Two scales do most of the work in a jewellery description, and both are borrowed from diamond grading.
Colour: how little colour there is
The scale runs from D, with no detectable colour at all, to Z, visibly yellow or brown. It is a scale of absence. D, E and F are the top grades, with no visible colour. G to J come next, where a trained eye sees a faint warmth from the side but a customer usually does not. K and below show colour to anyone.
Every HerMoment stone is D to E colour. That is a specification we hold our suppliers to, not a range we hope for. It matters most in a large stone and in a white metal setting, where any warmth has nowhere to hide.
Clarity: what is inside the stone
The scale runs from Flawless down through VVS1 and VVS2 (very very slightly included), VS1 and VS2 (very slightly included), SI1 and SI2 (slightly included), to I1 to I3, where inclusions are visible without magnification.
The practical line is eye clean: can you see anything at normal reading distance? VS1 and VS2 are reliably eye clean. SI can be, depending on where the inclusion sits. I grades usually are not.
We buy to VS1 to VS2 minimum. Paying more for VVS or Flawless buys you a better certificate, not a better looking stone, because the difference is invisible without magnification.
Cut: the one that actually changes how it looks
Colour and clarity are about what is not there. Cut is about what the stone does with light, and it is the grade most worth paying attention to. A poorly cut top colour stone looks duller than a well cut one two colour grades below it. Every stone we set is excellent cut, 57 facets on a round brilliant.
Carat is weight, not size
Carat measures weight, so it is not a reliable guide to how big a stone looks. A one carat round brilliant is about 6.5 mm across. Two carats is about 8 mm, not double the width, because weight rises much faster than diameter. If you care how big it looks on the neck or the hand, ask for millimetres.
What to ask any seller
Ask for the colour range, the clarity range, the cut grade and the millimetre size, in writing. A seller who answers with adjectives rather than grades is telling you something.
Every HerMoment piece states all four on the product page and ships with a Certificate of Authenticity.
See how moissanite compares to diamond, or browse the collection.
