COLOR & CLARITY How much leeway do I have when choosing the color and clarity of the diamonds in my wedding band?
With regards to color and clarity, many buyers think the diamonds in their wedding band have to exactly match the center stone in their engagement ring. This is not necessarily the case. In general, the diamonds used in wedding bands are small – under 0.15ct apiece. Therefore, unlike the diamond in your engagement ring, the diamonds in the wedding band are not certified by any gemological laboratory. In fact, stones this small – called ‘melee’ – are bought and sold in packages of 15, 20 or 30 stones called parcels. Like single diamonds, these parcels are bought and sold based on color and clarity, but whereas single stones have one color and one clarity grade, parcels are graded on a range. For example, a parcel might be F-G color and VVS-VS clarity. With that in mind, one can understand why an exact match is not only unnecessary but unrealistic. However, this does not mean that any stones are acceptable – quite the contrary. For example, if the engagement ring has a diamond that is F
