About Impex Diamonds Ltd.

Choosing Your Perfect diamond can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. James Allen strives to make this process easier by offering you an easy-to-follow tutorial on the “4 Cs” of diamonds: cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. Helping our customers create their ideal rings, by offering them wide options of loose diamonds and helping them to choose the diamond that matches their quality requirements and budget. A wonderful starting point in your diamond pursuit is the “Diamond Education” section of the website. In this section you will learn all of the basics of choosing a diamond. Finding the perfect stone for your ring means understanding that each diamond is as unique as the woman you love. Some women prefer a larger diamonds (higher carat weight) and may be less concerned about clarity or color. Other women prefer maximum brilliance and fire, so concentrating on diamonds with only the finest proportions are what is most important, rather than the size or color. Choosing the right diamond and setting is easy as long as you make sure you consider what you wants.

We offer a wide range of certified diamonds from international gemology laboratories like

- GIA, Gemological institute of America
- EGL, European Gemological Laboratory
- HRD, Diamond High Council

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Education

Guide to the 4Cs - carat, cut, color and clarity - of diamonds

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Inventory

For our up-to-date inventory join our mailing list of available stones

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Query

You may also contact us with your specific query.
 

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The 4 C's of Diamonds


Guide to the 4Cs (carat, cut, color and clarity) of diamonds will help you to understand the language of diamonds as well as enabling you to choose the right diamond for you and your budget.

From the Greeks, who thought diamonds were the tears of the gods to the Indians who thought of diamonds as good-luck charms, diamonds have been immensely valuable to many cultures. The rare, precious, magical and indestructible qualities of diamonds has made them the perfect symbol for romance and true love.

What does the diamond you choose say about you?

The round brilliant diamond understated and classic The oval diamond influenced by opinion The marquise diamond adventurous The heart diamond real romantic The emerald-cut diamond loves vintage The pear diamond creative The princess trendy and fashion-conscious.

Carat

The carat is the unit of weight for diamonds. A carat weighs 0.20 of a gram and is divided into 100 points, therefore a three-quarter carat diamond is 75 points, a half carat diamond is 50 points and a quarter carat diamond is 25 points and so on…

The derivation of the word carat is most interesting – Revolutionary Indian diamond traders in the 17th century used the locally-available carob seed as a comparison when assessing the weight of the rough diamond. The carob seed on one side of the weighing scales and rough diamonds on the other. By a miraculous feat of nature the weight of a single carob seed was always 0.20 gram. Following this the unit of weight for diamonds was established and the name ‘carob’ became ‘carat’.

A one carat diamond is almost 6 and a half mm in diameter, a half carat diamond is just over 5 mm in diameter and a quarter carat diamond is just over 4 mm in diameter. This is purely a guide as the diameter of the diamond in relation to the carat weight will depend on the final proportions and overall volume.

Cut

Ideal The Perfect diamond cut. The proportions, symmetry and finish give you the finest possible quality to create the most incredible theatre of fire and brilliance. Some of our diamonds in this quality will be described as ‘hearts and arrows’, where a heart and arrow effect can be magically seen when viewed through a special scope. For those who only want the absolute finest, Less than 1% of the diamonds in the world has the perfect internal symmetry necessary to achieve the Hearts & Arrows distinction

Excellent: Reflects and disperses the light that enters the diamond superbly to create a magical theatre of fire and brilliance. Excellent proportions, symmetry and finish assure of a very fine make that beautifully brings your diamond to life.

Very Good Reflects and disperses most of the light that enters the diamond, creating very good brilliance and fire. The proportions and symmetry are of a very high quality so that only a very slight amount of light is refracted through the sides (crown) and bottom (pavilion) of the diamond. Diamonds of this cut offer you a very good combination of value for money and very high quality.

Good Reflects and disperses much of the light that enters the diamond. The proportions and symmetry fall outside of our premium cuts because the diamond cutter has chosen to create the largest diamond possible from the original rough crystal, rather than removing extra weight to produce a finer overall cut. Diamonds of this cut offer you a superb value for money without sacrificing the eternal beauty of the diamond

Color

D & E
Exceptional white incredible whiteness and purity of color that, in some cases, has a miraculous tint of incredible blue light. The absolutely finest qualities of white diamonds and are extremely rare. For those who only want the absolute finest diamonds.

F & G
Rare white Special whiteness and purity with no tint of color (usually yellow or brown). A specialist trained eye could only tell the difference between exceptional white and rare white. Diamonds of this color are very rare and offer you some of the very finest diamonds available anywhere.

H & White
Good white brightness with no tint of color (usually yellow or brown). Diamonds of this color are very rare and offer you an excellent combination of quality and value.

I & J
Slightly tinted white your diamond will have a slight tint of color, usually yellow or brown. The level of color is only noticeable when directly compared with white, rare white or exceptional white. Diamonds of this color are more readily available, but offer superb value for money.

K & L
Tinted white your diamond will have a tint of color, usually yellow or brown. The tint of color is noticeable but a fine quality cut can still make the diamond look very special. Diamonds of this color are more abundant, but offer superb value for money.

M - X
Tinted color your diamond will have a strong tint of color, usually yellow or brown, but not of the finest hue color that would classify it as ‘fancy color’. In most cases our diamonds do not stock the lower spectrum of diamond color quality

Clarity

IF
Internally flawless - Absolutely no internal imperfections in the diamond. The purist of the pure. Magical. Amazing. Unbelievable. The perfect gift from nature. For those who only want the absolute finest and rarest diamonds.

VVS1
Very very small inclusions - Very few inclusions in the diamonds can be seen using magnification of 30X. Inclusions not visible to the naked eye. Diamonds of this clarity are very rare.

VVS2
Very very small inclusions - Few inclusions in the diamonds can be seen using magnification of 30X. Inclusions not visible to the naked eye. Diamonds of this clarity are very rare.

VS1
Very small inclusions - Very few inclusions in the diamonds can be seen using magnification of 10X. Inclusions not visible to the naked eye. Diamonds of this clarity are rare.

VS2
Very small inclusions - Few inclusions in the diamonds can be seen using magnification of 10X. Inclusions not visible to the naked eye. Diamonds of this clarity are rare.

SI1
Small Inclusions - Very few inclusions in the diamonds visible to the naked eye on very close inspection. Diamonds of this clarity are more available.

SI2
Small Inclusions - Few inclusions in the diamonds visible to the naked eye on very close inspection. Diamonds of this clarity are more available.

I1 - I3
Evident inclusions - Inclusions in the diamonds visible with the naked eye.

Inventory & Query

For our up-to-date inventory join our mailing list of available stones or contact us with your specific query.

To submit your query use the form below to tell us what you’re interested in , and we will do our best to find it and contact you as soon as possible.