The personal experience you’ll find at Apple Valley Diamonds is like none other. First of all, we bring decades of diamond expertise to you. We want to share our expertise with you. This way you can learn about diamonds before you buy and then make an informed choice when selecting the diamond of your dreams. With our guidance, you’ll learn about what impacts quality, value and price with your diamond purchase. When you buy at Apple Valley Diamonds, you know you’ve found the very best quality and price.
Buying a diamond is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your new life together. Diamond engagement rings carry a heartfelt message of a new commitment and a new life. And because diamonds are the hardest known substance on earth, they have come to symbolize the unbreakable bond of love.
Before you purchase a diamond, you’ll enjoy learning about the components that affect your stone’s quality. Each one plays a key role in the beauty, quality and value of your diamond. The 4Cs, as they are called, stand for for Cut – Color - Carat Weight– Clarity.
People usually think of a diamond’s shape, like round or princess when they hear the word Cut in reference to a diamond. But Cut actually means the quality of its polish, proportions, symmetry; and how well these parts and the resulting facets interact with light. Simply put-- good cuts make a diamond come to life.
What you should know: The better the cut, the better your diamond will reflect light.
With diamonds, color actually means a lack of body color. For colorless, called white diamonds, the whiter, the better. GIA, (Gemological Institute of America) formulated the most well-known grading scale for colorless diamonds. The scale starts at D indicating completely a colorless stone, and goes through the alphabet to Z indicating diamonds with a slightly visible body color of yellow.
What you should know: The closer your diamond’s color is to D, the whiter and more brilliant your stone will appear.
Weighing a diamond in carats (1 carat = 200 milligrams) has an ancient history with the carob seed, a plentiful item in eastern countries. Early gem traders used these small uniform sized seeds on their scales to counter-balance their diamonds. Today, carat measurements are universally used to weigh diamonds and other gems.
What you should know: Buy the largest stone you can in the quality that you can afford.
Diamonds are natural crystals formed under tremendous heat and pressure exerted deep within the earth. The strenuous process usually produces natural inclusions inside and on the surface of the stone. Evaluating diamonds calls for examining the number of inclusions, their color and their position in the stone. These details make up the stone’s Clarity grade. Six categories on the diamond clarity scale, range from F-Flawless to I/3 -Included, indicating the most inclusions on the scale.
What you should know: The closer to F on the clarity scale, the clearer your diamond will be. Fewer inclusions create a more intense and fiery diamond.
All of the 4Cs work together creating a stunning diamond. Each of the 4Cs contributes to their value and their price. Enjoy shopping through our inventory; you’ll see how small differences modify a stone’s price. After going through our loose diamonds, you’ll discover the perfect stone. But we’re here to help. If you have questions or would like to know more before making your selection, ask our friendly diamond experts to help.
After decades in the diamond business, we are still offering the finest diamonds at the very lowest prices. Discover for yourself the difference at Apple Valley Diamonds. Our diamonds guaranteed to be the best prices available anywhere.
