If you’ve heard about the Leo Diamond but don’t know what exactly this stone is, or if you’re looking to buy a Leo Diamond, read on. This article will give you some information about the characteristics of the Leo Diamond, as well as provide advice on how to go about selecting such a stone.
What Is a Leo Diamond?
The Leo Diamond is a brand under which diamond jewelry manufacturer Leo Schachter & Company sells its unique diamonds.
What makes Leo Diamonds remarkable is their cut, which was developed by Leo Schachter to enhance the brightness of polished stones.
Leo Diamonds are offered around the world through distributors authorized by Leo Schachter & Co.
Characteristics of the Leo Diamond
The most important characteristic of the Leo Diamond is its cut, as it is what makes this stone stand out from other diamonds.
Color and clarity are also major diamond quality characteristics, and they are greatly affected by the way a stone is cut.
The Cut of the Leo Diamond
As already mentioned, the most distinctive feature of Leo Diamonds is their trademark cut. The Leo Diamond is a round stone with 66 facets, whereas the classic round cut has 58 or 57 facets.
According to Leo Schachter, the arrangement of the Leo Diamond’s facets results in superior brilliance due to the greater light return achieved (also referred to as “return of light”).
Simply put, light return is the amount of light that enters the stone and is reflected by its facets back to the eye of the observer.
Depending on how a diamond’s facets are arranged, the return of light can be enhanced or diminished. In general, the more light a stone returns, the higher its brilliance.
According to Leo Schachter, the superior return of light of the Leo Diamond has been confirmed by independent gemology experts, who have inspected the light reflection properties of this stone’s cut.
How Diamond Cut Affects Color and Clarity
A diamond with a cut that enhances its sparkle not only results in a stone that is nicer to look at, but can also mask the yellow tints in diamonds with a lower color grade – the increased brilliance makes these imperfections less visible.
Another benefit of higher brilliance is that it can also hide some internal flaws that would otherwise be easily visible.
This is especially noticeable in lower-clarity stones that have inclusions visible with the naked eye – a better cut and greater brilliance can make a huge difference in the appearance of such a diamond.
So, when deciding on buying a diamond with a certain level of cut quality, consider how the resulting brilliance will affect the stone’s visible color and clarity.
Buying a Leo Diamond
When shopping for a Leo Diamond, you first have to make sure that you buy it from an authorized dealer.
Then you need to decide on the desired quality grade of the stone, while not forgetting to verify its origin.
Finally, you also need to decide in what setting your Leo Diamond will be mounted depending on the stone’s quality characteristics.
Finding an Authorized Leo Diamond Distributor
The Leo Diamond is sold by vendors that are authorized by Leo Schachter to act as distributors.
You can search on the internet for a seller that is nearest to you, or you can go to Leo Schachter’s website and find a distributor in the company’s database of authorized retailers.
Selecting the Quality of the Diamond
After you’ve found an authorized distributor, it’s time to select the actual diamond that best suits your needs.
This means that you should decide on a grade, or a grading range, for each of the four most important quality characteristics of the diamond: cut, color, clarity, and carat.
In general, a better cut results in higher brilliance, which can mask flaws and color tints in the diamond to a certain extent.
Therefore, a cut of a higher grade can allow you to save some money on color and clarity and go with lower grades on these characteristics.
Whatever the cut grade selected, it is best to make sure that the diamond has no visible yellow tints or flaws readily noticeable with the naked eye.
The carat weight of the stone is up to you, but don’t forget that imperfections in bigger diamonds will be more noticeable because of the size of the stone. So, take this factor into account when deciding on color, clarity, and cut.
Diamond Identification and Certification
It is important to know how to verify the authenticity of a Leo Diamond.
Apart from making sure that you are purchasing the stone from an authorized distributor, you should also ask for the diamond’s certificate, which should verify that the stone is a Leo Diamond and contain a diamond identification number.
If you are buying the diamond on the internet, you will likely be able to see the certificate online.
This document, also called a grading report, contains all important information about a stone’s quality characteristics as evaluated by a third-party gemological laboratory.
Having such a report is important as it provides independent verification of the quality of the diamond.
A real Leo Diamond will also have a unique ID number laser-inscribed on it (also referred to as “Leo ID”), which serves as an additional means of identification and proof of authenticity.
This microscopic inscription should match the ID included in the stone’s certificate. The ID can also be used to trace the stone on Leo Schachter’s website.
Selecting the Setting
Choosing the most appropriate setting for your Leo Diamond should be done with the stone’s quality characteristics in mind.
If the diamond is colorless or nearly colorless, platinum or white gold is a good choice, as such a setting will not add color reflections to the stone as yellow gold would.
If your diamond has a slightly visible tint, a yellow gold setting could be a good choice, as it would absorb the yellow color of the stone; white metals would make such tints stand out more.
As for durability, platinum is one of the most popular setting choices for jewelry that needs to last long.
White gold is relatively less durable but is more affordable.
Yellow gold is much softer compared with platinum and white gold, and wears out more quickly than these two materials.
Where to Buy Diamond Jewelry?
We recommend James Allen (read review) because you can see a 360-degree video for any diamond before buying it.
Blue Nile is another reputable diamond retailer we recommend.