Diamond Education

Diamonds come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. But there's more to it than just that. We all know about the 4 C's - Color, Clarity, Cut and Carat Weight. Read on to find out what us pro's do.

Every diamond is unique, regardless of whether it is mined from the earth or grown in a lab. Even though there are perfect diamonds, most diamonds found in engagement rings and fine jewelry are "imperfect". Diamonds are a personal choice based on how big, how perfect, and how much you value them. Selecting the perfect diamond also involves choosing the diamond cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. Get to know the 4Cs of Diamonds to make an informed buying decision.

Diamond cut

The term cut refers to the geometric proportions of a gemstone. The cut of a gemstone is one of the most important factors in determining how much sparkle a gemstone produces. Once the diamond’s shape has been determined, facets are cut. Each facet refracts light like a prism to produce the stone’s fire and brilliance. Diamonds are cut to reflect as much light as possible. The ideally cut diamond possesses good symmetry. Of course, diamonds must also have excellent polish and high luster.

Here is the diamond cut grading scale:

Ideal
Premium
Very Good
Good
Fair & Poor

Diamond Color

A diamond’s color acutally refers to it’s lack of color. Each letter on the scale represents a narrow color range, not a specific point.

D - F grades are colorless. The differences between these grades are very slight.

G - J grades are near-colorless. They have slight traces of color that aren't noticeable to untrained eyes.

K - M grades are faint yellow. When mounted, small stones look almost colorless, but large stones show a hint of yellow.

N - R grades are very light yellow. They appear very light yellow even when they are mounted in jewelry.

S - Z grades are light yellow. They show substantial color face-up or face-down, loose or mounted.

Diamond clarity

Diamonds are rated according to their clarity or the size and color of flaws, or inclusions.

Flawless and nearly flawless diamonds, with a clarity grade between FL and VVS2, are considered particularly rare and are, consequently, expensive.

Inclusions can hinder how the diamond reflects light, reducing the brilliance and prismatic effect of color in a diamond. VVS and VS grades have tiny inclusions that may be seen only by a trained professional under magnification of ten times the actual size.

An SI clarity implies that the diamond contains inclusions but it is still clean to the human eye.

I1-I3 diamonds contain inclusions that may include larger clouds or feathers. They may be visible to the unaided eye, and may exhibit lower brilliance and transparency.

Diamond carat

A carat is a unit of weight used in the diamond trade that equals 200 milligrams or 1/5th a gram.

It is important to note that carat refers to a unit of weight and not a measurement of size. This means that two diamonds of the same carat weight may have different measurements.

Larger diamonds are rarer and thus more expensive per carat than their smaller counterparts.

Therefore, a 4-carat diamond might be 10 times the price per carat of a comparable half carat diamond.

When selecting the best carat weight, it is best to take into consideration your partner’s taste, style, finger size, and the type of band or setting.

Beyond the 4Cs

Diamond shape

You can think of your diamond's shape as its outline. It's the physical and visual form of the stone.

Diamond shapes possess different qualities that influence their sparkle and appearance.

A diamond's shape is frequently one of the first attributes that couples consider when shopping.

Despite the popularity of round diamonds, many couples also prefer the unique appearance of fancy shaped diamonds.

There are many types of fancy shaped diamonds, including princess, radiant, emerald, cushion, oval, pear, and marquise diamonds.

Impact of other factors

Two diamonds with identical color, cut, clarity and carat weight can have over 1,560 different value classifications. If you take into account other important factors, such as florescence and symmetry, there are over 20,000 different diamond value classifications, each with its own market price. Even within these classifications, there may be additional sub-classifications such as borderline colors, position of an inclusion within a diamond and grading subjectivity.

fluorescence

Diamonds with high fluorescence exhibit a bluish glow in many different types of lighting. This can dramatically reduce the value and appeal of a diamond.

types of imperfections

There are several types of imperfections such as carbon, feather and whisp imperfections. All imperfections fall into two primary categories: white imperfections and black imperfections. White or transparent imperfections are far more desirable than black or opaque imperfections.

size & location of imperfections

Imperfections can occur anywhere in a diamond. The most desirable imperfection is located on the edge or side of the diamond and can be easily hidden under a prong.

internal brilliance/fire

Each individual diamond can exhibit a fabulous amount of brilliance based on the extent to which it refracts light. This is determined by the depth and table of diamond.

symmetry

Symmetry refers to the exactness of the shape and arrangement of facets, or cut surfaces. Most well-cut diamonds have 58 facets and it is important that facets are shaped correctly, centered and properly aligned.

millimeter measurements

Diamonds are extremely small for how valuable they are. Believe it or not, cutting a diamond at the wrong angle can throw off important ratios and make a large stone seem much smaller than it actually is. Even if size is not your top priority, you should be sure to get a well-cut diamond with proper ratios so your jewels look as good as they cost.

Metals

Sterling silver

The most common choice for affordable jewelry is sterling silver. This is because of the metal’s combination of cost effectiveness and relative shine. Silver has a similar look to platinum and white gold to the naked eye but it lacks the prestige of the more precious metals.

gold

Gold can be manufactured in many colors but the two most popular are white and yellow. Yellow gold and white gold have very similar strength and malleability. The purity of gold is measured in karats. Pure gold is 24-karat or 100 percent gold, 18-karat is 75 percent gold, 14-karat is 58.5 percent gold while 10-karat gold is 41.7 percent gold and 58.3 percent alloy.

The price of gold jewelry is dependent upon the purity of the gold used and the weight. When the karat purity of yellow gold jewelry is high, the yellow color is brighter, raising the value of the jewelry.

platinum

Platinum ranks among the rarest of metals. Even in this pure state, platinum contains five other metals –iridium, osmium, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium. Ten tons of raw ore yield one ounce of platinum. For every 15 to 20 ounces of gold extracted, only a single ounce of palladium, the key component in platinum, is mined.

Unlike gold, which is too soft in its purest form, platinum is used in jewelry at 90-95% purity. Like gold, it is tarnish and rust resistant.