What a nice idea to get yourself or someone you care about a nice high-end diamond bracelet! It is clear that making such a decision you’re going to opt for the best you can get for your budget, but how to avoid all the traps and tricks aimed to deceive naive customers? You need to learn quite a lot about diamond jewelry to make sure you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. All you need to do is follow those 5 steps to get the diamonds you’re dreaming of.
1. Style
It’s only natural that the first thing you would want to decide is the appearance of your diamond bracelet. The choice of designs is almost infinite, presenting the breathtakingly gorgeous jewelry masterpieces, but for the people new to diamond jewelry we recommend starting with something more simple, yet still charming. Diamond chain link bracelets are a great option to begin with. The chain link styles are so diverse, that there’s no doubt anyone will be able to find something to their liking.
If you’re going for a massive statement piece you’d like to be noticed from afar, take a look at an iced-out Cuban link bracelet. It’s a good solid piece of jewelry that combines the exclusive luxury look and extraordinary strength. The pattern of this chain bracelet is famous all over the world and remains popular for more than 5 decades already, so you may rest assured it’ll still be a hot trend in the near future. Besides, the combination of its flat oval twisted links with diamonds is the alliance made in heaven, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find a jewelry that matches those gems better.
For those who value elegance and chic in jewelry instead of massiveness, there’s a delicate tennis bracelet that represents simplicity and grace. A single row of diamonds is probably one of the most iconic diamond bracelets for women, while men prefer adding 2 or more lines to the classic variation to make the item wider. Though it’s rather hard to call diamond jewelry practical, the tennis bracelet is the piece that’ll go equally well with everyday clothes, sport outfits and extravagant looks.
If your goal is to make a good impression, the Pave Diamond Bubble Bracelet is the choice for you. The design that reminds of a luxury wristwatch’s band can easily be paired with an actual fine timepiece and create the perfect duet that won’t fail to make the right effect. This extravagant iced-out bracelet will effortlessly accentuate your gestures providing confidence and making them more convincing.
2. Metals
The next step in looking for the best diamond bracelet is the choice of metal it’s made of. As diamonds are the precious stones meant for fine jewelry, they are commonly set in the items made of precious metals, such as gold, platinum and silver. The most frequent choice that represents the best compromise of quality and price is gold.
Opting for a gold bracelet you need to understand how the gold standards work. The quality of gold jewelry is marked with karats, which denote the purity of gold used in the item. As gold is not the only metal used in the gold jewelry, knowing the definition of the hallmarks, that you can usually find on the bracelet clasp, is useful for understanding how much gold is there in your piece. Therefore, 24K is the purest gold you may find in the jewelry, and it contains 99.99% of gold. It is rarely used, as the pure gold is too soft for jewelry, and it may result in frequent deformation of the item. Then comes 22K with 91.67% of gold; 18K and 14K are the most popular choices for jewelry and contain 75% and 58.33% of gold respectively. 12K gold items are made of the alloy with 50% of gold and 10K, popular for budget jewelry, has 41.67%. The price of the jewelry depends directly on the purity of gold, so you should pay attention to those numbers while picking your gold bracelet with diamonds to ensure you get the highest appraisal for your jewelry when it’s time to sell.
3. Diamonds
And we’ve finally got to the most important part of the diamond bracelet – the diamonds. It’s hard to understand the quality of the diamond without an expert by your side, but you should at least know the main characteristics to pay attention to.
The quality of the diamonds is measured according to the standard known in the industry as the 4C, referring to the first letters of 4 main features: carat weight, clarity, color and cut.
It’s quite easy to confuse carats with karats. As we already know, karats define the purity of gold, while carats are used to tell the weight of the gem. One carat equals 200 milligrams. But there’s a catch here as well. If your jewelry has only one diamond, the carat weight is easy to understand, but if the bracelet is iced-out with a number of stones, there might be confusion. There exist two important concepts: the individual carat weight showing the weight of one diamond; and the total carat weight which represents the total weight of all the diamonds in the jewelry. Keep that in mind and try to clarify all the details about the carat weight while buying a diamond bracelet.
The clarity of the diamond is also very significant and has strictly defined categories. You shouldn’t freak out hearing the diamonds in your bracelet have inclusions, as the gems that have none are really rare and very expensive. But it’s critical to know the clarity as it influences the price of the jewelry greatly. The following definitions should help you get acquainted with categories.
I1, I2, I3 – Included diamonds. They have inclusions that can directly affect the quality of the diamond.
SI1, SI2 – Slightly included. The gems that contain well visible under 10x magnification inclusions, but they’re most likely invisible to the unaided eye.
VS1, VS2 – Very slightly included. The diamonds with inclusions that can be seen under 10x magnification.
VVS1, VVS2 – Very, very slightly included. The stones that have inclusions slightly visible under 10x magnification.
FL, IF – Flawless and internally flawless diamonds with no visible inclusions under 10x magnification.
The category of color may also seem quite difficult for the novice. The color of the diamonds is defined by the categories starting from D and down to Z. The D gem is the colorless diamond which is the most valuable and rare. The color changes slightly with every following letter, though the difference may seem invisible without special equipment. The diamonds marked as Z category already have a quite noticeable light yellow or brown tint. The price of the gem drops with each letter, so you may not see the difference in color, but will feel it in your pocket.
You may also hear the term “fancy colored diamonds”, meaning the stones have the noticeable shades of red, green or black. They are not included in the scale described above and are considered as rare, so their price may get higher.
The cut of the diamond is the evidence of the jeweler’s skills. The right arrangement of facets and their interaction with light help to reveal the true beauty of the diamond and provide it with the brilliant shine. The more complicated is the cut, the more expensive the jewelry.
4. Combination with jewelry
Consider additional jewelry you’re going to match your accessory with, so you can give diamond bracelets for women a nice mix. The rule of 3 suggests that it’s the optimal quantity of items that should be present in the image at the same time, meaning you’d better think of two more jewelry pieces to add to your look. That doesn’t mean they’re obligatory, but if you’ve decided to put them on, they should be harmoniously combined with your diamond bracelet in style, metal and its color, and the gems. It’s important to remember that diamonds can be mixed with other jewelry only if the gems it contains are diamonds as well, other stones won’t fit nice with diamonds within one look; or simply opt for the jewelry without any gems at all, but carefully consider the color of the metal, don’t try to mix silvery metals with gold.
5. Place to buy
The store is one of the initial decisions you’ll have to make, as the right chosen place to buy your diamond jewelry eliminates the risks of getting not really what you’ve expected for your budget. Search all the information available about the store you’re going to buy your bracelet at, read the reviews of their products, check their papers and certificates, compare the prices with other stores, look through their other items, and what is more important, talk to the shop assistants. Don’t be afraid to ask questions referring to the item you’re interested in, the information we’ve provided in this article should help you ask the right ones to get the best understanding of the quality and price of the product. If everything seems right and the diamond bracelet suits your preferences, budget and style, enjoy your purchase!
