Precious metals
Platinum
The platinum jewellery at Kaushal Jewellers is made of fine quality jewellery grade platinum (950 – 95% Purity). Its cool white sheen naturally accentuates the sparkle and brilliance of our diamonds and helps make platinum our most popular choice of setting metals.
Platinum is 30 times rarer than gold, but this precious metal's most appealing characteristic may be its durability. When other metals are scratched or polished, tiny bits of the metal may be lost. A scratch in platinum may leave a mark on the metal, but this metal is so strong that it will not readily chip or splinter. Even very slim platinum designs will permanently retain their shape. For that reason, platinum makes an excellent overall choice for jewellery.
Platinum is the strongest of jewellery metals, but it will eventually develop a patina of wear. Many people prefer this unique look, but if you prefer the shine, a jeweller can polish your jewellery to bring back the original reflective finish. In the mean time, buffing with a soft cloth can give your jewelle ry renewed lustre.
Yellow Gold
Our 18k gold is composed of 75% gold, alloyed with 25% other metals. Not only does this make the piece more valuable, it makes it strong enough to withstand daily wear while maintaining its traditional, rich golden colour.
White Gold
The 18k white gold at Kaushal Jewellers is 75% gold, alloyed with 25% white metals to produce a white metal with a slight yellow colour. To enhance the whiteness, almost all white gold is plated with rhodium, an extremely hard and shiny white metal in the platinum group. Depending on the amount of wear to a piece of jewellery, over time this rhodium plating may wear off, revealing the original metal colour. Re-plating is a simple process that can be done to restore your jewellery's whiteness if needed.
The price of gold jewellery is dependent upon the purity of the gold used or karat weight, as well as the design and construction of the piece of jewellery.
Keep your gold jewellery away from harsh chemicals such as chlorine and cleaning fluids. This will reduce daily abrasions and prolong gold's lustre. To clean gold jewellery, use a solution of warm water and detergent-free soap and wash gold gently with a soft-bristled brush (a dull tooth brush works well). Store gold pieces separately in soft cloth bags or original boxes to protect them from the exposure to harsh daily elements.
Diamond knowledge
Colour
Most diamonds appear icy white, but many have tiny hints of colour. Diamonds are graded on a colour scale, ranging from D (colourless) to Z. All our diamonds are a minimum of colour G-H.
Colourless diamonds are extremely rare, and therefore very valuable. But there are no hard and fast rules for what colour makes a diamond beautiful.
Cut
Cut is the only one of the 4Cs that is influenced by the human hand. The rest (colour, clarity, carat) are created naturally as diamonds form in the earth.
Diamond cutting requires great skill and training. The cutter must polish tiny surfaces known as facets onto the rough diamond. This process is what creates the facets known as the crown, culet, table, girdle and pavilion of the diamond.
The facets, when arranged in precise proportions, will maximize the fire life and brilliance of a diamond. To cut a diamond perfectly, a craftsman will often need to cut away more than 50% of the rough diamond.
Carat
Carat is often confused with size even though it is actually a measure of weight. The cut of a diamond can make it appear much larger or smaller than its actual weight.
High carat diamonds often appear to be brighter or more brilliant than their lower carat siblings due to the prism effect of light travelling over larger distances. However, carat is merely one of the factors to take into consideration when appraising the quality of the stone.
One carat (not to be confused with Karat—the measure of purity of gold) is the equivalent of 200 milligrams. One carat can also be divided into 100 "points." A 0.75 carat diamond is the same as a 75-points or a 3/4 carat diamond.
The term carat is a derivative of the word carob. Carob seeds, which are surprisingly uniform in weight, were used as a reference for diamond weight in ancient civilizations. One carob seed equalled one carat.
It is often assumed that a 1-carat diamond costs exactly twice the price of a 1/2-carat diamond. This is not the case. Since larger diamonds are found less frequently in nature, a 1-carat diamond will cost much more than twice as much as a 1/2-carat diamond, assuming colour, clarity and cut remain constant.
