A Christmas Engagement

Christmas can be such a romantic time of the year, what better time to search for the perfect engagement ring for a loved one.

Purchasing an engagement ring can be one of the most memorable times in your life, however it can appear somewhat daunting and overwhelming at first but don’t worry. Whittles Jewellers diamond experts are on hand to help.

We carry a massive selection of only the highest quality engagement rings and if you can’t find that’s special piece, we can have a bespoke diamond ring of your dreams designed just for you.

Don’t know where to start, no problem, we have put together a rundown of the ‘4cs’ to help you better understand the characteristics of a diamond and what makes it sparkle or not… , cut, clarity, colour and carat.

Cut

The Cut is the shape of the diamond. Many week or even months, of work go into cutting and polishing diamonds so that they catch the light just so. The way a diamond is cut determines its brilliance and sparkle. This type of cut of course is all down to personal taste and what you feel would suit you or your partner best. Take a look at the diamond shapes below to see which one you are most drawn to…

Colour

After the cut, colour is largely considered the second most important trait when choosing a diamond.

Colour reveals itself as a pale yellow in a diamond. Therefore, a diamond’s colour grade is established on its absence of colour, so the less colour a diamond has, the higher its colour grade.

Clarity

The Flawless diamond, the absolute pinnacle of perfection, a rare quality in anything but especially in diamonds. The Clarity is a measure of the degree and size of the small (birthmarks) imperfections that occur in almost all diamonds, so the less imperfections the better the diamond. Here are some grading examples:

• Very, Very Small Inclusions (VVS1, VVS2) are flaws that are only visible under high magnification. These are also very rare.
• Very Small Inclusions (VS1, VS2) have inclusions which are not visible to the naked eye which means they are of a very high quality.
• Small Inclusions (SI1, SI2) diamonds have small inclusions that may be visible to the naked eye but are of excellent value.

Carat weight

Carat is a measure of a diamond’s weight. A diamond cut can often impact on how generous the carat weight will appear. Originally diamonds were weighed by using carob seeds, this is where the word Carat was derived. One carat is 0.2 grams and incredibly less then 5% of diamonds weigh more than this.

I hope we have given you enough information to feel armed and ready to begin one of the most exciting and probably most important shopping trips you will encounter in life, so it’s one you want to be getting right.

Here at Whittles Jewellers we’re here to guide you through every step. No matter how small or big your budget may be, we’d love to help and advise you on choosing the perfect diamond ring for this most romantic occasion.

With our vast selection of diamond engagement rings and highly skilled team we can guarantee you will find the diamond ring of your dreams.