THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT DIAMOND

Customers are always shopping for “the perfect diamond“.

They spend countless hours looking at diamonds under a microscope or a 10x jeweler’s loupe trying to find the most perfect diamond in the world.

I tell them that there really is no such thing as a perfect stone. And then someone invariably will hold out there hand and say:

“My diamond’s perfect!”

Yes! Of course it is…

Who’s right? The customer or mother-nature?

In the customer’s eyes, i suppose they probably do have what they call a perfect diamond.

But this brings up a very important topic:

PERFECTION!

What qualifies as perfect?

Is it the perfect cut? The perfect color? The perfect clarity or carat weight?

Is perfection attainable?

The answer is…

NO-ish!

There is no “real” such thing as a “perfection“.

Perfection doesn’t exist in nature.

And even if it did, there’s one huge contributing factor that keeps it from happening…

Humans.

We are not perfect and anything we do is not perfect. We mine the diamonds, cut the diamonds, polish the diamonds, grade the diamonds and set the stones.

Once you bring man into the equation, perfection is thrown out the window.

Here’s a great example:

Say you buy a loose 1.00 carat diamond. It’s ideal (excellent) cut (Excellent cut is supposed to be the most perfectly cut of diamond there is).

You also buy your diamond with D color. D color is the finest, whitest diamond on Earth.

You buy a clarity grade of “flawless” which means it has no visible flaws whatsoever under a 10x (ten powered) magnification.

You purchase all this and then ask me “Why isn’t this diamond considered perfect?” Isn’t perfection the “best” of all categories?

Not so much…

Let’s break it down and you’ll understand my logic.

First off…

There is no perfect carat weight:

For some, a perfect carat Weight would be a 1.00 carat diamond. For others it’s .50 (1/2) carat. And still others it’s 2.00 carats.

So there is no perfect weight for any diamond, just like there is no perfect weight for people either.

Then you have the “exact weight” to think about. Is your perfect 1.00 carat diamond exactly 100 points? Could it be 101 or 99 points?

Most diamonds are never cut to exact weights and numbers. It’s like trying to find a person that weighs exactly 150 lbs. You’ll find 147, 156.5, 152, but you’ll have a hard time trying to find that exact 150.

Diamonds are no different. Everyone is more or less in a carat “range“.

So is there a perfect range???

Then we get into the craziest conversation…

Cut:

The cut of a diamond is the next fault in the quest for diamond perfection. You always hear people telling you to:

“Buy an ideal cut diamond.”

But did you know that the ideal cut isn’t really ideal?

Ideal cut diamonds are done with percentage “ranges” (There’s that range word again). An ideal table percentage can range anywhere from 53% to 57%. That’s a lot of leeway.

A 4 percent difference isn’t perfect!

The depth of an ideal cut diamond is supposed to be 59.2%.

Good luck trying to achieve that.

Most diamond depth’s will range from 55-65%. So if they have an ideal cut (developed by a man named Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919), then why don’t they just cut ALL diamonds with an ideal cut if it’s so ideal? I’ll tell you why…

Profit!

They cut diamonds to maximize profit.

Just like any other business in the world. The stones may be cut too deep or too shallow. It all depends on how many diamonds they can get out of the rough parent rock at the time of cutting.

So neither carat weight nor cut is truly perfect. So what about color?

D color:

The best color on the color grading chart is D color.

No one will argue with that.

But are all diamonds that are graded a D the same?

NO!

D may be the best color “range” in the world, but again, it’s also a range.

You could have a diamond at the top end of the D range, or a diamond at the bottom end of the D range. All diamonds are not the exact same color. Which means, one will still be “whiter” than the other.

They may both be colorless. They may have “no color” in them whatsoever. But there can still be slight changes in body tone between them.

Just like it’s impossible to find 2 people with the exact same skin tone. Diamond color varies. Everything born in nature is unique and carries with it a unique color as well.

Perfect clarity?

Let’s discuss the perfect clarity…

Isn’t a diamond rated as “flawless“, truly flawless?

It all depends on a couple of things… First, there are two flawless category ranges. One is “flawless“, the other is “internally flawless“. Internally flawless means that it’s free from inclusions, but may still have slight blemishes on it (flaws on the outside of the stone). Flawless means there are no visible inclusions or blemishes at all (inside or outside of the diamond).

Keep in mind this is all when viewed with a 10x magnification.

And that’s where the whole perfection theory falls apart…

Flawless isn’t really flawless…

Flawless diamonds have one big flaw in them…

They’re only flawless when viewed with 10x magnification.

If you view them under 15x or 20x magnification, you’ll more than likely see flaws. So does that make them still flawless?

Can anything actually be truly flawless?

NO!

Not really!

10x magnification:

Now, all jewelers and all diamond graders and every single diamond report you ever see on the market will only grade diamonds with 10x magnification.

So viewing diamonds with higher powered magnification isn’t really fair or recommended.

A higher magnification just doesn’t matter. It won’t change the “clarity grade” of the diamond in the least. If you see inclusions in your diamond under a higher power, it won’t affect the value or certification. It’s like the flaws just don’t exist.

In reality, if the diamond is flawless under 10x, then it should be flawless and perfect by all means. But I’m just proving a point that perfection isn’t always “perfect“, and “flawless” isn’t always skin deep.

Plus, a “flawless diamond” CAN HAVE FLAWS!

Yes… Even the most perfect flawless stone could still have what they call “naturals” on the girdle. Inclusions that are rough rock (like knots in a tree), and may even hold trigons (triangular formations and patterns in the stone).

So even “flawless” could still have imperfections.

Sigh!

The bottom line:

No diamond is really perfect.

To some, a perfect diamond is a diamond that has a perfect price tag.
For some it’s cut.

For others it may be color.

Some people want the best clarity that money can buy.

But it all boils down to you.

What do you feel comfortable with?

What are you willing to sacrifice in your quest for the perfect stone?

Usually when you get a color that’s rated very high, the clarity is low.

Or if you get a flawless diamond, the color could be yellow.

With mother nature, it’s usually a give and take.

Just like people, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.

Trying to find a diamond that’s perfect in every category is virtually impossible (Like James Allen has diamonds that are as close to perfect as possible.)

Here’s the best advice I can give:

Buy the best diamond that you can afford!

It doesn’t need to be the biggest to be the best. Strive for a really great clarity like a VS clarity. Try to get a diamond with a really great color like an E color. E color is awesome! Getting a diamond with great color and clarity, and one that has an “excellent” cut to it is a big step towards a diamond that’s full of life and sparkle and brilliance and fire (as seen here – VS, colorless, excellent cut diamonds).

One last word about perfection:

Forget about being perfect. Just buy a beautiful diamond that she’ll be happy to wear.

Buy a diamond that she’ll be proud to show off to her friends and family.

A diamond that will always put a smile on her face (Big stones tend to do that) and a twinkle in her eyes (a diamond with triple excellent cut does that even more… That’s excellent cut, polish and symmetry, called “True Hearts HERE“).

And that my friend, is the real beauty of it.

The real perfection.

See some incredible diamonds here at James Allen.

Cheers! :)