Diamonds and the 4C's

Diamonds will look their brilliant best with a little care and attention. A clean diamond not only reflects light better - it will look bigger than one that has been ‘dulled' with skin oils etc.
You can keep your ring free from such ‘dulling' by simply cleaning your ring every weekend. Prepare a small bowl or cup of warm suds with any mild liquid detergent, i.e. fairy liquid. Place your ring in the warm water for five minutes to free up any oil or grease, then brush gently to remove any dirt or grime with a fine toothbrush. Rinse under warm running water and pat dry with a soft cloth. You will find your diamonds will return to their brilliant best. We advise you to return your diamond rings and jewellery to us once a year to allow us to clean and check settings.

Colour
Good Colour is NO Colour. While most diamonds appear white, many of them display hints of colour barely discernible to the naked eye. The closer a diamond approaches colourless, the rarer and more valuable the stone. As with clarity and cut, the colour plays a large part in the beauty of the diamond.

Cut
Cut is the only diamond characteristic directly influenced by man - the other three are dictated by nature billions of years ago. The skill of the diamond cutter must never be underestimated; it is the cut that enables a diamond to make the best use of light. The quality of the cut is important in all shapes of diamonds as it is the skill of the craftsman that unlocks the fiery beauty that lies within.

Carat Weight
Bigger is Bigger - not always Better. As with all precious stones, the weight of a diamond is expressed in carats. Two diamonds weighing the same, can have very different values - depending on the clarity.

Clarity
The diamond's clarity is determined by the degree to which it is free from these naturally occurring inclusions, often called “nature's fingerprints” that gives each diamond its unique characteristic.

Platinum v 18ct White Gold

Platinum is the most valuable of all the precious metals, and is one of the hardest and most durable. It is a white metal through and through, and is easily re-polished . The main advantage of 18ct white gold is the cost. Less expensive than platinum, it has a bright lustrous finish, which requires re-furbishing approximately once a year. This is easily done for you by us - requiring a few days to have the process carried out.

Valuations

We suggest that jewellery should be re-appraised every four years. If we have carried out a previous valuation on the items, the fee for re-valuation is considerably less than the first one. The valuations are all carried out on-site by our two Registered Valuers.

Watches

We would recommend that mechanical watches be serviced every 3 years, and clocks every 5 to 6 years. Batteries in quartz watches should be changed as and when required, and usually the lifetime of a battery will be on average one year. If your quartz watch is waterproof we have the facilities in our workshop to pressure test watches as necessary.