Girl's best friend - Diamond and its 4Cs quality

Going through the jewellery that a woman owns, it is not hard to find a diamond among them. It may be a solitaire diamond, pave diamond, or diamond look-like. A diamond can stand on its own as a centrepiece or add sparkles to a gemstone centrepiece. Using the analogy of diamonds, it also reflects how a woman can be a leader or team member in the organisation and do well in both situations - i.e. she 'sparkles'. Hence, it is apt to say a diamond is a girl's best friend.

As you may have known that choosing a diamond depends on the 4Cs - carat, colour, clarity and cut. These standards are summarised in the table below :

Standards	Highest - - > Lowest
Carat	1 carat is divided into 100 points or 200 milligrams
Clarity	F -> VVS1 -> VVS2 -> VS1 -> VS2 -> SI1 -> SI2 -> I1 ->I2 -> I3
Colour	D -> Z or colourless, near colourless, faint, very light, light
Cut	Excellent -> Very Good -> Good -> Fair -> Poor

For more information, you may watch the video : GIA Video

The question that one may ask should I choose a bigger carat diamond with low clarity or a smaller carat diamond with high clarity given the same budget? Well, the seller usually values the latter than former, i.e. a smaller carat diamond with high clarity. It is rarer to find a diamond of flawless or F clarity. However, if one is buying a diamond ring to propose, it does not hurt to choose the bigger diamond. After all, one cannot tell the difference between F and VS1 without a microscope, and the perceived value of a bigger diamond is higher. 

However, one should not compromise on the colour and cut though. If you are considering a white colour diamond, the recommended grading is colour grade D to H (within the colourless group). Or you may consider the other end of the spectrum, i.e. a warm or yellowish colour diamond, the recommended grading is colour grade S to Z. Depending on the cut, a yellowish-colour diamond does not lose out to white-colour diamond in brilliance. I will mention coloured diamonds in my future post. 

The next question is the cut. Thanks to the advancement in technology, most of the diamonds are of good cut and above. I seldom come across a poorly cut diamond. The cut one may also consider is the shape of the diamond, i.e. heart shaped, cushion shaped or round brilliant. A point to note - different cut provides different light return through the top of the diamond, affecting the brilliance of a diamond. Thus, an emerald cut diamond is not as brilliant as a round brilliant cut. Depending on what suits you or the person who you are buying for, you decide which diamond is the best for you or the person.

Depending on the your 4Cs criteria and budget, one may proceed to choose a loose diamond from jewellery stores. Personally, I refer to the mobile apps 'My Jewelry' and 'Caraters' to find the guided price of a loose diamond. Remember each diamond is unique because of its 4Cs. 

Diamond earrings
source - caraters.com

Diamond ring
source - lovisdiamonds.com

Diamond pendant
source - vivodiamonds.com

Diamond bracelet
source - michaeltrio.com

9k,18k, 24k Gold - What does it mean?

Gold jewellery is coming back into fashion and it comes in different purity. How is a 18karats (k) gold ring different from a 24k gold ring? Should I buy a 18k gold bracelet with a great design or should I buy a 24k gold bracelet with a mediocre design given the same budget? How does the purity of gold affect the price of the jewellery? This is a question one may ask when buying gold jewellery, especially for 'si dian jin' - literally translated to four pieces of gold the bride will wear during the Chinese wedding tea ceremony.

Gold purity is measured in carats or karats with the symbol 'k'. Pure gold is 24k, it means 24 parts of the mass is gold. When we melt the mass, we are expected to extract 99.9% of gold from it. 18k means 18 parts of the mass are gold, 6 parts of it are alloy. Or 75% of the mass is gold, i.e. 18/24 x 100%. The table below shows the karat vs percentage of gold.

Karats	% of gold
9k	37.5
10k	41.7
12k	50.0
14k	58.3
17k	70.8
18k	75.0
21k	87.5
22k	91.6
23k	95.8
24k	99.9

Needless to say, the higher the percentage of gold, the more expensive is the piece of jewellery given the same design. However, the higher the percentage of gold, the softer will be the metal and it is not ideal for fine jewellery. 18k gold or 14k gold is usually used to make intricate fine jewellery because of their ideal hardness. 12k gold and below is usually not recommended for jewellery, though they can still be sold legally as real gold in some countries.

Having understanding the different gold purities, should one buy a 18k gold ring or 24k gold bracelet? The answer is it depends. If one intends to wear the 'si dian jian' once and keep them in a safe box after the wedding, it is recommended to buy 24k gold for appreciation potential. If one intends to wear them frequently, it is recommended to buy 18k  gold for its resistance to scratches and suitability to be made into a wider range of designs.

Better still, one may consider ORO22 gold jewellery from the Poh Heng Jewellery. It is made of 22k gold, which has a higher percentage of gold than 18k jewellery. And the designs modern and contemporary, designed for the women in the corporate world.

ORO22 Bracelet

ORO22 Earrings

ORO22 Ring