Now that you know how to choose the perfect diamond from
Casey’s Diamond Buying Guide, you are 50% done!
In this post, I will guide you through what to expect and look
out for when choosing your perfect ring design.
Step 1: - Try to understand her preference and character
If your lady is involved in the selection process, you may skip to step 2.
If you are on your own, please read on…
First, do try to understand and look out for the accessories
she wears most often.
You can start with Watches, Pendants, Earrings, Nail art, etc. and try to recall if she has ever mentioned her preference or showed you any
designs shared by another friend. This will greatly help and I will explain
why.
I will only use a watch designs as examples, and we can gather some tell-tale
signs of her preference as follow:
Now that you have roughly identified the general direction, lets proceed with step 2.
Step 2: - Making sure it fits
By fitting, what I mean is to have the band width, general design outlook and main diamond size to be in proportion and harmony.
While band width is only just 1 aspect, other points to consider are:
1. Height of main diamond
2. Number of prongs
3. Detailings & size of prongs
4. Fluidity in connection between crown & band
5. Main diamond shape
Step 3: - Reviewing your design
With the preferences in play, we will create 3D drawings which uses accurate measurements based on the main diamond selected and ring size estimated.
Upon receiving your 3D, you can always still change it and incorporate any ideas you have, making the design uniquely yours!
Now here you go, you have the basic knowledge on how to select the perfect ring design!
Buying a diamond can be a very long and intimidating process. For most,
this will be one of your biggest purchases you will make in your lifetime. In this
guide, I will teach you how to select your first diamond ring.
There are many factors when buying a diamond. We can start with preference on the basic 4Cs – Cut, Carat, Color and
Clarity. In this guide, I will be mainly focusing on the Cut.
Cut is the
most important of all the basic 4Cs. It determines the brilliance of the
diamond. Hence, there is no point in
getting a high Color and Clarity grade diamond but poorly cut, as the diamond Light Return, Fire & Scintillation will be compromised.
So how do you analyze the Cut of the
diamond? You can follow these easy steps:
Step 1 – Check the
diamond’s proportions
Every vendor will have their own set of “Ideal proportions”.
While some may be of tighter criteria, most are not. An easy way to analyze
the proportions is by using the HCA Tool. It’s a pretty straightforward where you can key in the parameters listed on the certificate into the calculator and it will give your diamond a score.
We recommend a diamond to have a score of 0.4 - 1.4.
The HCA tool is fantastic for eliminating poorly cut diamonds but it should
not be used as a selection tool. There are several
limitations and it only takes into account 17 out of the 57 facets on a diamond. A poorly cut diamond will still be able to achieve a fantastic HCA score.
An analogy
to the HCA tool is similar to food poison checker. It is only able to identify poisonous
food (poorly cut diamonds), but it’s unable to tell you how delicious the food
is (well cut diamonds). Hence, we only recommend this tool to be used as an initial filtration method.
Note: The HCA tool can only be used on traditional cut 57/58 faceted round
diamonds. For other cuts, you will need to follow step 2 – 4.
Step 2 – Check the light performance
with the Ideal Scope
The Ideal Scope can be used to analyze the light performance by measuring how
much light is returning or leaking out.
Step 3 – Check the light performance
with the ASET Scope
The ASET (Angular Spectrum Evaluation Tool) Scope works similarly to the Ideal
Cut, but its more of an advance version, where it breaks down the light return
of the diamond into ‘strong light return’ and ‘weak light return’. It can be
used to analyze a diamond’s Brightness & Contrast, Scintillation and Patterned
Scintillation.
Brightness & Contrast
Scintillation
Patterned Scintillation
Step 4 – Check the symmetry with the Hearts & Arrows Scope The Hearts & Arrows scope is to analyze the symmetry of the diamond.
Hearts
- 8 equal uniformed symmetrical hearts.
- 8 distinct symmetrical Hearts that separate from the
Arrowheads above. If above is correct check the following.
- Check if the hearts are split, measure length of
heart then the length of the split.
- Calculate the % of the length split, if it is
greater than 8% and there are more than 2 of them, it fails.
Arrows
- Each arrow (8) must be clearly visible with a
shaft and a arrow head.
- The 8 arrows shafts as well as heads have to be
straight and in the right position.
- The 8 arrow points must
meet the girdle.
- There must be total uniformity and balance.
Once you have found a diamond that manages to pass these 4 steps,
congratulations! You have found yourself a truly brilliant diamond. The next step will be choosing a ring design
in your style to complement your extraordinary diamond.
Sometimes, jewellery pieces can be more than simple accessories. They
can be symbolic such as representing the eternal bond of marriage or even a memory
of our loved ones.
We received a request to customize a pendant jewellery piece with a
special meaning.
Megan previously purchased an engagement ring from us and approached us
again to customize a pendant.
The pendant to be a memory for her late dog, Scramble.
In the design, she requested for,
-27 diamonds, to represent the year which Scamble
moved on.
-“KK” logo, Scramble’s personal trademark.
-A cylinder with a screw cap, to keep a part of
Scramble.
Megan shared the story of Scramble with us. Megan adopted 2 dogs in
2010, Scramble and Skippy. Scramble, being the older dog was nicknamed “Kor
Kor” and hence the symbol “KK”.
This is a photo of Scramble with
he was adopted.
This is a photo of Scramble (Kor
Kor) and Skippy.
Weak in nature since young, taking care of Scramble was a demanding
process for Megan and her family both physically and financially.
Megan never gave up on Scramble though. She continued to do everything
that she could to take care of him. Being able to see him grow day by day and
to celebrate his birthdays yearly, was the motivational factor behind Megan’s
each and every sacrifice.
She even joked with us that with Scramble’s high medical bills, she had
also called him “Kor Kor Chanel”.
Scrambles day out!
Out at the beach
Scramble’s last few weeks
Things took a change for the worst back in September 2014 when Scramble
was struck with a brain infection. This left Scramble without the ability to
function normally and required 24/7 supervision from Megan and her family to ensure
his well-being.
Though this was a tedious and demanding process, Megan and her family
didn’t opt for the option to put Scramble down as physically he was not in any
pain or distress.
After weeks of fighting, in September 22nd, a day after Megan’s
27th birthday, Scramble left the family in his sleep.
Learning about Scramble and the meaning behind the pendant, we were
honoured to help Megan design this special pendant for her. Keeping the
symbolic features and functions she wanted, we came up with the following
design.
Megan’s Design
3D Renders
Wax Moulds
This was the final product.
It was a touching and rewarding experience for us to help
Megan design and craft her pendant. Each of our jewellery pieces carries a
special meaning behind it. Come share your story with us!
Featuring 88 facets, 8 hearts, 8 arrows and 8 sides, the
Octagon diamond not only flaunts a unique shape that is rarely seen on
diamonds, but with outrageous performance that even surpasses our Super Ideal diamonds!
Here’s a little sneak peak on its beauty!
Performance under the scopes
Ok Ok, enough about the diamond alone. This
blog is about customizations and I am sure many of you would like to see how it
looks like being set in.
Being unique in shape, other than being able to be set into different types of setting, it can also be set in different orientations as well.
Guess alot of you might be confused by this. No worries! Our kind designers have specially
“volunteered” to render out a few designs, to complement this beauty as well as showcase how the Octagon diamond can be set in with different orientations.
(To
all my clients who have been asking me for these, here you go!!)
Classic
Side Diamonds
For both Classic and Side Diamonds settings, you can have a choice of Single or Double prongs.
