A real diamond, grown with intention
Every diamond in the Bruce & Walsh collection is lab-created using Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD). Inside a sealed chamber, a carbon-rich gas is energised so that carbon atoms settle, layer by layer, on a thin diamond seed — growing a diamond crystal over several weeks. The result is chemically, physically and optically a diamond.
Lab-grown vs. mined
| Lab-grown (CVD) | Mined | |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Pure crystallised carbon | Pure crystallised carbon |
| Hardness | 10 on the Mohs scale | 10 on the Mohs scale |
| Sparkle & fire | Identical | Identical |
| Origin | Grown above ground, traceable | Mined from the earth |
| Value | Larger, finer stones for the same budget | Priced on rarity |
Cut
Cut is how the stone is faceted, and it decides how much light comes back to the eye. A fine colour and a high clarity still look flat if the cut is poor — a thick girdle, a shallow pavilion, a facet that leaks light instead of returning it. Polish is the smoothness of those facets. Symmetry is whether they line up with one another. We treat both as part of the cut. A diamond that does not sparkle in daylight is not finished, however high the other grades sit.
Colour
On a white diamond, colour means the absence of colour. The scale runs from D, colourless, toward Z, which shows a light yellow or brown. D, E and F are the colourless range. The white diamonds in this collection are D–E.
Fancy colour is the opposite intention: the hue is the point. Fancy Vivid is the most saturated grade, Fancy Intense the step below it. Our green, yellow and pink stones are chosen at those grades, not inherited from whatever the parcel happened to hold.
Clarity
Clarity is what sits inside the stone, and what marks the surface. Laboratories grade it from Flawless (FL) and Internally Flawless (IF), through VVS1 and VVS2, VS1 and VS2, SI1 and SI2, then I1 to I3.
Eye-clean means you cannot see an inclusion without magnification. Across a table, a VVS diamond and a carefully chosen VS diamond can look the same. An SI or I clarity grade often cannot. We do not set a white diamond that fails that test. Accent diamonds in the collection are D–E colour and VVS clarity. Each centre stone is written out on its own line.
Carat
Carat is weight. One carat is a fifth of a gram. It is not a measurement of how wide the stone faces up. Two diamonds of the same carat weight can look different in size if one is cut deep and the other is spread. The specification gives the weight. Ask us for the measurements if you want the size you will actually see on the hand.
Shape
Shape is the outline, and it changes both the look and the way light moves. We set round, oval, pear, heart, emerald, marquise, radiant and cushion, with trillion and half-moon stones beside a centre when the design calls for them. Round returns the most light. The others trade a little of that fire for a silhouette. Browse the collection by shape.
Fluorescence
Some diamonds glow when ultraviolet light hits them — strong daylight, or certain lamps. The strength runs None, Faint, Medium, Strong, Very Strong. A mild blue glow can make a slightly lower colour look a touch whiter. A strong glow can do the opposite and turn the stone milky, so the sparkle goes dull. We would rather a diamond with no fluorescence than one that hazes in the sun. If a stone’s fluorescence is worth knowing, it is part of the conversation before you buy.
Metal
The diamond is only half the purchase. Every piece is solid gold, in yellow, white or rose. The purity and the gold weight are listed with the stones. So is the design code. A claw has to hold for decades, and the inside of a band — the part nobody photographs — is where you can tell the setting was made properly.
How to read a specification
A line such as “DVVS2 Oval – 1 pc – 2.07 ct” means one oval diamond of D colour and VVS2 clarity weighing 2.07 carats. “D-E VVS – 60 pcs – 0.72 ct” describes sixty small accent diamonds of D–E colour and VVS clarity with a combined weight of 0.72 carats. Under those lines you will also find the total stone weight, the gold purity, the gold colour and the gold weight in grams.
Where to start
If you hold only three things in mind, hold these: the size you can see, the colour you want — colourless white, or a fancy hue — and whether the stone sparkles in daylight. Clarity matters the moment a diamond is no longer eye-clean. Bring us a design code, a photograph or a budget and we will walk through the specification with you. Shop the collection, or book a visit.