All About Diamonds

Buying an engagement ring is an important and special purchase in your lifetime. Helzberg Diamonds is here to help you. We are happy to guide you through this exciting time with a step-by-step guide to buying diamonds. Great relationships make us who we are, and our relationship with you begins with your love and our diamonds. 

How do you find the right diamond for you?

  1. Set your budget
  2. Pick your diamond shape
  3. Learn and choose the Four C’s of your diamond
  4. Pick your engagement ring setting and style

Setting your budget

This purchase will last a lifetime and it carries a lot of meaning and symbolism. There is no true formula or standard for creating a budget. It’s all about what is best for you and your partner. It’s a good idea to think about your budget before you start shopping online or meet with one of our diamond experts because it helps narrow your focus. At Helzberg, we help you find the perfect ring no matter what your budget is.

Fortunately, there are beautiful engagement rings and wedding rings for every price point. No matter your budget, you can have a beautiful and timeless engagement ring.

Diamond shapes

Before making any decisions about diamonds or engagement rings, you’ll need to pick a diamond shape. If you’re buying the ring as a surprise, you may ask your partner’s friends what type of diamond shape they like. If it’s not a surprise, you could ask your partner to show you pictures of what they want — or have them bring the pictures into a Helzberg Diamonds store.

  • Round – The traditional and most popular (not to mention symmetrical) diamond shape. It’s round. A perfect circle. The round brilliant diamond is the most popular.
  • Princess – Square shape.
  • Cushion – A square shaped diamond with rounded corners.
  • Emerald – A rectangular shape with a distinctive step-cut facet pattern.
  • Radiant – A square shape similar to the emerald cut with a brilliant-cut facet pattern.
  • Oval – An elongated circle.
  • Marquise – A diamond with an elliptical shape that has two distinct points on the top and bottom. It’s sometimes referred to as a football shape, or a boat-shape.
  • Asscher – An octagonal shape with cropped corners, step cuts, and a distinct X in the center.
  • Pear – A classic teardrop shaped-diamond.
  • Heart – A diamond shaped as a heart.

The four c’s and what they mean for you

Cut

Before making any decisions about diamonds or engagement rings, you’ll need to pick a diamond shape. If you’re buying the ring as a surprise, you may ask your partner’s friends what type of diamond shape they like. If it’s not a surprise, you could ask your partner to show you pictures of what they want — or have them bring the pictures into a Helzberg Diamonds store.

Colour

Diamond color actually measures the lack of color of a diamond. The less color in a diamond, the higher its value. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) grades diamond color on a scale from D (colorless) to Z (light yellow or brown). The highest quality diamonds are colorless — their grade will be D through F.

Clarity

Clarity is the measurement of minor imperfections on and inside a diamond. The surface flaws are called blemishes, and internal defects are known as inclusions. These natural imperfections are microscopic and do not impact a diamond’s beauty, but the fewer imperfections a diamond has, the better grade it will get. 

Carat weight

A diamond’s carat weight is the weight of the diamond in carats (simple enough, right?). One carat = 0.200 gram. Carat is not the visible size of a diamond, and how big a diamond looks is also impacted by cut and the engagement ring style. Diamonds with a larger carat weight are exponentially rarer, and the diamond’s value increases exponentially with it.

Learn more about the four c’s

 The value of the style is all personal, and there are plenty to choose from. Talk to your partner about what they like, shop together, or do some investigating with friends and family if it’s a surprise.

  • solitaire engagement rings
  • halo engagement rings
  • three-stone engagement rings
  • side-stone engagement rings
  • vintage-inspired engagement rings

After all your choices are made, look at the final details of the engagement ring and if you need to, design your own. Helzberg Diamonds offers all different types of ring settings, diamond shapes, and carat sizes to choose from.

Other diamond terms you should know

Table – The flat surface on the top of a diamond.
Girdle – The outermost edge and the widest part of a diamond.
Crown – A diamond’s crown encompasses everything that sits above the girdle.
Pavilion –  The pavilion is the bottom part of the diamond, below the girdle.
Culet – The culet (pronounced cue-let) is the very bottom of a diamond’s tip.
Facet – The flat surface on the geometric shape of the diamond.
Scintillation – A fancy word for sparkle.
Step-Cut Diamond  – Diamonds with straight facets arranged in a form that looks like steps.
Fancy Shaped – Fancy shaped diamonds include all diamonds other than round.
Lab-Created Diamonds – Engineered to be chemically, physically, and optically identical to natural gemstones but lack the rarity or value that natural gemstones hold.