With our great selection of wholesale diamonds and other precious stones, we can create for you the perfect signature piece of jewelry. We have the largest selection of GIA, EGL and IGI certified diamonds in the valley.
We offer any size loose diamonds in many different shapes including:
Round: a common shape, circular diamond
Princess: a popular choice, resembles an upside down pyramid with a flat top and pointed end
Emerald: a rectangular cut with long facets on the side
Pear: a thin, pointed top with a round bottom
Cushion: a square shape with rounded corners
Oval: an elongated, round shape
Asscher: a square shape
Marquise: a long oval with pointed ends
Radiant: a square shape with trimmed corners
Heart: a heart shape
The Gemological Institute of America assesses a diamond based on the 4C’s: Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat. All four apply to a diamond’s final grade. You can view the GIA report for most diamonds on their site or request the GIA grading from your jeweler. All of Elite Jewelry and Loan’s diamonds come with GIA certification. Let’s break down the 4C’s.
Cut:
The best way to understand cut is to visualize dozens of tiny mirrors inside the diamond. These mirrors or “facets” catch and reflect light. This gives a diamond its sparkle. The grading scale for Cut goes from Excellent to Poor.
Color:
Color Grading reflects how much color a diamond contains. You will see a yellowish tint as the color increases. Diamonds with no color are clear. The Grading scale goes from D to Z with Z having the most color.
Clarity:
A diamond’s clarity describes how many inclusions and blemishes it has. Inclusions are any small nicks and flaws within the diamond. Often, these flaws cannot be seen with the naked eye.
They are caused by the formation of the diamond within the earth or from the physical cutting of the diamond. Clarity Grading goes from Flawless to Included.
Carat:
Carat shows the weight of the diamond. One carat equals 200 milligrams. The heavier the diamond, the more expensive it is.
Diamonds aren’t the only precious stones in the world. In fact, there are only three other gems considered “precious” while the rest are “semi-precious.”
These two terms were coined in the 1800’s more as a marketing tactic to reflect the value of the gems. Today, the terms are somewhat controversial in the gem and jewelry industry.
Some gemologists include more than four gems in the precious stone category. Some people believe the terms shouldn’t be used.
The use of “precious” to reflect a gem makes the gem seem more important or valuable than a “semi-precious” gem.
For the moment, we’ll divide the gems based on their current location in each category.
As we mentioned, precious gems include diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds. However, some gemologists put other gems within the category:
But since these gems do not see as much use as the others, their inclusion in the precious gem category remains up for debate.
Any stone commonly used in jewelry or other adornments falls into this group. There truly is no real difference between these gems and precious gems. Common semi-precious gems include:
View our selection of GIA certified diamonds.
