Diamond guide

Possibly the most important of the C’s. Each diamond is expertly faceted to bring out the beauty of the gemstone. A high cut grade means a high degree of brightness, fire (rainbow colours) and scintillation (sparkle).

Diamond cuts are graded in 5 levels: Excellent, very good, good, fair, poor.

A diamond’s colour is graded by the lack of colour. The highest grade is ‘D’ and extends to ‘Z’ or light yellow. D-G are excellent and rare, H-I are near colourless, J-Z is slightly tinted and includes many colour shades including grey, champagne and cognac.

At Meadowlark we usually use F-I, but we can help source the right diamond for your budget.

Because diamonds are formed under tremendous heat and pressure they all contain imperfections. Diamonds are graded under 10x magnification because many inclusions are not visible to the naked eye.

The very best and rare clarity is ‘internally flawless’ (IF).

Diamond weight is measured in carats, one carat equals 200 milligrams in weight. All C’s combined means no two stones are the same.

We recommend choosing the best quality stone over size.

Black diamonds are natural diamonds which have their colour changed with heating or irridation to be permanently black. Because they are black only the carat weight applies and the cut, colour and clarity can't be rated.

Often large black diamonds have many inclusions, we aim to source the cleanest gems available

Grey diamonds are a white diamond with many natural inclusions and shades which adds to the rustic nature of this beautiful gemstone. Because they are imperfect diamonds you tend to get a real salt and pepper effect which makes each diamond extremely unique.

We cost and source the highest grade but can get cloudier options to fit within your budgets.

Lab grown diamonds are grown from small carbon 'seeds' that are placed in a chamber where carbon rich gases are introduced and heated to create a plasma. Carbon attaches to the seed and atom by atom creates a diamond. It takes approximately 6 weeks for a lab grown diamond to grow depending on the size. It is then cut, polished, inspected and certified.

The structural integrity of lab grown diamonds are chemically, physically and optically identical to mined diamonds- the only difference is the method of creation.

Our range is predominantly offered in naturally mined diamonds, however lab grown diamonds can be sourced by request.

Read our resource about Lab Grown vs. Mined Diamonds