Quick guide to choosing your diamond

At Van Deijl Jewellers, we hold our clients in the highest regard and we are passionate about supplying them with the finest quality diamonds available in the market.

When all other factors are equal, the cut is the most important factor to consider when choosing a diamond. The cut grade looks at the overall design of the diamond, taking into consideration weight relative to diameter, symmetry of facet arrangement, girdle thickness and quality of polish.

In the diamond industry, the pricing of a diamond is determined by the 4 C’s: Carat, Colour, Clarity and Cut. The carat, colour and clarity of a stone, may be selected to fit a specific budget; however, the cut of a diamond can affect the value by more than 50%. When a retailer prioritises carat weight over the cut of the stone, the brilliance will be compromised. It is thus important to note that, no matter the colour or clarity grade of a diamond, if not properly cut, the diamond will appear dull. Conversely, a properly cut diamond will reflect light for optimum brilliance.

While we place substantial emphasis on the significance of the cut, we also provide considerable attention and focus to the colour and clarity of our diamonds. When it comes to the colour, we look for stones of any colour; and with clarity we look for stones in the Internally Flawless to Very Slightly Included range (IF-VS2). Our diamonds also have some added restrictions regarding the nature of the inclusions and hues, which we will not accept (see bottom of the chart below for specifications).

At Van Deijl Jewellers, we have established two in-house cut standards:

VDJ Excellent and VDJ Superior, our most stringent cut standard. As technology in diamond cutting has advanced over the years, we have continually refined these proportions, leading to the final creation of our in-house cut standards. Diamonds that fall in our VDJ Cut parameters are exceptionally bright with exemplary fire bringing the diamond’s true beauty to life.

Diamonds that meet our VDJ Excellent and VDJ Superior standards are among the top proportioned diamonds available in the market. These diamonds provide our clients with the utmost best light yield, fire, and brilliance possible. Finding a VDJ Excellent or Superior cut diamond in today’s market is a rigorous process, as less than 10% of all diamonds, regardless of colour and clarity, meet our VDJ Excellent cut parameters. Diamonds in our strictest VDJ Superior cutting parameters represents 1% of all round brilliant cut diamonds in the market.

Van Deijl Jewellers’ proportions are much stricter than the GIA Excellent standard. Therefore, we provide clients with valuable information to compare their GIA (Gemological Institute of America) diamond certificates with Van Deijl Jewellers parameters. We invite you to review your diamond’s GIA certificate, paying special attention to the Cut grade. You can use the cut parameter diagram located on the back of the certificate for detailed information. Compare these details with our in-house parameters to experience the unparalleled quality.

See chart below.