Our Standards
“What we accept. What we reject.”
Every diamond we list clears a fixed set of criteria — published here in full, so you can hold us to it.
Most diamond retailers will sell you whatever you are willing to buy. We work differently. Before any stone reaches our site, it is measured against the standards below — and most do not pass. We publish these criteria openly because a standard you cannot verify is just a marketing claim. Every diamond we list is independently graded by the GIA or IGI, and every grade on this page can be confirmed against that report before you spend a dollar.
The Filter
Seven criteria. No exceptions.
Only the GIA and IGI grade consistently enough to trust. Other labs are known to grade one to two steps softer, which inflates the apparent quality. If a stone has no report from a lab we trust, we do not list it.
Cut is the only C controlled by human craftsmanship, and the single biggest driver of how a diamond returns light. A poorly cut stone looks lifeless regardless of its other grades. We start here and never compromise.
Polish measures the smoothness of each facet surface. Anything less than Excellent can scatter light and dull the surface under magnification. Combined with cut and symmetry, this is the third leg of the Triple Excellent standard.
Symmetry grades how precisely the facets align. Excellent symmetry is what makes a diamond’s sparkle even and organized rather than patchy. Excellent cut + Excellent polish + Excellent symmetry is what we mean by Triple Excellent.
At VS2 and above, inclusions are invisible to the naked eye at any normal viewing distance — the stone is eye-clean, guaranteed. We do not chase Flawless (you pay for what you cannot see); we draw the line exactly where the eye stops noticing.
On the GIA color scale, D–H reads colorless to near-colorless in a finished ring. Below I, a faint warmth becomes visible, especially in white metals. D–H is the range where the eye sees white — without overpaying for a difference only a loupe can find.
Settings are forever, so every ring is built only in solid metal — your choice of solid 9k, 14k, or 18k gold (white, yellow, or rose) or 950 platinum. Never plated, gold-filled, or hollow, so your ring holds its center stone securely for generations and never wears through to a base metal underneath.
3EX
cut, polish and symmetry — Excellent on all three, or we don’t list it.
Our suppliers give us access to thousands of certified stones at any moment. The criteria above are why most of them are not here. The filter is the product.
How A Stone Gets Listed
Four checks before it reaches you.
01
Report check
We confirm the diamond carries a current GIA or IGI report and verify the certificate number against the lab’s public database. No report, no listing.
02
Grade filter
The stone’s cut, polish, symmetry, clarity, and color are checked against the seven criteria above. A single grade below the line removes it from consideration.
03
Eye-clean confirmation
For borderline clarity, we review the report’s plotting diagram to confirm inclusions are not centrally located or visible face-up. If we are not certain it is eye-clean, it does not pass.
04
Setting standard
Any ring is built only in solid gold or platinum, set by hand. The finished piece ships fully insured, with its grading report and a lifetime warranty.
See the standard
in person.
Every stone you’ll find has already cleared all seven criteria.