Colorless diamond education: the 4Cs, fluorescence, certification and how to judge a white diamond.
The most popular classic round brilliant cut (RBC) are geometrical cut in a way that sparkle the most. We at PASAVAJA take care of all the symmetries that directly affect the diamond’s beauty and brilliance.
8 guides, free to read
Diamond carat weight explained simply is this: carat is a unit of weight, not size. But as Harsh Shah, Director at PASAVAJA Gems LLP and Graduate Diamonds (GIA), will tell you, understanding what carat actually means in the real world is where most buyers can save significant money without any visual compromise.
Not all diamond certificates carry equal weight. If you are buying a natural diamond, whether it's a white solitaire, a fancy pink stone, or an antique cut, the certificate that comes with it may be the most important document in the transaction. Understanding what it actually tells you, and which lab issued it, is knowledge that can protect you from overpaying and help you buy with genuine confidence.
Ask any buyer what they want and many will say Flawless, but here is the truth: for most people, most of the time, Flawless is a certificate number that makes absolutely no visual difference to the stone in front of them. Harsh Shah, Director at PASAVAJA Gems LLP and Graduate Diamonds (GIA), is direct about this.
The diamond color scale is one of the first things you need to understand before buying a natural diamond. Getting it right can save you significant money without sacrificing any visual beauty. Heer Shah, Director at PASAVAJA Gems LLP, has spent years selecting natural white diamonds for bespoke fine jewelry.
Cut is the single factor that determines whether a stone blazes with light or sits there looking flat and lifeless. A D-Flawless diamond with a Poor cut grade will look noticeably duller than an H-VS2 with an Excellent cut. That is not an opinion. It is physics. Harsh Shah, Director at PASAVAJA Gems LLP, has spent years selecting diamonds on the basis of how they return light.
Both reactions are understandable, and both are often wrong. Harsh Shah, Graduate Diamonds (GIA) and De Beers Institute-trained diamantaire at PASAVAJA, has spent years explaining fluorescence to buyers who arrive confused and leave with a much clearer (and sometimes more advantageous) picture of the diamond they are considering. This article covers everything you need to know: what fluorescence actually is, how GIA grades it, how it affects the way a diamond looks, and when it works in your favor.
And rightly so. You are spending a significant amount of money on something that came from deep within the earth, and you deserve to know, or at least honestly understand, where it came from and how it got to you. I'm Harsh Shah, and sourcing is at the heart of what I do at PASAVAJA every single day.
If you have come across the term "H&A" on a diamond listing and wondered what it actually means, whether it is just marketing, or whether the premium is genuinely justified, you are in the right place. Harsh Shah, Director of PASAVAJA Gems, Graduate Diamonds (GIA), with training from the De Beers Institute and Rapaport Academy, has spent years evaluating cut precision at this level.
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