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What carat weight should I choose?
When deciding on which carat size is best for you, there are many things to consider. First and foremost, however, are her expectations. Which of the Four C's does she value most? Is her heart set on a full one-carat, VVS clarity or perhaps D color? If you're not sure, ask a close friend or relative for advice. When determining carat it's also helpful to consider things such as her own personal style, her finger size, and the limitations of the engagement ring.

Which color should I choose?
Most people find it very difficult (if not impossible) to tell the difference from one color grade to another. The difference in price, however, can be significant. The purists at heart will always demand diamonds in the D-F range. By selecting diamonds in the G-I range, however, you can find a tremendous value while still achieving a colorless look. Shopping on a budget or trying to maximize the size of your stone? If so then J diamonds are most affordable and still near colorless. You may also want to consider choosing a diamond with medium or strong fluorescence. Since these diamonds are discounted slightly in price you can often afford a higher color stone without paying the premium.

Which clarity should I choose?
It is important to select a diamond that does not have any inclusions that will effect the overall beauty and durability of the diamond. If you want to be 100% sure that your diamond will be completely clean of eye-visible inclusions, stick with diamonds graded VS2 or higher. Shopping for SI quality diamonds can be very rewarding, but it's best to have those diamonds reviewed by our expert staff before finalizing your order. This will ensure you receive a diamond that does not have any inclusions visible to the naked eye. It is also a good idea to balance the clarity grade of your diamond with the color. If you are looking at diamonds in the D-F color range, focus on clarity grades of VS2 or higher. Diamonds in the G-I color range combined with SI clarity are excellent values.

Which cut grade should I choose?
When it comes to cut, things can be a little confusing. Should you only consider Ideal Cuts? What about Premium Cuts? Are the Good Cuts good enough? To answer those questions it helps to understand how we categorize diamonds here on the jamesallen.com website.

Ideal Cuts are going to mostly refer to our selection of round diamonds. If a round diamond has depth and table percentages that are within the most preferred ranges, as well as polish and symmetry ratings of either Very Good, Excellent, or Ideal, then there is a very good chance that diamond will be listed in our Ideal category. On any given day there are several thousand round diamonds that are in the Ideal category, so finding plenty of round ideal-cut diamonds is generally not a problem. When it comes to fancy shapes though, (like princess, oval, emerald etc.) there are very few stones that fit into our Ideal category. This is because only a small number of fancy shapes will have both a polish and symmetry rating of Very Good, Excellent or Ideal. For this reason you should definitely include all of the cut grades in your search for any shape other than a round.

Premium Cuts are diamonds that have great proportions (ensuring maximum light return), but may only have polish and symmetry ratings of Good. The diamonds in the Premium category are an excellent value and offer a broader selection of diamonds to choose from, especially in the fancy shapes. Most customers include Ideal and Premium in all of their diamond searches.

Good Cuts are diamonds that may have a depth or table percentage outside of the most preferred ranges, but are still very fine choices for an engagement ring or other piece of fine diamond jewelry. These diamonds, for example, might have a slightly larger table than usual, or be cut a bit deeper than diamonds in our other categories. It's important to remember, however, that these stones are just outside the range - not way out in left field, so rest confident that any diamond from our Good category will also have great brilliance and fire.

Signature Hearts & Arrows Diamond Collection

JamesAllen.com is proud to offer some of the worlds finest-cut diamonds, all guaranteed available and ready to be set into your perfect setting. Our high standards in overall diamond quality and grading, combined with our ability to source some of the most beautiful and precision-cut diamond inventory has allowed us to introduce the Hearts & Arrows Diamond Collection.

Hearts & Arrows (often abbreviated as H&A) diamonds originally made their arrival to the United States in the mid 1990’s.  H&A diamonds are cut so precisely that they display a special pattern hrough both the table and pavilion when viewed through a special magnifying device called a Hearts & Arrows (or H&A) viewer. Top-notch H&A diamonds are highly coveted because of their optimal performance, which can be attributed to both their overall Ideal proportions as well as the meticulous attention to detail and precision during the cutting process. Although many diamonds are cut to ideal proportions (and have an incredible amount of fire and brilliance), very few diamonds will display a clean, perfect H&A pattern.

Each and every James Allen Hearts & Arrows Diamond Collections individually inspected for overall beauty using both basic magnification and detailed review through a Hearts & Arrow viewer. During that review, the diamonds internal pattern is checked for the following:

Our Standard For Grading Hearts:
*Eight symmetrical Hearts that are separate from the arrows above
*Each Heart must be of the same size and definition with equally sized lobes
*Each Heart must be complete and cannot be separated by overly deep clefts

Our Standards For Grading Arrows:
*Eight uniform and symmetrical Arrows that are the same length, shape and contrast
*Each Arrow must be clearly visible with a shaft and head
*Each Arrow point must meet equally at the girdle

Diamonds that meet with above definitions and that have also been graded with the highest possible ratings for overall cut, polish and symmetry by either the G.I.A. or A.G.S laboratories are lected for the Hearts & Arrows Collection. 
Because we use conservative standards for grading of our H&A diamonds, less than 1% of the diamonds on the JamesAllen.com website have been identified as part of this special program.

 Diamond Specials at JamesAllen.com