Rough diamond ring
Uncut; unpolished; unique: what you need to know about raw diamond rings
When you hear the word ‘diamond’, you’re likely to think of the white, clear brilliant which adorns many an engagement ring. But this is not how diamonds come into being. In their natural form, raw diamonds are uncut, unpolished, and entirely unique. And recently, many people in search of something truly special are turning to raw diamond rings.
In this entry, you’ll learn all about raw diamond rings and how they differ from the cut diamond rings we know so well. Read on and let yourself fall in love with the beauty of raw diamonds in their natural form.
What is a raw diamond?
Raw diamonds, or ‘rough’ diamonds, are as the name suggests: raw. A raw diamond has not been cut or polished into the sparkling stone that forms the centrepiece of many engagement rings.
You might be inclined to think that this makes raw diamond rings lacklustre compared to their glittering counterparts – but this is far from the case. Instead, the natural form of the diamond lends the ring a one-of-a-kind beauty as captivating and timeless as nature itself.
This also means that every raw diamond ring is completely and entirely unique. So if you’re looking for a piece that will show the decades-long tradition of the diamond engagement ring in a new light, a raw diamond ring is an excellent choice.
What you need to know when choosing a raw diamond ring
Because raw diamonds are uncut and unpolished, most of the rules of thumb you’d apply when choosing a cut diamond ring won’t apply to a raw diamond ring. This means that there are a few things you need to keep in mind when choosing your ring:
Forget about the 4Cs.
The 4Cs of diamond quality stand for carat weight, colour, clarity, and cut grade. For cut diamonds, these would be used to determine the quality of the stone. However, for raw diamonds, the 4Cs are largely unimportant. Raw diamonds are uncut, which makes cut grade irrelevant – and this, in turn, makes clarity irrelevant, too. As for carat weight and colour, these are up to your personal tastes. So choose the type of raw diamond that appeals to you.
Learn more of the different types of raw diamonds we offer here.
Buying from a reputable source is important.
Because raw diamonds are uncut and unpolished, they won’t come with GIA (Gemological Institute of America) or other premium gem lab certificates. However, they’re still subject to the usual guidelines for buying from a reputable source. This means that you should take care to make the right choice when selecting your raw diamond. Do your research, find a jeweller whom you trust completely, and make sure that your diamond is fully traceable back to the mine it came from.
At RoughDiamonds.dk, our raw diamonds are personally selected by designer and founder Maya Bjørnsten in the diamond capital of Antwerp, Belgium. Here, she studies each individual stone meticulously before choosing those which catch her eye. These come home to Denmark with her to be set in hand-crafted works of art in our workshop here in Copenhagen. This way, you’re guaranteed that when choosing a raw diamond from our selection, your diamond will be conflict free, ethical, and perfect in its raw form.
Don’t choose a raw diamond with the intention to eventually have it cut or polished.
When choosing a raw diamond, you should intend to keep it this way. It may seem a nice idea that one day you could change up the look of your ring by having the diamond cut and polished. But in reality, this is not always possible. Your rough diamond may have internal inclusions that could severely reduce the quality of the cut and polished gem.
Further, a rough diamond is a non-uniform shape. Once all the rough edges are smoothed down to uniformity, you could be left with a gem much smaller than you anticipated – perhaps even too small to do anything with at all. In general, you lose between 40% and 70% of the diamond size after polishing – but you still pay for the full size of the stone when buying a polished diamond. So if you’re choosing a raw diamond, choose it because you, like us, love it for its natural beauty and its full size – it’s perfect just the way it is.
Let yourself be inspired by the natural beauty of raw diamonds
Now that you know more about raw diamonds and their unique qualities, we hope that you’ve become inspired to choose a ring that truly reflects your personal tastes. If you’re looking to choose the perfect ring, you can view our collection of rough diamond rings here.
You can also choose your very own rough diamond from our selection and collaborate with designer Maya Bjørnsten and our team of expert goldsmiths to create a bespoke, one-of-a-kind piece.
To keep up with our work, visit our Facebook and Instagram pages and let yourself be inspired by the raw beauty of diamonds in their natural form.