Diamonds are a hunk of pretty carbon....

This is an excerpt from a private e-mail to a customer who is interested in a trillion (triangle) shaped diamond. But there is some pretty good basic diamond info in there if you want to read it.
So its my response to "Hey I want a big Triangle cut"
"Nothing wrong with them, I like'm, but I want you to be able to make an informed decision. I'm not sure how much you know about diamonds, but some shapes reflect more light/sparkle than others.Best sparklers, are Round and Square, followed by oval and Marquise (football shaped) then Triangle, followed by Emerald cut and last is Baguette.Round diamonds are cut from double pyramid shaped diamond crystals. (as though someone glued a second pyramid to the bottom of the first) Triangles are cut from Macles, that's a crystal that has grown all wonked - a pyramid that has gone wrong, triangle is the only shape that can be cut from macles and still be financially viable, and since most people aren't interested in triangles the price is often better than a round. But not as sparkly, macles usually come with lots of wispy stuff inside, so its a trade off.
There are 4 C's to diamond grading Clarity. Diamonds of course come in super perfect for a stupid price all the way down to ugly frozen spit quality. Personally I try and push people towards the points on the graph where 'best price for you' meets 'still a pretty stone'.
Lowest I will sell is Si clarity because anything lower has inclusions visible to the naked eye, all the higher grades are the same unless viewed through 10 power magnification. (that is overly simplified, as little specks to effect the return of light but this is the best 'bang for buck' grade)
Colour. I prefer to steer people towards G - H in colour. Anything lower starts to look yellow and all the higher stuff looks like G-H once it is set into claws.
Carat size - bigger is not always better. If you have a set budget its best to go a little smaller and keep the other C's at a good level. No use having a big diamond that looks awful. And there is also a status thing that happens, the price per Carat on a .98C stone is less than a 1.02C stone because people want to say they own a One Carat stone. I will try to make sure that we stay below the jump up points because I see no reason to pay the extra price for .2mm more stone.
Cut is the last C, and it is very important, because this C thing is a balance game, a badly cut diamond doesn't sparkle so it doesn't matter how clear or clean it is."
That was the end of our e-mail. At a later date I will probably get into more detail but its time to go to work! Making 18k Palladium white earrings today to fit a cute pair of pink diamonds.

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