Are you considering a salt and pepper diamond?
We LOVE salt and pepper diamonds. Salt and pepper diamonds are beauties of their own kind.
Read on to see if they are the diamond for you. ✨
What are Salt and Pepper Diamonds?
Salt and pepper diamonds are unique, natural diamonds. They have inclusions in them (which are natural color markings in a diamond) that not only add an extra flare to their complexion, but make every salt and pepper diamond one of a kind. Salt and pepper diamonds are perfect for the girl who wants something different and edgy... for the girl that wants her personality to stand out!
Salt and pepper diamonds are not graded by the 4 C's or GIA certified. Because they are so unique, we have different ways of identifying them and a lot of it is based on how they look visually. We also have an entire different language as to how we talk about salt and pepper diamonds as compared to a brilliant white. Read on to learn about how we describe salt and pepper diamonds!
Color
Every salt and pepper diamond has a its own coloring, radiating either red, yellow, green or purple. Typically, tho, they will all be some kind of gray with these colors as an undertone.
The color names you will see in a salt and pepper diamond are: salt and pepper, white, grey, fancy grey, champagne, rustic, green, galaxy, milky white, icy white, light gray or silver, medium gray and black. If you have an idea what kind of color you'd like your salt and pepper diamond to be, we will help you find it!
Clarity
Since salt and pepper diamonds are not graded, we refer to their clarity in terms of translucency and the amount of inclusions they have. A salt and pepper diamond ranges from completely opaque to slightly translucent to highly translucent. Highly translucent salt and peppers will be more white. The more translucent the diamond is, the more you can see its inclusions, and thus, the more the diamond will look like a painting from their visible and unique inclusion markings.
Inclusions are the natural color markings in a diamond. Some inclusions look speckled like a robin’s egg, some look like long feathers similar to creases in a rock; others are “ink splats” and then some look like windows inside a diamond. Inclusions are apart of the uniqueness of a salt and pepper diamond. We believe that the more inclusions there are, the more character a salt and pepper diamond has!
Typically when considering white diamonds, you will prioritize a diamond with a high clarity grading so you won't see any of the inclusions, but in salt and pepper diamonds, you do want to see them! Who knew that the saying “beauty in the eye of the beholder” absolutely applies to the diamond world too?! Seeing inclusions, or not seeing them, is up to the personal preference of the diamond wearer.
Cut & Carat
A salt and pepper diamond is typically cut in a rose cut. A rose cut means that the diamond has a flat bottom and is domed and all faceting is on the top.
Why is this good for you?
Rose cuts face up large on your hand so these diamonds will be more "spready" on your finger. Instead of the carat weight being used to help shape the bottom, most of the carat weight is on top, allowing you to get a smaller carat weight that still has a large visual size. Also, rose cuts are more shallow diamonds so they are great for low profile settings.
This does not happen as often, but you do see full cut (or brilliant cut) salt and pepper diamonds as well. However, even though they are known as a brilliant cut, this type of cutting does not produce the same brilliant factor in a salt and pepper diamond due to the natural inclusions. Rose cut's have more faceting on the surface and so they will produce a more brilliant salt and pepper diamond.
Most Popular Salt and Pepper Diamond Shapes
The most popular shapes are: oval, hexagon, elongated hexagon, round, pear, kite and marquise. We have salt and pepper diamond rings in each of these shapes on our site! Click here to see these extraordinary beauties!
So... what do you think?! Are salt and pepper diamonds the ones for YOU?!