Every piece at Diamond Galleria symbolises eternity, beauty, refined craftsmanship, captivating design, quality service and passion.
Four key factors determine how valuable your diamond is: carat, cut, clarity and colour.

Carat

A diamond’s weight is measured in ‘carats’. One carat is divided into 100 points, so a 0.50 diamond carat is described as a 50 point diamond. Generally, the larger the carat, the more rare and valuable the diamond.  While carat is the easiest of the factors to determine, two diamonds of equal carat weight can have very different values depending on their cut, clarity and colour.

Cut

The hand of a master cutter can reveal a diamond’s true brilliance, fire and ultimate beauty. A well cut diamond, regardless of shape, offers the greatest brilliance and will scintillate with its fiery lights. When a diamond is cut to good proportions, light is internally reflected from one mirror-like facet to another and then dispersed through the top of the stone. This results in a breathtaking display of its natural brilliance and personality. Diamonds cut to good proportions are more brilliant and therefore more valuable.

Shapes

• Round brilliant - perfect symmetry and resulting even sparkle, making it the most popular cut.
• Pear, marquise, oval, heart and square brilliant – asymmetrical, with concentrations of sparkle.
• Emerald and baguette cut - step cut diamonds, with a rectangular facet shape, tending to be less ‘sparkly’.

The proportion to which the diamond is cut is essential in unleashing its optical wizardry. If a diamond is cut too deep or too shallow light will be lost, reducing the sparkle, and value, of the stone.

Colour

It is not colour but absence of colour which is most desirable in a diamond. A colourless diamond provides a pure background which intensifies the flashes of fire. While most diamonds appear ‘white’, the colour of a diamond can be classified from ‘Exceptional White’ through to ‘White’, and graded alphabetically.  While ‘Exceptional White’ diamonds are very rare and valuable, the most common are ‘White’ and ‘Tint White’.
According to GIA diamond colour grading, there are 23 levels of colour grading. D to F is classified as colourless, G to L as nearly colourless and M to Z as tinted.

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

Z

Fine White

White

Slighlty Tinted

Tinted

Clarity

Like a thumbprint, every diamond is unique. Almost all diamonds contain natural ‘birthmarks’ which are minute traces of other minerals or non-crystallised carbon, the element from which they were born. These may look like tiny crystals, clouds or feathers, and are also referred to as internal characteristics. The number, colour, type and size of these internal characteristics determine the clarity of a diamond and make each diamond unique.
According to GIA diamond clarity grading, there are 6 levels of clarity:

1. Flawless (F)
2. Internally flawless (IF)
3. Very very slightly included (VVS1/VVS2)
4. Very slightly included (VS1/VS2)
5. Slightly Included (SI1/SI2)
6. Included (I1/I2/I3)\

Diamond Care

1. Don’t wear your diamond when you’re doing rough work. A diamond is durable, but can be chipped by a hard blow.
2. Keep your diamond away from chlorine bleach when doing household chores. It can damage and discolour the mounting.
3. Visit your jeweler at least once a year to check your ring and other precious pieces for loose prongs and wear of mountings.
4. Keep your precious pieces in a fabric-lined jewel case, or a box with compartments or dividers when you’re not wearing them.
5. Don’t jumble your diamond pieces in a drawer or jewellery case, because diamonds can scratch other jewellery or each other.

Gold

Carat gold jewellery is jewellery alloyed with other metals. Different alloys are used in jewellery for greater strength, durability and colour range. Gold jewellery ranges from light yellow to reds, and also in the family of whites.
Yellow gold is alloyed with silver and copper. It is the most frequently used type of gold there is. White gold is alloyed with a large percentage of silver, or a selection of other white metals. Rose gold is alloyed with copper, and perhaps silver.

The caratage of the jewellery will tell you what percentage of gold it contains:
24 carat is 99.99 percent gold (999)
18 carat is 75 percent gold (750)
14 carat is 58 percent gold (580)
9 carat is 37.5 percent gold (375)

The higher the number of the carat, the greater the value.

Silver

Fine Silver in its natural state, 999/1000 pure, is too soft an element for practical jewellery. To make it workable, an alloy such as copper is added. All silver jewellery at Diamond Galleria is made from Sterling Silver:

• A mixture of 92.5 pure silver (925 parts) and 7.5 metal alloy.

Tarnish, cosmetics, perfume or sweat etc. will turn your silver jewellery’s surface into black.  Tips to keep your silver jewellery looking great and against tarnish:

• After daily wear, you should put it into a polyethylene bag.
• Periodically (weekly) simply clean it with water and a little soap on the silver jewellery surface. Remember to pat dry with a fine, soft cloth.
• Finally wipe with a polish cloth and your jewellery will shine again!

Platinum

Platinum is the most precious of jewelry metals because of its rarity, density and durability. Platinum remains one of the world’s rare metals. The annual worldwide production of platinum amounts to some 160 tons, compared to about 1,500 tons of gold.
Platinum is very dense. A platinum ring weighs 60 percent more than the same ring in 14-karat gold. Platinum jewellery is 90 or 95 percent pure. Because of its high purity, platinum does not oxidize or react to chlorine (like gold alloys can). Platinum is also naturally white that its luster brings out the brilliance of diamonds far better than gold, thus it has become the best choice for many diamond engagement rings. Platinum’s purity also makes it the perfect choice for people with allergies. Platinum will not cause an allergic reaction like white gold and yellow gold alloys sometimes do.
Platinum is durable, making it an ideal setting for precious diamond jewellery.
Platinum does scratch, but scratches just move the metal around it is not lost. There is very little loss of platinum and the ring can be repolished.