“Diamond accents” or “accent diamonds”. Have you ever wondered what do these terms mean? Let’s find out.
What Are Diamond Accents?
Diamond accents, also known as accent diamonds, are small stones that are designed to enhance the beauty and the brilliance of a jewellery piece. Usually, they have a rectangular, trapezoid, triangular or round shape. These shapes best complement different types of centre diamonds while maintaining a reasonable price point.
Since diamond accents are small and less visible, they are not cut with the full number of facets but have a simple cut. For example, round accent diamonds have only 16 or 18 facets, whereas bigger stones have 58 facets.
Carat Size of Diamond Accents
In general, diamond accents do not go over 0.25 carats in weight. However, the choice of the size should be based on your personal preference and how the accents look in the setting.
Remember to choose a piece of jewellery where the accent diamonds are big enough to enhance the look of the centre stone but also are small enough to make it stand out.
If the jewellery piece has accent stones that are supposed to look uniform, make sure they are very close in size. Accents should create an impression of a perfect match when looked at from a normal distance with the naked eye.
Colour and Clarity of Diamond Accents
Most accent diamonds have low clarity such as SI (Slightly Included) or I (Included). However, since accent diamonds are small, their inclusions can hardly be seen with the naked eye.
Colour of accent diamonds is usually in the Near Colourless grade. Still, these stones are good enough to not make the setting and the centre stone appear yellowish.
How to Buy Diamond Accents
Oftentimes, jewellers do not spend much time discussing accent diamonds with their customers. That’s why make sure to ask about accents’ quality characteristics.
If the stones are bigger, look at them using a loupe. Make sure they are not damaged and do not have visible inclusions that can spoil the appearance of the jewellery piece. As a general rule, opt for SI clarity if the stones are around 0.10 carats or bigger.
If you don’t want a setting where you could see darker and lighter spots, check if the colour and clarity of the stones are consistent throughout.
Generally, the colour grade of the accent diamonds should not differ dramatically from that of the centre stone. The contrast will be always visible and not nice to look at. For example, if the centre diamond is graded G or H or higher, the diamond accents should not have a colour grade lower than H.
