The Education Centre
Every question, answered plainly.
A ring is a considered purchase. These guides explain diamonds, settings and carat weight in plain language, so you choose with confidence, not guesswork.
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Australian diamond certification
1 person reading nowCan a jeweller tell a lab-grown diamond?
1 person reading nowHow big are the famous engagement rings, really?
1 person reading nowHow big is a $20,000 diamond?
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01
How to choose a diamond shape
Diamonds · 6 min read02
The four Cs, simply
Diamonds · 7 min read03
How much to spend on an engagement ring
Budget · 7 min read04
Are lab-grown diamonds real?
Lab-grown · 11 min readStart here
Four decisions, in order
Every guide
Browse the whole centre
How much to spend on an engagement ring
There is no correct number, only a number that is right for you. How to find it, and exactly what your money buys.7 min read
What your ring budget actually buys
No, $1,000 is not too cheap. What a ring costs in Australian dollars at each rung, and what it looks like on a hand.8 min read
How to buy an engagement ring
Most of the money is lost in the first hour, by making the decisions in the wrong order. Here is the order that works.9 min read
Is $5,000 a lot for an engagement ring?
A lot of money, and an ordinary amount for a ring. Where $5,000 sits against what Australians actually pay.9 min read
Is $10,000 a lot for an engagement ring?
Yes, and it is also the figure where extra money starts to stop showing. What changes above and below the number.10 min read
How big is a $20,000 diamond?
Between 7.4 mm and 11 mm across, and which end you land on has almost nothing to do with the money.11 min read
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The three month salary rule
The rule is an advertising line that grew from one month to three. In Australia it asks for about four times what people actually spend.11 min read
What not to do when selling a diamond
We sell rings and never buy them, so this one costs us nothing to write honestly. Ten mistakes Australian sellers make, what each kind of buyer really pays, and the order to do it in.11 min read
How to choose a diamond shape
Shape is the first thing anyone notices, and the decision that most shapes a ring. How to narrow eight options down to one.6 min read
The four categories of diamond quality
Cut, colour, clarity and carat: the four measures every grading report uses, in the order that actually decides how a stone looks.7 min read
The four Cs, simply
Cut, colour, clarity and carat. What each really means, which matter most, and where your money is best spent.7 min read
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The emerald cut, honestly
The shape people fall for in a photograph and hesitate over at the counter. What it does with light, and the two grades you cannot economise on.8 min read
Who invented the four Cs
One jeweller coined the phrase in the 1940s; a second spent thirty years making it measurable. What the grades can and cannot tell you.8 min read
The prettiest diamond cut
There is no prettiest cut, and the useful answer is underneath the question. Nine shapes at one carat, drawn to one scale.9 min read
What looks like a diamond, but cheaper?
Moissanite, cubic zirconia, white sapphire and three more: what each one costs in Australia, and what gives it away.9 min read
How big are the famous engagement rings, really?
Every carat figure you have read about Taylor Swift's ring is somebody squinting at a photograph. Here are the numbers, drawn to actual size.10 min read
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The classiest diamond shape
Classy is a question about how well taste ages, not about beauty, and that one has an answer. The shapes no stranger can date, the looks that carry a decade, and why the asscher fell out of favour twice.10 min read
Which diamond sparkles most
A well-cut round brilliant sparkles more than any other shape, and how well a stone is cut moves sparkle far more than which shape it is. Every shape ranked on one scale, what really kills sparkle, and how to check a stone before you pay.10 min read
Can a jeweller tell a lab-grown diamond?
By eye across a counter, no. With the right equipment or an inscription, yes and without much doubt. Where the line actually falls.7 min read
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Is a lab-grown diamond worth buying?
Worth means value, or resale, or whether anyone will judge the ring. The three answers are not the same, and only one of them is a no.8 min read
The honest tradeoffs of lab-grown diamonds
The genuine disadvantages of lab-grown diamonds, stated plainly, and what each one actually means for your ring.8 min read
Lab-grown or natural: how to decide
The question is no longer whether lab-grown is acceptable. It is what you give up by choosing one, and whether you care.9 min read
Tiffany says no, and what that tells you
The two most famous jewellers will not sell you a lab-grown diamond, and both explained why. The reasons turn out to be about brands, not stones.9 min read
Where lab-grown diamond prices are heading
The stone keeps getting cheaper and the ring barely does. What is deflating in an engagement ring, what is not, and whether waiting a year is worth anything.9 min read
Are lab-grown diamonds real?
Yes, and the interesting part is what sits underneath the word. What the material is, who gets to name it, and why a real diamond can still look wrong on a hand.11 min read
The downsides you only meet after you buy
Every complaint people make about lab-grown stones, sorted into the ones that will cost you money and the ones that will not.11 min read
The case jewellers make against lab-grown diamonds
We sell lab-grown and natural, and argue for lab-grown at most budgets, so this is the hardest page here to write honestly. Every objection jewellers and buyers make, argued at its strongest, with our verdict on which ones are correct.12 min read
The Tiffany setting, and why everyone copies it
One 1886 design decided what an engagement ring looks like. What the name legally covers, and which parts you can have without the blue box.7 min read
How ring settings work
Prong and solitaire answer different questions. How the two decisions fit together, and what each one costs you.8 min read
Low set or high set
What low set and high set mean in millimetres above the finger, why the trade lifts stones off the hand, and which profile suits which hand.8 min read
The safest ring setting
Ten ways of holding a diamond ranked on one scale by how well they keep it, how each one fails, and why the stones a ring loses are almost never the big one.10 min read
What makes a diamond look bigger
The stone's millimetres are fixed, so every lever left is the frame around it. One 1.00 ct round drawn in six settings to one scale, and what a bezel really costs in visible diamond and in bench time.10 min read
Which grading lab to trust
A report is only worth as much as the lab that signed it. Who the labs are, which ones the trade takes seriously, and how to check the one in your hand.9 min read
Australian diamond certification
There is no such thing as Australian certification. Who does sign for a diamond here, which document is which, and what a stone costs in Australian dollars.10 min read
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How to find her ring size without asking
The one number you cannot fudge and cannot look up. What actually works, what only looks like it works, and the size to order.8 min read
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Should a ring feel tight or loose?
Snug at the base, and a real push over the knuckle. Why the same ring can be perfect at breakfast and unbearable by five.8 min read
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Divorce rings
A ring bought to mark the end of a marriage. What the term means, which hand people move a ring to, the five things you can do with the ring you already own, and what any of it costs.9 min read
What's a normal engagement ring size?
Two questions hide inside that one: her finger, and the stone. Both answers, in Australian letters, US numbers and millimetres.9 min read
Living with your engagement ring
Most ring damage comes from four or five ordinary moments, and almost none of it comes from water. What to do in each of them.10 min read