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Cheshire’s – originality and pure craftsmanship

Our philosophy is simple: Offer high-quality diamonds and fine jewellery at outstanding prices. At Cheshire’s, you'll find the education and guidance that make shopping easy and straightforward, so you'll make the best purchase decision. And we ensure that your gift will be something she'll love — forever.

We have the best value

Our standards of quality ensure that when you come to Cheshire’s, you've already edited your selection to the finest certified diamond rings and jewellery. We're confident you won't find a better quality diamond or piece of jewellery for the price.

We are experts

Cheshire’s head office is in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, UK. We deal both within the jewellery trade and through our retail outlets in the prestigious Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull and in the Grosvenor Arcade, Chester. All our jewellery is individually designed and manufactured using the finest materials and craftsmen in the trade.

We cover all the risks

Your purchase is secure, whether by phone or online. Every order is shipped free and insured to your destination. Our 14 day return policy gives you time to consider your purchase. You can return it any time within 14 days for a full refund.

We make it easy

Go at your own pace online with our Product Education, or get help one-on-one by speaking to one of our experts by phone. Once you decide, you can purchase with just a few clicks, and most of our items can be shipped the next business day.

Our diamond and jewellery consultants are ready to answer any questions, and help you find the perfect diamond or gift of fine jewellery. We encourage you to call or e-mail.

More information

Telephone us: +44 (0)121 709 2700

Cheshire’s is a private limited company based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. For 15 years Cheshire’s has manufactured and supplied high quality diamond and gemstone rings and jewellery to the jewellery trade throughout the UK.

In 2001, Cheshire’s opened our only retail outlet in the prestigious Touchwood Shopping Centre in Solihull, West Midlands.

Managing Director Sam Cheshire has over 20 years experience in the jewellery business, and prior to founding Cheshire’s spent a number of years in the jewellery industry in Hatton Garden.

What do we do?

Originality and pure craftsmanship are our watchwords.

We select diamonds and gemstones from around the world to provide the finest stones for our customers.

We design individual pieces of jewellery that complement and enhance individual stones and use the finest gold, and platinum to produce unique pieces.

Many of our rings and other pieces are hand made by the finest craftsmen in the Jewellery Quarter.

As well as the items shown on this website, and on display in our Touchwood store, we are able to undertake specific commissions for any item of jewellery and supply loose diamonds of any quality, size and cut.

Where are we?

Head Office:

Tel: 0121 523 1124
Fax: 0121 523 1222

Touchwood Store:

Chester Store:

E-mail:

Over the years, diamond professionals have developed standards for comparing and evaluating these precious stones. These standards are better known as the 4 C's: Colour, Clarity, Cut, and Carat weight

Together the 4 C's affect the appearance and value of the diamond. No other gemstone is judged so strictly. A diamond's value is influenced by its rarity. Even the slightest differences can make a huge difference in value.

Colour

Learn about the colour range from D-Z and how it's colour that makes a diamond sparkle.

Clarity

Do you get more for your money when you buy a flawless diamond? Cut Possibly the most overlooked of all the C's - cut is the one property most directly influenced by man.

Carat

See how a diamond's weight affects its value.

Colour

Colour is a decisive aspect when judging the beauty of a diamond. The whiter and more colourless the diamond, the greater its rarity and value. Generally speaking, it is the colour that gives a diamond its sparkle.

The more colourless the diamond, the more brilliantly it will sparkle. Diamonds are graded on a colour scale, which was set-up, by the Gemmological Institute of America (GIA).

This scale ranges from D (colourless) to Z. The price difference between two adjacent colour grades can be significant. Many diamonds may appear colourless to the untrained eye but on closer inspection will almost certainly contain very slight traces of brown, yellow or grey. Coloured diamonds are also found and can include blues, pinks, greens, browns, oranges and very rarely, reds.

Cut

It is the cut of a diamond, above all other properties that will determine the stone's fire and brilliance. Through manipulation of a stone's facets, a diamond cutter can enhance a diamond's natural ability to reflect and refract light.

