Whether buying a natural diamond engagement ring or any kind of man made diamond engagement ring, the quality factors which should be considered are practically the same. We're going to take a no-nonsense look at the key factors to consider when buying a diamond engagement ring to help you understand what you should be looking for, whilst of course demonstrating how MADE Diamonds stack up.

Besides affecting the obvious aesthetic and overall design of a ring, the shape of the stone has an effect the "brillaince" of the stone. Brilliance essentially represents the brightness and contrast projected by a stone. A brilliant cut stone is cut in a certain way to enhance and pronounce the brilliance of the stone in a way that maximises the way light is returned through the stone. At MADE Diamonds we only supply Round Brilliant Cut Diamonds are they are in our eyes superior to any other shape. This leads us nicely on to the next factor to consider, the cut of the diamond.

The actual cut of the diamond is the most important factor which affects the visual appearance of the stone in relation to it's sparkle and overall beauty. The range of cuts available ranges from Poor to Ideal. Since nobody would advertise a cut as anything less than Fair, you are unlikely to ever find a stone advertised as Poor. The cut is so important as it effects, as we mentioned above, the way in which light is returned through the stone.

The cut of every single MADE Diamonds stone is classified as Ideal, which means our stones reflect nearly all of the light that enters them. The fact is that an Ideal cut natural diamond is very rare and it can only be found in around 3% of natural diamonds on the market. Our stones are each cut, by hand, into the iconic Hearts and Arrows cut which can only be found in around the top 2% of natural diamonds on the market.

Read more about the Hearts and Arrows cut here on Wikipedia.

The next factor to consider is the diamond's colour. The perfect colour for a diamond is actually colourless, represented by the colour classification "D". The colour of "white" diamonds then ranges all the way from Z, however the most retailers will only stock up to around a "J". Because most people are used to simply seeing quality colourless diamonds in advertisements and in shop window displays it can be hard for people to comprehend the colour aspect of picking a stone, but it really couldn't be more important. As we move down the colour classifications stones will generally have a yellowish/brown tinge to them which obviously vastly affects the visual appearance of the stone.

MADE Diamonds all fall within the range of D to F which is right at the top end of the grading scale so you can be assured of the beauty and superiority of every stone.

Our next consideration is clarity, which relates to the presence of imperfections within a stone. So we are talking about the internal clarity of the stone, as well as the presence of surface defects. Stones can range from "IF" which stands for Internally Flawless, through to I3 where imperfections (called inclusions) are visible even with the naked eye.

Our stones range from IF to VS2 which indicates the presence of very slight inclusions.

We have not included the final C of Carat as it is relatively self explanatory in that it relates to the weight and size of the stone.

Our aim with this no-nonsense guide was to provide a simple and easy guide to help people assess and compare the quality of stones they might be considering whilst demonstrating how MADE Diamonds stack up.

If you have any questions about any of the information contained within this guide or you'd like to talk through any thoughts or apprehensions you may have, why not give us a call on 0121 405 5675 or send us an email at [email protected]