Everything you need to know.

Before you spend a dollar.

Buying a diamond or fine gemstone is one of the most considered purchases you will make. This page exists to give you the knowledge to choose with complete confidence — the same knowledge a trade professional would use, explained without jargon or agenda.

Independent Guidance· No Sales Agenda · IGI Verified · Australian Consumer Law Protected

The four things that define every diamond.

Before anything else — shape, size, price — understand these four characteristics. They determine everything about how a diamond looks, performs, and is valued.

The most important C. Non-negotiable.

Cut is not the shape of the diamond. Cut is the precision and quality of how the diamond has been faceted — how its angles, proportions, and symmetry interact with light.

A well-cut diamond captures light entering from above and reflects it back through the top, creating the brilliance, fire, and scintillation diamonds are known for. A poorly cut diamond, regardless of its size or colour, will look dull and lifeless.

The Cut Scale:

Excellent: Maximum light return. Every facet optimised. The standard for fine jewellery.
Very Good: Exceptional performance. Negligible difference from Excellent to the naked eye.
Good: Acceptable. Some light leakage. Visible difference under close inspection.
Fair: Noticeable dullness. Not recommended for centre stones.
Poor: Significant light loss. Avoid.

Amara Nova recommends: Excellent or Very Good cut for the finest light performance. Our collection includes a small selection of Good cut stones for buyers prioritising carat weight or budget — each is clearly labelled with its cut grade on the product card.

Less colour means more value — in white diamonds.

White diamond colour is graded on a scale from D to Z, measuring the absence of colour. The less colour a diamond contains, the rarer it is, and the more brilliantly white it appears.

The Colour Scale:

D · E · F | Colourless | Completely white. The rarest and most valuable.
G · H | Near Colourless | Effectively white to the naked eye. Exceptional value.
I · J | Near Colourless | Slight warmth visible in larger stones or certain settings.
K · L · M | Faint Yellow | Visible warmth. Better suited to yellow gold settings.
N–Z | Light to Yellow | Visible colour. Not used in fine jewellery centre stones.

Amara Nova standard: D–H for the finest stones. G–H is our most popular range — visually identical to D–F to the naked eye, at meaningfully better value.

Nature's fingerprint. Most of it invisible.

Clarity grades the presence of internal characteristics (inclusions) and surface features (blemishes) in a diamond. Nearly all diamonds contain some form of inclusion — the vast majority are invisible to the naked eye and only detectable under 10x magnification.

The Clarity Scale:

FL | Flawless | No inclusions or blemishes under 10x magnification. Extraordinarily rare.
IF | Internally Flawless | No internal inclusions. Minor surface blemishes only.
VVS1 · VVS2 | Very Very Slightly IncludedInclusions extremely difficult to detect under 10x magnification.VS1 · VS2Very Slightly Included | Inclusions minor and difficult to see under 10x magnification. Clean to naked eye.
SI1 · SI2 | Slightly Included | Inclusions noticeable under 10x. Usually invisible to naked eye.
I1 · I2 · I3 | Included | Inclusions visible to naked eye. Not used in Amara Nova collections.

Amara Nova standard: VS2 or better across our entire collection — every stone is clean to the naked eye.

Weight, not size. And size is not everything.

Carat is a unit of weight. One carat equals 0.2 grams. It is often confused with size, but carat weight and visual size are not the same thing — cut quality, shape, and stone proportions all affect how large a diamond appears.

Approximate visual sizes by carat:

0.50ct | 5.1mm
0.75ct | 5.8mm
1.00ct | 6.5mm
1.50ct | 7.4mm
2.00ct | 8.1mm
2.50ct | 8.8mm
3.00ct | 9.4mm

Amara Nova tip: The sweet spot for most buyers is 1.0–1.5ct in VS2 / G–H / Excellent cut. It maximises the visual impact of your budget without paying the premium that sits precisely at 1.0ct and 2.0ct psychological price points.

Science that mirrors nature.

There are two methods used to grow diamonds in a laboratory.
Both produce diamonds that are chemically, physically, and optically identical to mined diamonds.

Method 1

HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature)

A diamond seed is placed under extreme pressure (around 1.5 million PSI) and temperature (over 1,400°C) — replicating the conditions deep within the Earth where natural diamonds form. Carbon crystallises around the seed, producing a rough diamond over several weeks.

Method 2

CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition)

A diamond seed is placed in a chamber filled with carbon-rich gas. The gas is ionised into plasma using microwave technology, causing carbon atoms to attach to the seed layer by layer — building a diamond from the ground up. CVD is the most widely used method today.

The result of both methods is a diamond. Not a simulant. Not an imitation. A diamond.

Ready to choose your stone?

Everything you've just learned — applied in one place.

Open the Ring Studio
So we built one.

A world of stones, brought to you directly

Amara Nova began with a simple frustration: the world of fine diamonds has long been a closed one. A handful of stones, marked up many times over, presented as your only choices. We thought it should be the opposite — that the person buying the most meaningful stone of their life deserved the widest world to choose from, and an honest price for it.

Certified. Verifiable. Yours.

Every Amara Nova diamond is independently certified by the IGI or GIA — two of the world's most respected gemmological laboratories. Our gemstone collection is GSI certified. Every grading report is included with your order and independently verifiable at the issuing laboratory's website. With each stone you receive a copy of its certificate — a document you can verify independently, directly with IGI. We believe trust isn't asked for. It's evidenced.

Diamonds, naturally and newly made

Amara Nova offers both natural diamonds, formed over millennia, and lab-grown diamonds — chemically and optically identical, grown sustainably, and an increasingly considered choice for the modern buyer. Neither is lesser; they are simply different stories. To understand how lab-grown diamonds are created, visit our Education page.

Founded on the trade, built on trust

Amara Nova draws on a foundation in the diamond trade and a professional background in finance and risk — a rare combination of an eye for the stone and a discipline for doing things properly. It's why every part of this house, from sourcing to certification to the box it arrives in, is built to be trusted.

Questions, answered honestly.

Are lab grown diamonds real diamonds?

Can a jeweller tell the difference between natural and lab grown?

Do lab grown diamonds hold their value?

What is the difference between IGI and GIA certification?

What if I want a stone that isn't listed?

How long does it take to receive my ring?