Diamond Academy
A practical, independent diamond education curriculum covering reports, cut, clarity, color, settings, buying, and ownership.
- What a diamond actually is
Carbon, crystal structure, light, and the difference between hardness and toughness.
- Natural and laboratory-grown
The same gem material, formed by different routes—and why clear origin language matters.
- The four Cs, without the shorthand
Cut, color, clarity, and carat are a shared language—not a recipe for one perfect diamond.
- What a grading report does—and does not do
How to read identity, quality, proportions, comments, and laboratory limits in the right order.
- GIA, IGI, and the laboratory landscape
How the major report issuers differ—and how to compare the document in front of you without relying on reputation alone.
- How to look at a diamond
A disciplined viewing method for separating first impressions from useful evidence.
- How proportions shape light
Table, crown, pavilion, depth, girdle, and facet relationships—read as one optical composition.
- Shape, size, and face-up presence
Why equal carat weights can look different—and how outline, ratio, and facet style create personality.
- Clarity, without overbuying
What the laboratory records, what the eye notices, and when an inclusion deserves a structural check.
- Color, in context
How shape, size, metal, and viewing position change what a D-to-Z grade looks like in a finished ring.
- Fluorescence, without the folklore
What ultraviolet light can reveal, when it affects appearance, and why the report line is not a verdict.
- Beyond the cut grade
Why one laboratory label can contain many proportion sets, patterns, and visual personalities.
- Reading proportion combinations
How crown, pavilion, table, depth, minor facets, and girdle work as one optical system.
- ASET, Ideal-Scope, and light-performance imaging
What reflector colors can show, what they cannot, and how to read images without turning them into scores.
- Inclusions at the expert level
How type, position, relief, extent, and surface reach matter more than an alarming name.
- When a diamond looks sleepy
How to distinguish ordinary dirt or lighting from reduced transparency and low-contrast performance.
- The setting as architecture
Solitaire, halo, bezel, pavé, cathedral, and three-stone designs considered through daily life.
- Prongs, protection, and maintenance
Four or six, round or claw, exposed or guarded: the small metal decisions that secure a stone.
- Precious metals: 10k, 14k, 18k gold vs. platinum
Purity, density, color, wear patterns, and skin sensitivity compared for long-term wear.
- Where to buy and how to buy a diamond
Online sellers, independent jewelers, and established design houses compared by selection, pricing, inspection, and aftercare.
- A more considered purchase
A calm sequence for comparing the stone, the setting, the seller’s terms, and the questions paper cannot answer.
- The policy behind the piece
Homeowners, renters, scheduled coverage, and specialist jewelry policies—compared by what they promise.
- The appraisal, in its proper place
Why a grading report is not a valuation, why purpose changes value, and what a credible document should explain.
- Care that protects the piece
A practical routine for cleaning, inspecting, storing, and knowing when to stop wearing the ring.
- The nonlinear economics of diamond pricing
Why small changes in weight or grade can produce much larger changes in asking price.