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Carat Weight

Carat represents the weight of a diamond. One carat equals 200 milligrams.

Carat weight of a diamond influences the price greatly. As the carat weight increases, the price goes up exponentially. A one carat diamond costs nearly four times more than four 0.25 carat diamonds.

Do not confuse carat weight of a single diamond with total carat weight of multiple diamonds in a piece of jewelry. Carat weight of multiple diamonds is often referred to “carat total weight” or “total carat weight”.

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Clarity

Clarity grade is based on number of inclusions, position of inclusions, color of inclusions and the visibility of inclusions from the table side. The standard practice is to use a 10x loupe (a magnifying glass) to view the inclusions in a diamond.

Based on the inclusions identified by a gemologist, a diamond grade is assigned to one of the following categories: FL (Flawless), IF (Internally Flawless), VVS1 and VVS2 (Very Very Slightly Included), VS1 and VS2 (Very Slightly Included), SI1 and SI2 (Slightly Included) and I1, I2 and I3 (Included).

In practice, clarity of a diamond is graded manually by gemologists following a set of rules related to location of an inclusion, its size and so on. There can be differences in clarity grade on the same stone. Reason being, it is very difficult to consistently see pin points, clear inclusions as well as know their size and location. Yet, the difference of a single clarity grade can affect the value of a diamond by hundreds of dollars.

Licha’s approach to Clarity Grading

At Licha Diamonds, we use ImaGem’s objective technology for grading clarity in diamonds. ImaGem’s clarity grading machine measures and maps inclusions based on their actual location in a diamond. A trained gemologist then reviews the grading to confirm the grade.

Consumers need to be aware that very small inclusions in diamonds, as is the case with Flawless to VS2 diamonds, are difficult to see with the naked eye. So if you are buying a diamond for its beauty and value, or for investment, you may want to consider a diamond with better light behavior. For example, the Clarity grades of the diamonds below are significantly different, but because the light behavior is Excellent+, they all look beautiful.

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AND LICHA DIAMONDS WAS BORN!

Licha Diamonds was founded by Dr. Lalit K Aggarwal, Chairman and Founder of ImaGem Inc., a pioneer in objective diamond grading technology in February 2014. Even though Licha Diamonds was officially incorporated in 2014, its inception was anticipated many years back.

Most of you from the diamond industry are familiar with ImaGem and to those of you we are meeting for the very first time, a big warm hello! We are thrilled you stopped by!

So here’s how it all started….

Back in 1985, Dr. Lalit K. Aggarwal, a tenured University professor and Scientist by training, was sitting in his car, waiting at a traffic light. A raindrop fell on the windscreen and he saw the street light breaking into a myriad of colors. That’s when he came upon the idea of Image Statistics and eventually applied that to solve the color grading challenge faced by the diamond industry.

And ImaGem was born in February 1998!

In 1999, ImaGem Inc. received funding from the renowned Ben Franklin Technology Partners of South Eastern Pennsylvania, Tiffany & Company and private investors. Diamond grading technology was developed over a period of 5 years, patented in major markets in the world.

Over the next 10+ years, ImaGem successfully developed and commercialized its technology for scientific and objective grading of diamonds. In particular, ImaGem set objective standards for grading color, clarity, light behavior, fluorescence and proportions. We also figured out how to cut diamonds wisely – so they could be sparkly and reduce wastage of rough diamond material. We set up ImaGem Gem Grading Center in Surat, India and Precision Gem Grading Laboratory in Ardmore, PA to provide services to the trade and consumers.

Life was good but the team was still looking for excitement and a way to share its learnings with the end consumer. Enter Licha Diamonds!

With Licha Diamonds, we could make our dreams a reality! We could finally bring well cut beautiful diamonds using light behavior technology, supported with objective and accurate grading to you – at an excellent price!

So that’s how Licha Diamonds was born – yes, we have been around for 2 years in the real world, 20 years in our vision!