Diamonds

Well, after having a hard time and numerous tries, i've finally got some of the photos up on the previous entry. Ok, so today is Sunday and I'm all alone at home with nothing much to do for now. Qin is going for a wedding and I'm going to have lunch on my own soon, but for now, i've decided to post an entry on how to do a proposal and this serves as an informative post for those who plan to propose now or u can save it for later, when that Ms. Right comes along.

So, first, choosing a diamond. For diamonds, there are basically 4 Cs.

1. Carat. This is the size. For most places (I think) you can get an interationally recognized cert when you purchase a diamond that is more than 0.3 carats. A 0.3 carat diamond is also known as a 30 pointer diamond, 0.4 carat is a 40 pointer and so on. Well, this is the most common deciding factor for typical Singaporeans who tend to be a little show off. The bigger the better. The most common question asked amongst common folks is "what is the size of the diamond he gave you?" or "how many carats?". well, so if you want to have pride, then dun be stingy but choose a stone that is of a big size. Well, some people have argued that only shallow people look at the size of diamonds and more professional people or those who know diamonds look beyond just the size and at other things such as cut and colour. However, my personal experience with some jeweller is that they too look at size first. Maybe the typical Singaporean mentality is embedded too deeply. Ha. So it's up to you to decide if size is all that important.

2. Cut. As mentioned, the cut is another important aspect that others look into. This will determine the price of the diamond as well. In fact, all 4Cs determine the price. There are many different cuts and since, I bought a celestial, I'll talk more about it. It has 73 facet which means that there are 73 surfaces. So it tends to reflect or refract light 'better' or 'more' than the typical Belgium cut. Well, these are what the sales people told me. As we all know, they are quite good at smoking, so if you think that what I'm posting here is all smoke, you know where they are from. From my noobish point of view, there is really a difference bet a celestial cut and something elsewhere. It is brighter and sparkles more. However, the brightest one i think has to be brilliant rose cut by Soo Kee. That 66 facet cut really shines like crazy. But some poeple says that the Brilliant Rose is nothing more than just a Leo diamond (a brand in USA) so it's not unique. So, well, at least I know that celestial does not have anything close to it. At least that's what I know. Anyway, accordingly, the "rose" of the brilliant rose is only visible from the bottom. So after setting the diamond, you will not be able to see it unless you dig it out and see from the bottom. As for Celestial, the star is visible from the top. Ha, I know I'm bias but comevon, I bought Celestial, of course, I need to talk more about it.

3. Colour. Ok, this is important too esp if your stone is big. It ranges from D-Z colour. Anything from D to F is considered colourless. I dun think anyone will use a Z colour stone to propose unless the girl has a fetish for yellow. So you have the picture, D is the best when Z is the one with the most yellow in it.

4. Clarity. This one has names like VS1 or SI and all that. Basically it means it has slight inclusions so on. Most of them are not visible to the naked eye. I peronally feel that this is one area that is the least important of course that is because I'm buying a small size stone. So how can the inclusions make much difference. Ha, and so i thought.

Ok, if you have a budget, then try to lower the requirements for one aspect and then you can improve the standard of another. for me, I had one that has good colour but compromised on the clarity. Well, if you're really on a tight budget, bring your girl to watch "blood diamond" [the movie] and she'll not want to buy another diamond already. So it's all up to you. All the best to whoever who is proposing...