History Of Diamonds

Diamonds are one of natures most beautiful & exquisite creations, formed deep below the Earth’s crust 1 to 3 billion years ago.

What are the 4Cs of diamond quality?

1. Cut - Making Light Dance

Cut is perhaps the most crucial of the 4Cs. Cut does not refer to a diamond’s shape, but rather to the quality of workmanship (proportion and arrangement of facets). The quality of a diamond’s cut determines the amount of brilliance, sparkle and fire that a diamond shows. Grades range from ‘Excellent’ to ‘Poor.’ Many of the Appleby diamonds have received triple excellent cuts. 

Cut determines the sparkle of a diamond. The proportions and accuracy of cut are extremely important. If a diamond is cut too shallow or too deep, light will leak out through the base or sides without the diamond having the opportunity to play with it and create the sparkle.

We use the most skilled and experienced diamond cutters in the world to bring out the diamonds brilliance and fire - that is what creates the sparkle! Applebys only accept about one per cent of the diamonds offered to us as most diamonds are cut to maximise their weight, not their beauty.

All Appleby Diamonds are carefully examined by our in-house gemologists to ensure that they maximise the play on light that perfect cutting unlocks.

An Appleby diamond always stands out for this reason - it has more sparkle.

What is a Triple X diamond?

Triple X diamond is a trade term for round brilliant diamonds that have been graded by GIA as having Excellent cut, Excellent symmetry and Excellent polish. X is short for Excellent, so Triple X really just means Triple Excellent.

A diamond’s cut, symmetry and polish grades indicate the quality of craftsmanship that went into transforming a diamond rough into a polished stone. All three affect a diamond’s interaction with light and are described on GIA Diamond Grading Reports as Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor.

Many diamond buyers seek out Triple Excellent diamonds because they want diamonds with the best possible craftsmanship. Top notch craftsmanship ensures that a diamond gives off maximum sparkle and fire while having an attractive pattern.

2. Colour - A Whiter Shade Of Pale

GIA’s colour-grading scale for diamonds is the industry standard. The scale begins with the letter D, and continues with increasing presence of color to the letter Z, or light yellow or brown. 

Appleby only accepts engagement diamonds in the “colourless” and “near colourless” range on a diamond colour scale.

The majority of Appleby diamonds are D colour, E colour, F colour, G colour & H colour diamonds.

D, E and F grade diamonds tend to be extremely rare and valuable. G and H diamonds are typically considered excellent value. 

3. Clarity 

Diamonds are formed over billions of years, and diamonds contain natural inclusions (fingerprints) that were formed during their development. Diamond clarity refers to the grade given to a diamond based on the imperfections and inclusions found in a diamond. The fewer inclusions and blemishes a diamond has, the higher grade it will receive on the diamond clarity chart. 

The type, size, position and quantity of these inclusions determine the clarity of the diamond. As long as these inclusions do not affect the passage of light through the diamond, they will not substantially affect the diamond's beauty.

The subtext variations in clarity can only be detected by careful examination under a microscope. In poorer quality diamonds, the inclusions are visible to the naked eye.

4. Carat - A diamond is worth the weight

A carat is the unit used to measure a diamonds weight and size. As diamonds increase in their size, their rarity increases enormously. Therefore, the value of a diamond increases geometrically rather than arithmetically. 

A one carat diamond can be worth five or six times more than a 0.5 carat diamond, of the exact same quality.

Taken on it own, wieght (carat) is almost meaningless for evaluating a diamond - you must also consider Cut, Colour and Clarity.

The Appleby Team will be delighted to guide you through these important characteristics. 

The Ultimate Quality Control