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Home > JEWELRY INFORMATION > DIAMOND INFORMATION

DIAMONDS ARE THE HARDEST NATURAL SUBSTANCE KNOWN TO MAN.

FORMED OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS, EVERY DIAMOND IN THE WORLD IS UNIQUE.

Buying a diamond should be based on the right knowledge, as they come in many qualities.

The four C’s are used worldwide to describe the quality of diamonds. They are:

COLORCLARITYCARAT WEIGHTCUT

The interrelationships of these characteristics greatly affects the value. The rarest and most valuable diamonds are the clearest and purest of color. Other factors that determine a diamond’s quality and value are its symmetry and cut proportions. Learning as much as possible about the differences in quality and value will help you choose the right diamond.

COLOR

Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow – some of which are more expensive than the others.

With the exception of blue, pink and red diamonds (which are in the “fancy colors” category of diamonds), “colorless” diamonds are the most valuable. As mentioned before, the diamond’s beauty lies in the fact that it acts as a prism. But the presence of color seriously limits the diamond’s ability to act as one, thus, the less color the better.

The Gemological Institute of America created an alphabetical grading scale for the degree of color in a “colorless” diamond. The scale goes from “D” (least amount of color) to “Z” (yellow color). Anything over a “Z” rating falls into the “fancy colors” category.




CLARITY

Again, you want a clear diamond to allow the light to pass through the diamond with the least amount of obstructions. Besides color, another obstruction would be interior and exterior inclusions (also known as carbon spots or flaws), minute traces of mineral trapped in a diamond during the crystallization process. Clarity refers to the number, colour, size and position of these inclusions. The purest diamonds are graded as “Flawless”.

Clarity of Diamond: from FL to IF (Flawless to Internally Flawless), WS1 to WS2 (Very Very Small Inclusions), VS1 to VS2 (Very Small Inclusions), SI1 to SI2 (Small Inclusions), I1 to I2 (Inclusions Visible To The Naked Eye)



CARAT WEIGHT

Diamonds are measured in terms of weight, not size. One carat is equal to 100 points. Two diamonds of equal weight can have very different values, because the quality is still determined by the color, clarity and cut.

Diamond Carat Weight : 0.25 ct, 0.50 ct, 1.00 ct, 1.25 ct, 1.50 ct, 1.75 ct, 2.00 ct, 2.50 ct, 3.00 ct



CUT

Cut is the only diamond characteristic directly influenced by man. The artistry and technical knowledge the master cutter applies while placing the facets on the diamond greatly affect the value. If the stone is too deep, light is lost through the sides, if too shallow light is lost through the bottom facets. So the better a diamond is cut, the more sparkle it will have.

The shape of a diamond is a personal choice and does not materially effect its value.

Here are seven of the most popular diamond cuts:

Diamond Cut: Brilliant Cut, Princess Cut, Oval Shape, Marquise Cut, Heart Shape, Emerald Cut, Pear Shape


Source: D. Blackman