Quick and Easy Buying Guide
Carat weight: 1 carat = 200 milligrams = 6.5 mm diameter. Doubling weight doesn't double diameter.
Diamond clarity: FL/IF/VVS/VS = super expensive, near perfect. SI = best value if you can check a photo for obvious inclusions (defects).
Color: D-G = colorless, expensive, only if you have money to burn. H-J = best value. Can go lower in gold metal settings than white metal.
Cut: Better cut ratings let more light into a diamond, making it sparkle more. Very important property, don't skimp here.
Set a budget and minimum cut (Premium). Go J color for gold and I/H for white metals. Go searching for SI1/SI2 clarity diamonds at James Allen. Pick a diamond with small/no inclusions. Choose a ring setting and buy it risk-free (60-day returns).
Jogia Diamonds
Jogia Diamonds claim to be Australia's oldest internet diamond merchant. Obviously any claim like that has to be analyzed for what it actually is - the Internet has only been around properly since the mid 1990s.
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On the positive side, their website claims they have a background stretching back three decades as manufacturers, designers and exporters in the industry. Their internet presence was established in 1996 (yes Australia was a little bit behind the rest of the world but not that much). They appear to be a family run business.
Now they serve the Australian and New Zealand consumer markets. They deal mainly in GIA and AGS certified diamonds and employ a number of standard tools to perform their own in house assessment of diamonds offered for sale.
They claim to have pioneered a number of "firsts" in Australian diamond website history - the first to have GIA certificates available for download, the first with free financing and so on...
