What makes a good diamond great? One of New York’s most respected stone gurus gives us an eye-opening crash course

That&rsquo;s not to say that the other two Cs &ndash; clarity and colour &ndash; aren&rsquo;t important. &ldquo;Microscopic impurities are known as inclusions. My recommendation is to buy only IF (Internally Flawless) or VVS1 (Very, Very Small Inclusions) grade diamonds,&rdquo; Kirtley shares. &ldquo;In terms of colour, a white diamond has to be totally colourless (D, E or F) to be considered special. Diamonds which are slightly coloured are less valuable, especially if the hues are indistinct. Coloured diamonds need to be clearly &lsquo;fancy&rsquo; to be worth anything. And when the colour is absolutely striking, we call the stone &lsquo;fancy vivid&rsquo;. In some very rare cases, the colour is so intense that the diamond becomes &lsquo;fancy deep&rsquo;, which is the ultimate,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;

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You see lots of stones every day. How do you make your choice?

&ldquo;I have a heightened sense of a gemstone&rsquo;s character. When I see a stone that could work, a visceral reaction prompts me to find out more. I take in the stone&rsquo;s shape, cut and colour with an unaided eye before using my loupe. I examine both the stone&rsquo;s exterior and interior very closely before looking at it again without the loupe. I need to feel the same way as I did in the beginning before saying yes.&rdquo;

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What exactly are you looking for?

&ldquo;An overall &lsquo;presence&rsquo;. It has to have all the exacting qualities that we insist for every stone. I&rsquo;m proud to say that our parameters for selecting diamonds far exceed those established by the industry. An astonishing 99.96% of the world&rsquo;s gem-grade diamonds fall short of our standards. The remaining 0.04% are the elite of diamonds in terms of colour (D-E) and clarity (IF to VS2). Those are stones of superb quality and transparency.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

How do you know where to find those stones? Do you get tip-offs?

&ldquo;I am constantly talking to my contacts around the world and being on top of what&rsquo;s out there. The search for the rarest and most unusual gemstones never ends. It is also imperative that we act quickly and decisively once we&rsquo;ve learnt about a particularly interesting stone that has surfaced. The business moves really fast and that&rsquo;s both challenging and exciting at the same time.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

Which comes first &ndash; the stones or the design?

&ldquo;Our designs are often inspired by gemstones, but sometimes the designs are developed before a suitable gemstone is found. Our design philosophy has always been focused on designing around a gem or diamond&rsquo;s beauty.&rdquo;

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What unusual cuts has Tiffany &amp; Co. produced?

&ldquo;We offer an incredible selection of diamond cuts, some of which like the Lucida, for instance, are patented by Tiffany &amp; Co. The cuts for our coloured gemstones, including briolette and rose, are more stylised and varied.&rdquo;

&nbsp;

Right:&nbsp;Tiffany &amp; Co.&rsquo;s Chief Gemmologist Melvyn Kirtley also works with the brand&rsquo;s design teams to develop one-of-a-kind stunners.

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&ldquo;I think that carats are far from being the only factor that determines a diamond&rsquo;s value. In fact, I&rsquo;d say that it&rsquo;s the least important factor.&rdquo;

Is there a stone you&rsquo;ll never forget?

&ldquo;I remember uncovering a blue diamond imbued with the exact same hue as Tiffany&rsquo;s robin&rsquo;s-egg blue years ago. We named our discovery the Tiffany Anniversary diamond. It was completely mesmerising.&rdquo;

How to Find the Perfect Diamond

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