While diamond rings are a beautiful gift, not everyone can afford them. Also, when buying for a girlfriend, you may want to keep the diamond ring for when you get down on one knee, and prefer to buy her diamonds in another form instead. Diamonds are still a girls best friend, no matter what jewellery they are incorporated into.

Diamond pendants make lovely Christmas, birthday or Valentines gifts. If your daughter is celebrating her 18th or 21st birthday, or you want a special gift for a wife or girlfriend, then we have some beautiful necklaces here at Marlows. Giving your loved one a diamond pendant means that she can wear it close to her heart all day, every day. Pendants are also seen and admired by others, because they are clearly visible and catch the eye. She will no doubt receive many compliments on the beautiful diamond pendant you have bought her.

When you come to choose the design for the pendant itself, first decide on what range your budget is. While all our diamonds are beautiful and high quality, its combination of the four Cs will determine the exact quality of the stone, and consequently affect its price tag too. The four Cs are carat, clarity, colour and cut, and each affect the stone in different ways.

What most women are looking for from a diamond is that it sparkles in the light. This is called its brilliance and a stone is more brilliant depending on how it has been cut. If a stone is cut too deep or too shallow, the light will not bounce around its inner facets in the same way and will then be lost through the sides or bottom, rather than through the top, making it sparkle less. If you have to compromise in one area of the diamond because of financial restrictions, then try not to make it in this area, but instead opt for a diamond of lesser carat weight. When it comes to buying a pendant, most women would to have a lighter stone anyway, because it will be less bulky and heavy around their neck. Many of our diamond pendants are customisable, so you can choose not only the metal type (usually an 18ct yellow or white gold chain) but also the carat weight of the stone. Obviously, increasing the carat weight will also increase the price, so again think carefully about how much you have to spend before you start shopping.

Whenever you buy any diamond product, you should always make sure that the stone has been certificated by a reputable and internationally-recognised independent laboratory. This certification confirms that the stone is in fact a natural diamond, but will also provide you with detail on its four Cs, as well as its measurements and value. When buying a diamond necklace, or any other diamond jewellery, from us here at Marlows you can rest assured that it will be certificated by either the GIA (Gemmological Institute of America) or the IGI (International Gemmological Institute).