Over the years I have learned to appreciate beautiful things. Diamonds and fine jewellery are my passion'- Michael Lane

Lanes are diamond specialists and have been for 20 years. We have an established reputation, with high quality sources from London, Antwerp and around the world are able to provide you with the very best quality and value. We have a large selection of Diamond rings and Diamond Jewellery, but our website only shows a few examples from our comprehensive stock.

• Diamonds were formed between 3.3 billion and 900 million years ago, yet man did not discover them until after 2,500 BC.
• The word diamond came from the ancient Greek word 'adamas', meaning unconquerable.
• Diamond is the hardest substance known to man (140 times harder than ruby/sapphire and 180 times harder than emerald).
• Over 250 tons of ore must be mined in order to produce a one carat polished diamond.
• Every diamond is unique - no two are the same.
• The 4Cs: Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat Weight combine to determine the value of a diamond.
• The largest diamond ever found, the Cullinan, weighed 3,106 carats. The two largest polished diamonds cut from the Cullinan can be seen today in The Crown Jewels in The Tower of London.
• The famous slogan 'a diamond is forever' was created over 50 years ago to capture the magic, mystery and beauty of the world's most precious gem.
• The first diamond engagement ring first made an appearance in 1477, when it was slipped on to the finger of Mary of Burgundy by her fiance, Archduke Maximilian of Austria.

Understanding diamonds requires knowledge of the four C’s: cut, colour, clarity and carat weight. It is the interplay of these various characteristics that will determine a stone’s beauty and value.

Colour

Colour is personal: some people like a diamond with an ice-cold whiteness (colourless or near-colourless), while others prefer the golden glow of a warmer colour. Diamonds with no colour like D, E, F, are very rare and are more expensive than near-colourless (G, H, I, J) diamonds.

Diamonds with a faint tinge of color (K, L, M, N, O) have a slightly warm colour and are more affordable. For those who want a larger diamond within a certain budget, selecting diamonds with a lower colour grade may be the best option.

GIA Colour Scale:

• D, E, F: colorless
• G, H, I, J: near colorless
• K, L, M: faint yellow or faint brown
• N, O, P, Q, R: very light yellow or very light brown
• S through Z: light yellow or light brown

Most diamonds appear colorless but actually have slight tones of yellow or brown. The closer the stone comes to colourless, the more valuable it is. Diamonds are graded on a colour scale ranging from D (colourless) to Z (heavily tinted.) Only a highly skilled professional will detect any color in E or F stones, and the colour in diamonds rated up to J will be virtually invisible when set in a ring or other jewellery.

Colour is only one of the four C's so even when a stone has a visible tint, such as K or lower, it can still be very lovely if it has good clarity and cut. How the diamond is set can make a difference, too; you might not want to put a truly colourless diamond in a yellow gold setting since the yellow colour will reflect in the stone. On the other hand, a slightly yellow stone will appear whiter in a yellow gold setting.

Diamonds also come in a wide variety of other colours, including red, blue, green and a bright yellow known as "canary." These are graded as Z+ and are known as "fancy" diamonds. Ones with good colour are very rare and can sell for much more per carat than white diamonds.

Clarity

Clarity refers to how free a diamond is from nature's "birthmarks," or tiny,

Diamonds are assigned clarity grades based on what can be detected with ten-power magnification. Most internal features (inclusions) and external features (blemishes) in the diamond have little or no effect on brilliance and fire.

So if small clarity characteristics don't affect a diamond's beauty, why are diamonds with higher clarity grade so expensive? It's simply because diamonds with relatively few clarity characteristics are very rare. Fortunately, diamonds of all clarity grades and prices, including those with eye-visible inclusions, can look beautiful depending on how well they're cut and other factors. The best advice is to look at several diamonds of different clarity grades and let your eye be the guide!

Carat

Diamond weight is stated in carats, a measurement derived from the more romantic, (but less accurate) original scale of comparison using the seeds of the carob tree which were very uniform and consistent in weight. Precision balances are now used and a carat has been standardized as equivalent to one fifth of a gram. 

One carat is divided into 100 points, so for example, a diamond weighing half a carat can also be described as weighing 50 points or 0.50 carats.

Diamonds over 1 carat are particularly rare.  Less than 5% of gem quality diamonds achieve this magic weight once they are cut and polished, making them more desirable and, inevitably, more expensive.

All other things being equal, the greater the carat weight, the rarer the diamond and the more expensive it is. 

Although many people equate "bigger" with "better," diamonds of all carat weight have the potential to be lively, exciting, and beautiful. The most important thing is to buy the one that's right for you.

Cut

It is the cut that makes a diamond sparkle! A well-cut diamond will reflect light to its optimum, creating brilliance and fire. Brilliance refers to the return of light to the eye through the diamond and the prism effect, the separation of white light into a rainbow of colours, is traditionally called the Fire of the stone.
Cut is not shape, ie, pear, round, oval. Cut refers to the quality of the proportioning, polish, and symmetry.

• Diameter: The width of the diamond as measured through the girdle.
• Table: The flat top and largest facet of a gemstone.
• Crown: The top portion of a diamond extending from the girdle to the table.
• Girdle: The narrow band around the widest part of a diamond.
• Pavilion: The bottom portion of a diamond, extending from the girdle to the point of the stone.
• Culet: The facet at the tip of a gemstone.
• Depth: The height of a gemstone measured from the culet to the table.
  

At Lanes we're not afraid to talk to you about this.... the Cost!

Obviously, the amount you decide to spend on a diamond ring is a personal matter, but you will no doubt have heard that 1-3 months' salary is about the norm. We're not quite sure where this originally came from (it certainly wasn't us!) but at Lanes we suggest that you feel free to spend whatever you feel comfortable with and more importantly, can realistically afford!

Lanes diamonds are purchased from legitimate sources not involved in funding conflict and in compliance with United Nations resolutions. To the best of our knowledge all Lanes diamonds are conflict free, based on our personal knowledge and/or written guarantees provided by all suppliers of our diamonds.

For Diamonds mined prior to the formal operation of the Kimberley Process on 1st January 2003, our suppliers warrant they have not knowingly supplied us with Conflict Diamonds and have taken reasonable precautionary measures to ensure this.

The Kimberley Process is an international certification scheme that regulates the trade in rough diamonds. Its aim is to prevent the trade in conflict diamonds, while helping to protect the legitimate trade in rough diamonds. A Kimberley Process certificate, guaranteeing diamonds as conflict-free, accompanies all official shipments of rough diamonds to and from participating countries.
To support this, the international diamond industry agreed to a voluntary system of warranties to ensure diamonds continued to be tracked right up to the point of sale. All invoices for the sale of rough diamonds should now include a written guarantee that states they are conflict-free.