Within our 8 years trading experience in coloured gemstones and Diamonds, what has become apparent is that there is very little consistency in how melee Diamonds are graded, and two separate valuations of a piece of jewellery featuring Melée Diamonds will often yield very different opinions. In fact, some qualified gemmologists will refuse to grade smaller Diamonds at all! Also, the GIA grading method of Diamonds (F, IF, VVSi, VSi, Si and I) can be quite difficult to comprehend. And so, we have invested a lot of time and energy developing our own grading system for the clarity of melee Diamonds, which we believe is easy to understand. When it comes to Diamond colour, we have stuck with the GIA system, which uses a scale D-Z. This is because this system is easy to understand, and has much better consistency.
Melée Diamond Grades
A1
These are amongst the finest clean Diamond accents on the market and would typically be graded VSi or above.
A2
These are very high grade accent Diamonds and look stunning with either Platinum or 18k gold and would typically be graded at Si or above.
A3
Beautiful accent Diamonds offering possibly the best value for a very nice look. We will often use these in high end 9k pieces and our 18k jewellery. Typically these would grade as I1 or I2.
A4
With a magnifying glass you will expect to find inclusions in these Diamonds and occasionally will see them with the naked eye. We typically use these in 9k gold designs. Typically these would grade as I2 or I3 Diamond.
A5
Slightly cloudy Diamonds, however these still should be surface clean. We often use these in 9k and silver designs. You may see one or two inclusions with the naked eye. These would be typically be graded as PK1 or PK2.
A6
Our entry level surface clean Diamonds, typically used in silver designs. Without the aid of magnification you will typically see inlcusions in these. These would be typically graded as PK3 or lower.
A7
These Diamonds have surface chips and cracks and are normally only used in our promotional silver designs.
A8
These Diamonds are typically opaque and have major surface chips and cracks. We only use these Diamonds in our stranded jewellery designs.
View our Melee Diamond video
