Singaporebrides | Essentials
August 2013
Diamond Shopping with JannPaul
Finding the perfect diamond is more than just picking the biggest one. Learn how to choose your diamond with a little guidance from JannPaul as their diamond connoisseurs show you what to look out for when diamond shopping.
Let’s start from the basics. You’re probably familiar with the 4C’s of a diamond – cut, colour, clarity and carat. For those of you who aren’t familiar, cut refers to the proportions of the diamond while colour refers to how white the diamond is. Clarity refers to the internal and external blemishes of a diamond and carat refers to its weight. Most people tend to focus on the latter 3C’s and ignore the most important aspect – the diamond’s cut. Now, although most certificates provide a Cut grade of a diamond, with the “Excellent” grade being the highest, what most buyers don’t know is that there is a bottom and top tier within the “Excellent” grade. Because you have no way of knowing if your diamond belongs to the top or bottom tiered “Excellent” grade, you’d be buying with uncertainty.
At JannPaul, you’ll be spared from such uncertainty because only top-tiered “Excellent” grade diamonds such as the Super Ideal Cut are offered. The experts at JannPaul use a variety of tools to show you that only the highest-grade diamonds are available for your choosing. The Holloway Cut Advisor (HCA) tool is first used to calculate its HCA score. A diamond’s HCA score can be easily calculated by entering the values obtained from its GIA or AGS certificate into the HCA tool. “That being said, the HCA tool should only be used to eliminate bad diamonds, not pick good ones,” Casey Lai, one of JannPaul’s partners, cautions. “A high HCA score guarantees a bad diamond, but a low HCA score does not necessarily guarantee a good one.”
When the diamonds with better HCA scores have been filtered out, the ASET (Angular Spectrum Evaluation Tool) is then used to weed out diamonds with severe light leakages. A diamond with bad light leakages will appear dull. Under the guidance of JannPaul’s diamond experts, you’ll learn how to differentiate a diamond with good light return from one that has bad or no light return. Once the diamond’s light return has been ascertained, the Hearts & Arrows Scope is then used to check on the diamond’s optical symmetry.
“Most vendors only offer the Hearts & Arrows Scope for the examination of a diamond, not the ASET Scope. Since the Hearts & Arrows Scope reveals only the symmetry of the diamond while the latter shows its light performance, it is imperative that you examine your diamond under both these scopes to know what you’re really getting,” Casey elaborates.
Through this scope, you’ll be able to examine the 8 hearts and arrows patterning of the diamond. Only when the diamond has symmetrical hearts and arrows will there be an even distribution of Fire, Light Return and Scintillation, which translates into a diamond with a brilliant sparkle. “Therefore, it is important never to assume that a diamond with symmetrical Arrows means it has symmetrical Hearts as well,” Casey reminds. “Always remember to inspect both the top and bottom of your diamond with the Hearts & Arrows Scope.”
Although JannPaul specialises in the rare Super Ideal Cut (which accounts for less than 0.001% of the world’s diamond supply), they also carry a variety of exclusive cuts that are only available in Singapore through them, such as:
- The Solasfera – a 91 faceted round diamond with 10 hearts & arrows and full light return
- The Brilliant Lady 21 – the highest faceted round diamond in the world with 221 facets
- The Brellia – the world’s first Ideal cushion-shaped diamond with 8 Hearts & Arrows
- The Angel – a cut-cornered square diamond with 8 Hearts & Arrows
- The D’amor – the world’s only octagon diamond with 8 Hearts & Arrows and 8 corners
Aside from the in-depth education and variety of diamonds offered, JannPaul also provides a complimentary ring customisation service to complete your diamond buying experience. This complimentary service comes with precise 3D renderings of your dream ring. You can choose either to use your preferred design or leave it in the hands of JannPaul’s capable designers to wow you. Detailed guidance on the pros and cons of each feature on your ring will also be provided with every ring customisation.
Under the guidance of JannPaul, finding a perfectly cut diamond and customising a unique ring for that special day of yours will be as easy as 1-2-3.
Contact JannPaul at [email protected] or call +65 6235 3897 to make an appointment.
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