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One of the key characteristics of a piece of jewelry is the type
of precious metal or metals
that are used to create the piece. European Creations uses two types of
metals to
create their jewelry: Gold and Platinum.
Gold is available in three primary colors: yellow, white and pink. The color
change is a
result of mixing the gold with alloy materials consisting of fine copper, fine
silver or nickel.
Yellow gold consists of a combination of gold, fine copper and fine
silver. White gold is
made of gold, fine silver and Nickel. Pink gold is comprised
of gold,
fine copper and a proportionately small amount of fine silver.
Gold is available in various purities, referred to as carats.
European Creations
uses all three colors of gold in three primary purities: 14, 18 or
20 carat.
14 karat gold consists of 58.5% gold and 41.5% alloy material.
18 karat gold consists of 75% gold and 25% alloy material.
20 karat gold consists of 90% gold and 10% alloy material.
Platinum is one of the most precious of all precious metals. Pure platinum is
very soft,
so the platinum used to make jewelry is comprised of 95% platinum
and 5 % iridium.
Platinum is a popular because it is very elegant.
A combination of the different colors of gold as well as gold and platinum precious
metals are often used in a single piece of jewelry to create a
beautiful effect.
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The Four C's of Diamond Grading refers to the Cut, Color,
Clarity and Carat Weight
of a diamond. A combination of those four elements determines the overall
quality
of a diamond and therefore gauges its' value. |
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Cut refers to how well a diamond is faceted, polished and
proportioned. The
"first look" characteristics that establish overall beauty and light reflection.
You can classify a diamond's cut into four categories: Very
Good to Excellent,
Good, Fair and Poor. Description of the classifications may be found below:
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Very
Good to Excellent: |
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Also called "Ideal" cut because these
diamonds exhibit a maximum combination of dispersion and brilliance. Premium in
value. |
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Good: |
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Proper balance of light dispersion (spectral
colors) and brilliance (white light). |
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Fair: |
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Moderate departures from preferred proportions.
Slight to moderate reduction in value. |
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Poor: |
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Substantial departures from standards leading to
major value reduction. |
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Color is the amount of body color perceived by the trained eye
using proper
illumination of balanced white light and "master" diamonds of predetermined
color.
The color of a diamond can be referred to as colorless, near colorless, slightly tinted,
tinted and fancy color. The first four categories may be further refined by
assigning
a letter value to their color. The lower the letter, the higher the quality.
The values are as follows:
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Colorless: |
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D, E, F, |
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Near Colorless: |
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G, H, I, J |
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Slightly Tinted: |
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K, L, M |
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Tinted: |
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N, O, P, Q, ... to Z |
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Fancy: |
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Clarity refers collectively to the size, number, nature, color
and position of internal
characteristics visible to the trained eye at a magnification of 10X, as well as external
characteristics of the diamond. The Clarity of a diamond is classified into five
categories:
Internally Flawless, Very, Very Slightly Included, Very Slightly Included, Slightly
Included and
Imperfect. These five classifications are further refined into subcategories as
illustrated below:
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Internally
Flawless: |
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IF |
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Very, Very
Slightly Included: |
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V VS1, V VS2 |
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Very Slightly
Included: |
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VS1, VS2 |
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Slightly
Included: |
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SI1, SI2, SI3 |
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Imperfect: |
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I1, I2, I3 |
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Also referred to as weight, a carat is a unit of measure equal
to 1/5 of one gram
(31 grams to the ounce), historically based on the weight of the carob seed. Carat
measurement is broken down into "points". A single carat consists of 100
points. |
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The following diagram illustrates the anatomy of the Round
Brilliant Cut Diamond.
It shows the difference between the various facets of the diamond as well as
other key terms that you will hear when Gemologists discuss the stone.
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Contact us today!
By Appointment Only
Phone: (425) 829-3535
E-mail: info@europeancreations.com |
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