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Melee Diamonds: All You Need to Know

By GDC Team | 15 Nov 2024 |

Table of Contents

What are melee diamonds?

You may have often seen small diamonds surrounding a big diamond in an engagement ring, diamond pendant, or earrings. Well, these tiny diamonds are called melee diamonds.

Lab grown melee diamonds are available in a range of colors, cuts, clarity, and carat weight. In this blog, we will tell you all about melee diamonds.

Read on!

What are melee diamonds?

Melee diamonds are small diamonds, often used around a large central diamond in jewelry pieces. Melee diamonds enhance and accentuate center diamonds. For instance, you might have seen small round cut diamonds all around a large diamond in a diamond engagement ring – these are melee diamonds.

Why are melee diamonds so important?

Even though melee diamonds are tiny and small, they add a lot to the center diamond and the jewelry piece on the whole. And that’s why they matter a lot. Here are a few reasons why melee diamonds are so important.

Lab grown melee diamonds enhance the jewelry design. Imagine if there were no melee diamonds, complex and elaborate designs that require big and small diamonds would not have been possible.
Melee diamonds add sparkle to the jewelry piece, whether it is a lab grown diamond engagement ring or a pendant. These small diamonds sparkle when they interact with different types of lights and reflect it in different angles.
Melee diamonds are small, but one of their most important roles is to make the center diamond look bigger than it actually is. The visual impact of melee diamonds is much more than its size.

What is the carat weight/size of melee diamonds?

According to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), melee diamonds are less than 0.2 carats. Melee diamonds can be as small as 0.001 carats. Melee diamonds are small in size and carat weight.

Types of melee diamond cuts

There are two types of melee diamond cuts – single cut and full cut. Melee diamonds are available in both mined and lab produced diamonds. Let’s look at the two types of melee diamonds.

Single cut: This type of melee diamond cut has a round girdle outline, 17 or 18 facets, a table, eight crown facets, eight pavilion facets, and rarely, a culet.
Full cut: The full cut melee diamonds have a round brilliant cut with 57 or 58 facets, 32 crown facets, 24 pavilion facets, a table, and a culet.

Melee lab grown diamonds

Whereas earlier only mined melee diamonds were available, today, melee manufactured diamonds are easily available. There are many lab grown diamond manufacturing brands that offer a variety of melee diamonds.

Ring settings for melee diamonds

There are different types of ring settings suitable for melee diamonds. Let’s explore some of them here:

Halo setting: Halo setting for lab manufactured melee diamonds is one of the most common settings — a center diamond encircled by melee diamonds. It adds a sparkle to the ring while driving attention to the center diamond and makes it appear larger.
Pave setting: This is a beat setting that forms an interlocking honeycomb pattern. It adds drama to the design, gives it a sparkle, and it is often used in engagement rings and other jewelry pieces that have complex designs.
Geometric setting: Melee diamonds are also used in geometric designs as they are small in size. Melee diamonds lend sparkle and make the center diamond look more attractive.

Tips to buy the best lab grown melee diamonds

Even though melee diamonds are small, they should have good cut, clarity, carat, and color; otherwise, it may affect the appeal of the center lab produced diamond.
Choose from the most popular cuts and shapes of melee diamonds: heart, round, oval, and trillion laboratory melee diamonds, as these shapes accentuate the jewelry piece and center diamond.
Single cut melee diamonds do not have the same visual effect as full cut melee diamonds, hence, depending on the budget, choose between single and full cut melee diamonds.
Buy melee diamonds directly from lab grown diamond manufacturing brands like Grown Diamond Corporation, as it is easy, cost effective, and gives quality assurance.
A grading report is usually not available for melee diamonds. However, you must buy your center diamonds with a grading report, whether they are lab grown diamonds or not.

Summing up

Grown Diamond Corporation is one of the most preferred choices to buy lab grown diamonds for retailers, wholesalers, jewelry designers, individual diamond connoisseurs, and jewelry brands. If you’re looking to buy melee diamonds for your jewelry pieces, head to Grown Diamond Corporation to select melee diamonds from a wide range of colors, cuts, carats, and clarity.