Online Jewellery Expert
With a family history of over 200 years, we have an unrivalled experience in delivering jewellery excellence. We have forged unique relationships with diamond and gemstone dealers globally, which affords us the opportunity to bring not only the best quality diamonds and gems to you at very competitive prices, but also quality and value assurance is always guaranteed.
Jewellery and Gemstones Expertise available Online and in Person
Selecting your jewellery requires some very careful guidance, something we provide as standard here at Jonathan Lambert. If you’re seeking information about gemstones online, our Online Jewellery Expert section offers some useful tips and information. If your question is not answered here, then please contact us and Jonathan or Yasmin will be in touch.
Buying Diamonds
When buying diamonds it is best to be guided by 4 C’s – Colour, Cut, Clarity and Carat
Carat
Diamonds are sold by the carat (shown as ct.), which is actually a unit of weight, though most think of a carat in terms of size. The word “carat” comes from the “carob” seed, the original unit of measure for diamond traders. Today, a carat is equal to exactly 0.2 grams (about the weight of a paper clip).
Cut
The cut of a diamond is often considered to be the most important attribute. Even diamonds with perfect colour and clarity can lose brilliance if cut poorly. A well proportioned diamond will have each facet properly placed and angled so as to maximize the amount of light that reflects back out of the crown (top) of the diamond, to the eye of the observer. This reflected light is perceived as fire and brilliance.
Colour
The colour scale of a diamond illustrates the difference in colour of diamonds. The alphabetical scale is graded from ‘D’ at the top of the scale which is the whitest, diamond grade to ‘Z’, which is very brown.
Diamonds come in a variety of colours, some of them highly prized (pinks, blues, even yellow). However in a white diamond, the presence of an obvious yellow tint will lower the price of a diamond. The less body color in a white diamond, the more true color it will reflect, and thus the greater its value.
Clarity
Diamonds are formed deep within the earth under extreme heat and pressure. Virtually all diamonds contain “birthmarks”; small imperfections inside the diamond called inclusions. Clarity refers to the degree to which these imperfections are present. Diamonds which contain numerous or significant inclusions or blemishes have less brilliance because the flaws interfere with the path of light through the diamond.The scale of diamond clarity runs from FL Flawless to I3 inclusions visible to the naked eye.
Colour
Clarity
Metals
Silver
Silver was once called the ‘lunar’ metal – its appearance being cold and luminous, similar to the moon’s reflection on water. It has always been a valuable metal, ever since it was discovered and first mined in Anatolia (now Turkey), more than 6,000 years ago. Classed as a ‘Noble’ metal, silver has a stable chemical structure that resists oxidisation and corrosion from acids.
Sterling silver is an alloy – 92.5% fine silver and 7.5% copper. Copper is added to fine silver so that it becomes more workable and durable, whilst retaining all of its beauty.
Gold
Gold has been mined since before 4000 BC. There are many different countries that have produced high levels of gold. Gold has always been and still is a rare metal.
Pure gold 24 karat is a very soft metal and not ideal for jewellery, Gold is therefore normally alloyed with other metals such as zinc, nickel, silver and copper to add hardness. The purity of gold is measured in carats which measures the gold content as part of 1000, with 24 karat gold being 100% pure, 18 karat gold 75% pure, 14 karat gold 58.3% pure and 9 karat gold 37.5% pure.
Gold’s price fluctuates every day and is bought and sold as a commodity. In times of economic uncertainty, the price of gold (and all precious metals for that matter) tends to become higher as gold is through of as a safe haven for money.
Gold is a very inert metal and this means that it won’t tarnish (i.e. react with the atmosphere) like silver, and therefore maintains its wonderful yellow colour. Gold is mined in South Africa and the United States. The chemical symbol of gold is ‘au’ from the Latin aurum, which means shining dawn. This relates to the exquisite and uniquely warm, yellow glow radiated by gold – an attribute that has helped make it the most desirable precious metal ever known to man.
White Gold
White gold has all the same properties as yellow gold but has been carefully alloyed with a mix of naturally white metals like palladium to give it a stunning white sheen.
Platinum
Platinum, is the most hard wearing and expensive of all the precious metals. It is a very strong metal which makes it ideal to set precious stones with, and it’s expense is attributed to the fact that it is a rare metal.
Conflict Free Diamonds
Jonathan Lambert always only sources diamonds that are conflict free from suppliers who are signed up to the Kimberley Process
Our diamonds have been purchased from legitimate sources not involved in the funding of conflict and in conformance with United Nations resolutions.
Gemstone Guide
There are a fabulous array of coloured gemstomes available to use as a feature in an item of jewellery, whether this is one that you purchase or one that you have made.
All gemstones have a certain level of hardness and this is defined by the Mohs scale. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness is a scale which characterizes the scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material. It was created in 1812 by the German geologist and mineralogist Friedrich Mohs.
The range can be a little overwhelming to say the least, so here is a guide which we hope will help you in making your choice.
All of our collection is hallmarked in accordance with the Hallmarking Act 1973. For more information on hallmarking please follow this link… https://www.jonathanlambert.co.uk/hallmarking/
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