Engagement Ring Grimball Jewelers Chapel Hill NC 27514

GrimballJewelers.com

Our expert staff can assist with our exquisite collections ranging from Engagement Rings to South Sea Pearls. We were awarded the Small Business of the Year by the Chapel Hill Carrboro Chamber of Commerce in 2002 and Best Jewelry Store by readers of the Chapel Hill News in 2005. Stop by today to see why we have become the elite store in Orange County.

For the last five decades, we venture into giving North Carolina with the latest technologies an encompassing one stop jewelry shop.

One way we have separated ourselves from the rest is giving you the knowledge to understand the value of your purchase. Nowhere is that more valuable than when purchasing a diamond. Our knowledgeable staff will inform you of the four essential aspects of a diamond that determine it's beauty, quality, and value. They are known as "The Four C's". Traditionally, they are listed in this order of importance to the beauty of the stone: cut, color, clarity, and carat weight.

1) Cut
When discussing diamonds, the cut of a diamond is known as the make. It is of critical importance to the beauty of the stone. The diamond has much of its value deriving from the make because the better the cut the more light, making it seem more beautiful.

The light a diamond emits is broken into three components: brilliance, dispersion and scintillation. The brilliance of a diamond refers to the light entering the diamond that exists as white light. Dispersion is also referred to as the fire of a diamond is the light the returns as spectral color, revealing flashes of a rainbow. Scintillation is the light that never makes it into the diamond; instead, it is reflected of the house facet. These three aspects must balance to generate the optimal beauty of a diamond.

When determining the ideal cut for a round diamond, one must consider the strict proportional parameters to maximize the light return. An ideal cut adds expense because of the added time to produce the maximizing light return. Recent technological advances have allowed for less leaking light. Grimball Jewelers carries the Eightstar diamond which is cut to such stringent standards that it effectively leaks no light.

In the other diamond shapes such as princess, oval, emerald , and marquise there is no accepted "ideal" cut, but the American Gem Society Laboratory is in the process of developing parameters for measuring the performance of these cuts.

2) Color
Color is the one of the most noticeable aspects of a diamond. It is also one that people judge harshly. Most people want a "white" diamond, or one that is clear or close to colorless. It is extremely rare to find a colorless diamond. Therefore, these colorless diamonds are graded as a D, which is the perfect end of the spectrum. Conversely, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) runs the scale all the way to Z, a yellow brown color. Any diamond rated from D to F are all considered colorless. Moreover, no other color can use the title of colorless by the FTC's rules and regulations.

Diamonds, although rare to begin with, are even more rare if they have strong shades of blue (like the Hope diamond), or red, green, bright yellow, etc. These are known as "fancies" in the trade and there is no comparable letter scale to grade them.

3) Clarity
Just like with color, it is rare to find a flawless diamond. Most contain imperfections or inclusions that appear as a black or white speck, cracks or grain line or feathers. When an imperfection is on the surface of the stone it is referred to as a blemish. The clarity of a diamond does attribute to the fire and brilliance of a stone, but many times the cut can "hide" these inclusions on the stone.

4) Carat Weight
Most people misunderstand that a carat refers to weight and not size because a seemingly large stone may only appear large because of the type of cut. A carat is a weight measurement that equals 200 milligrams, and one hundred points have been equated with one carat. Therefore a half carat diamond may also be listed as a fifty point stone.

Heavy diamonds are extremely rare; thus, carat weight gains value quickly. A one carat diamond will cost more than two half carat ones.

Make today your chance to see the Grimball Jewelers difference.