When light enters a well cut diamond, it is reflected from one facet to another and then dispersed through the top of the stone. Each facet acts as a light dispersing mirror and it is this light that when reflected out of the stone, gives a diamond its sparkle.

If the cut of the diamond is too deep, some light will escape through the opposite sides of the pavillion and the stone will be less radiant. Likewise, if the cut is too shallow, some light will escape through the pavillion before it can be reflected. See diagram below

As well as referring to the quality of craftsmanship of a diamond, cut also refers to a diamond's shape.
Diamonds can be cut in many different shapes and will all handle light differently. The longer shapes tend to have a slight 'bow tie' effect. This means they have a small zone in the centre where light leaks out of the bottom of the stone. This creates a darker area in the shape of a bow tie. This is especially true for the Pear, Oval, Marquise, and Heart shapes.

The Round Brilliant Ideal Cut will provide the maximum fire and brilliance due to the positions and angles of its facets. It will reflect the most light will therefore provide the most sparkle.

Ideal cut diamonds command a slight premium due to a number of reasons.

(1) the extra care and skill needed during cutting
(2) more of the rough is usually cut away
(3) they are scarce and in high demand.

The Round Brilliant Ideal Cut will provide the maximum fire and brilliance due to the positions and angles of its facets. It will reflect the most light will therefore provide the most sparkle.

Ideal cut diamonds command a slight premium due to a number of reasons:
(1) the extra care and skill needed during cutting
(2) more of the rough is usually cut away
(3) they are scarce and in high demand.

The different diamond shapes are shown below:

Carat

The weight of a diamond is expressed in 'carats'. One carat is equivalent to 0.2 grams.
Within the trade, one carat is divided into one hundred units called points; a stone weighing 0.64 carats would be referred to as a '64 pointer'.

It is vitally important to take into account all four C's when choosing your diamond. Larger doesn't necessarily mean better. A large stone will not be very valuable if it is cut badly or is of a low grade colour.

However, for a given quality of diamond, the price will rise exponentially as the stone gets larger. For example, a 4 carat stone is worth far more that double that of a 2 carat stone of the same quality.

This exponential increase is for the simple reason that larger the stone gets, the harder it is to find

Clarity

Clarity refers to the relative purity of a diamond. Almost all diamonds will contain a certain amount of impurities, either internally in the form of inclusions, or on the surface of the stone in the form of blemishes, i.e., small scratches or nicks.

Diamonds with no surface blemishes or internal flaws are referred to as flawless (FL) and command a very high price. Truly flawless diamonds are extremely rare and almost every stone will contain some kind of small inclusion.

Inclusions can be helpful in a number of ways. They provide a unique 'fingerprint' and will allow anyone who is familiar with a particular stone to immediately distinguish it from any other.

The amount of inclusions present in a stone will start to have a negative affect on the brilliance of a diamond when you get towards the lower end of the clarity scale. Surface blemishes and internal flaws affect how light travels through a diamond and will therefore directly affect how much it sparkles.

The diagram below shows shows an illustration of the qualities of diamonds:

GIA Clarity Scale

(FL) Flawless
Shows no inclusions or blemishes of any sort under 10X magnification when observed by an experienced grader.

(IF) Internally Flawless
Has no inclusions when examined by an experienced grader using 10X magnification, but will have some minor blemishes.

(VVS1 and VVS2) Very Very Slightly Included
Contains minute inclusions that are difficult even for experienced graders to see under 10X magnification.

(VS1 and VS2) Very Slightly Included
Contains minute inclusions such as small crystals, clouds, or feathers when observed with effort under 10X magnification.

(SI1 and SI2) Slightly Included
Contains inclusions (clouds, included crystals, knots, cavities, and feathers) that are noticeable to an experienced grader under 10X magnification.

(I1, I2, I3) Included
Contains inclusions (possibly large feathers or large included crystals) that are obvious under 10X magnification and may affect transparency and brilliance.