. Parker Bingham will also provide you with a complimentary appraisal with the purchase of every diamond for your records and insurance purposes.
Fancy Colored Diamonds
Diamonds naturally occur in any color you can imagine: blue, brown, pink, yellow, and even green! These diamonds are known as fancy colored diamonds and are very rare due to the geological conditions required to create them.
Unlike the common white diamond, fancy colored diamonds are evaluated more for color intensity and less for brilliance. The deeper and more distinct the color, the higher the grade.
The GIA describes fancy colored diamonds with three terms: hue, tone, and saturation. Hue describes the diamond’s color, tone describes the lightness or darkness of the color, and natural saturation describes the depth or strength of the color.
The GIA places fancy colored diamonds into these nine categories:
Faint
Very Light
Light
Fancy light
Fancy
Fancy Dark
Fancy Intense
Fancy Deep
Fancy Vivid
Colored Gemstones and Pearls
Like diamonds, colored stones and pearls are also characterized by quality. For precious gemstones like rubies, sapphires, and emeralds: hue, saturation, tone, and clarity are the most important criteria to consider. These characteristics can vary from stone to stone and make some stones appear more vibrant than others. Origin can also have a big impact on the appeal, price, and availability of gemstones and pearls, because certain types of. these stones are only found in specific geographic areas.
Only the Finest Metals
There are many different types of metals commonly used in manufacturing fine jewelry. The precious metal family includes platinum, gold, and palladium, which are most known for their inherent value and durability.
Platinum is a naturally white, hypoallergenic metal that reigns supreme because it maintains its density for generations.
Gold is soft, naturally yellow metal that is hardened by mixing it with alloys. Gold can be tinted or treated to appear different colors such as black, pink, and commonly white. Through time, it is necessary to rhodium plate white gold to help maintain its white finish.
Ethical Diamonds. Always.
Parker Bingham is proud to reassure our customer that all of our diamonds originate from a conflict free source. Because we have deep roots in the diamond industry, we are careful to ensure all of our sources uphold an industry wide practice known as the Kimberley Process.
The Kimberley Process is an international initiative spearheaded by the United Nations to monitor the trade of rough diamonds. This process requires all diamond shipments sent across international boarders to be sent in temper resistant containers with a government validated certificate that validate the source of the diamond is conflict free. All certificates are resistant to forgery and number uniquely match each shipment.