Clarity
Diamonds have natural blemishes in their make-up. Minerals or fractures form these tiny faults, or inclusions, while the diamond is formed in the earth.
When light enters a diamond, it is reflected and refracted out. If there is anything disrupting the flow of light in the diamond, such as an inclusion, a proportion of the light reflected would be lost.
Most inclusions are not visible to the naked eye unless magnified.
Inclusions are ranked on a scale of perfection, or clarity, which ranges from IF (Internally Flawless - No visible characteristics under magnification) to I (Included -Characteristics visible with the naked eye). This grading method rates diamonds on the size, nature and positioning of the birthmarks and requires an expert eye to assess.
To view inclusions, trained gemmologists use a magnifying loupe. This tool allows experts to see a diamond at 10x its actual size. Even with a loupe, the birthmarks in the VVS (Very, Very Slightly Included) to VS (Very Slightly Included) range can be very difficult to find. It is only when a diamond is graded 'I' that it is possible to see the birthmarks with the naked eye.
What's the difference between VVS1 and VVS2 or SI1 and SI2? The numbers represent levels within each grade. The 1s will be cleaner (have fewer or smaller inclusions) than the 2s. This allows for more precise grading categories.
As with real birthmarks, inclusions appear as different shapes, such as crystals, clouds or feathers. These idiosyncrasies often add to the overall character of the diamond.
The majority of these natural birthmarks are invisible to the naked eye, yet they affect the way light is reflected and refracted within the stone. Diamonds that have no inclusions under magnification are extremely rare and are rated FL for flawless.
The position of inclusions can affect the value of a diamond. You may not notice a significant difference between an SI 1 and a SI 2. However, you should consider the number, size, brightness, nature and position of the inclusions.
A mounting, thus having little effect on the beauty of a diamond, can hide some inclusions. An inclusion in the middle or top of a diamond, however, could impact the dispersion of light, sometimes making the diamond less brilliant.
Please arrange a consultation with one of our in house qualified diamond experts to help guide you through the diamond selection process
Craftsmanship
All rings are manufactured at our Dubai, Mumbai and London workshops with a total of 100 expert craftsmen selected for their unique specialist skills in the art of jewellery craft.
The process involved in making each piece is an intricate combination of art and science. A tradition of craftsmanship and attention to detail culminates in the creation of a true treasure, and a fitting symbol of the beauty of your love.
After a design is created by one of our in house artists, a sketch is transformed into a three-dimensional model of the ring through the use of a CAD computer program. Hours are spent perfecting the ring and reviewing every detail.
This unique 3D image is then used to create a unique 3D mold. This model is used during intricate casting processes and specific firing techniques to cast the ring in platinum or gold. Did you know that 18K gold melts at 720 degrees centigrade (1328º F) and platinum melts at the massively high temperature of 1772 degrees centrigrade (3222ºF)!
After the liquified precious metal has been transformed into a unique ring, a goldsmith then takes the piece and perfects the exterior of the metal. The ring is then sent to the polishers, who add shine and lustre through hand-machine polishing.
While the goldsmiths are shaping and polishing the ring, the diamond team is hand-selecting the appropriately matched diamonds for the ring in order for them to be perfect in shape, colour, clarity and proportion. Some rings require more than 1000 diamonds, which will each be individually hand-set!
The ring and its accompanying diamonds are then passed to the team of diamond setters, who are each uniquely specialized in his craft. One may handle the pave-setting, another the channel-set diamonds, another the prongs.
Our hand engraving is done by the skilled engravers, after setting is completed. Scrolling or mill grain is carved by hand with small tools that gently displace the platinum or gold into the desired design without disturbing any of the set diamonds.
After the ring has been cast, polished, set and engraved, it is then sent back to quality control one more time. If it is perfect in every way and exactly what the customer ordered, it is sent back to the polishing team for a final buffing, bringing the piece to showroom quality.
At last, a beautiful ring - the perfect symbol of enduring love and commitment.