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THE 4 C'S
OF
DIAMONDS
ARE CUT,
COLOR,
CLARITY
AND CARAT
WEIGHT
Cut
A good cut enables a diamond
to make the best use of light. A fully cut diamond has 58 facets, which
are small, flat, polished surfaces cut into a diamond. When a diamond is
in proper proportion, light is reflected from one facet to another and
then dispersed through the top of the stone. Diamonds that are cut too
deep or too shallow allow light to escape before reflecting through the
top of the stone.
Cut to Quality
Proportion |
Cut to Shallow
Proportion |
Cut to Deep
Proportion |
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Color
A diamond is the only stone in which the absence of color makes the stone
more valuable. A colorless diamond acts as a prism to form a rainbow of
colors, commonly called “fire”. The scale below shows the color range from
colorless to a degree of yellow tint. Visible differences between one
grade of color and the next grade are very subtle.
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| D E F |
G H I J |
K L M N |
O P Q R |
S T U V
W X Y Z |
|
Colorless |
Near
Colorless |
Faint Yellow |
Very
Light Yellow |
Light Yellow |
Clarity
Most diamonds contain inclusions. Inclusions are natural birthmarks and
considered nature’s fingerprints on the diamond. A diamond’s clarity is
determined under 10 power magnification by a trained eye, taking into
account the number, size, type, and location of the inclusions. The fewer
the inclusions in a diamond, the more valuable it is.
| FL |
Flawless (extremely rare) |
| IF |
Internally Flawless (rare) |
| VVS1-VVS2 |
Very, very slightly included.
Difficult to spot imperfections under 10 power. |
| VS1-VS2 |
Very slightly included.
Inclusions visible under 10 power. |
| SI1 |
Slight inclusions which do not
affect the diamond's durability and are visible under 10 power. |
| SI2 |
Slight inclusions which do not
affect the diamond's durability. Some inclusions may be visible to
the unaided eye. |
| I1 |
Inclusions visible to the
unaided eye. |
| I2 |
Inclusions obvious to the
unaided eye. |
| I3 |
Inclusions dominate the stone. |
Carat Weight
Diamonds can be found in all shapes and sizes. The size of a diamond is
determined by its weight in carats. A carat is divided into 100 points, so
a diamond of 75 points is .75 carat or ¾ of a carat. Larger diamonds are
more rare, and command a higher price. While size is an obvious factor in
determining the value of a diamond, bigger is not necessarily better, all 4
C’s should be considered.
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