4C's

When buying a diamond it is extremely important to make an informed decision to avoid getting the most for your money. The most common and most accepted standards in evaluating a diamond are called the 4c’s:

Carat Weight
Cut
Color
Clarity

Carat Weight

The carat weight, not to be confused with the “karat” – a measure of the quality of gold, is simply the weight of the diamond. One carat is equivalent to .2 grams or .007 of an ounce of diamond.

The price of any diamond is equivalent to the number of carats times the price per carat.

As the number of carats goes up, the diamond is considered to be more singular and thus more expensive.

This does not mean however that bigger (more carats) is always necessarily better. Diamonds of all shapes and sizes have are animated, exhilarating, and striking. It is important not to simply get the biggest but the one that most accurately suites you.

Here are some important things to take into account when deciding which carot size to purchase.

• Your personal fashion, the look of the setting, and finally your finger size
• A further not on finger size: diamond size is judged in the context of the finger. A 1.5 carat diamond will look much bigger on a size 3 finger then on a size 9 finger.
• It is extremely important to choose the diamond in context of the ring. A wonderful diamond oftentimes simply does not go well together with an equally wonderful ring

Cut

Although most in the diamond cutting industry agree roughly on how a round diamond should be cut to maximize brilliance, there is no one universally accepted “ultimate cut” that everyone agrees will make perfect proportions for a round brilliant diamond. This is currently a hot research topic for the diamond industry and the EGL USA.

The cut of a diamond is ultimately meant to contribute to its brilliance. Thus all facets of the cut – roundness, depth, width, and symmetry of its facets – are all meant to maximize a diamond’s brilliance.

Diameter: The measure from one end of the girdle to the other.

Table: The single largest facet of a gemstone which also has a flat top.

How does cut affect fancy shaped diamonds?

Due to the complex patterns of fancy cut diamonds like pear, oval, heart, emerald, princess, radiant, and others the rules above are very hard to apply. The consumer however, doesn’t have to be left in the dark and reduced to making guesswork about its quality. Agencies like the EGL USA have extensive information on the cut of fancy shaped diamonds. Below are some general guidelines to follow.

• Since a cut is meant to maximize brilliance you can reverse-judge the cut by the amount of brilliance a fancy shaped diamond has. The diamond should be exhilarating to look at and should dance and sparkle when placed in light. “Light leakage” through the pavilion should be at a minimum.
• There exists a concept in fancy shaped diamonds called the bowtie effect – it is an area of diminished light appearing in the shape of a bowtie. It is a sign of low quality cutting. You must use your eye to judge the extent of the bowtie effect.
• A very important consideration of fancy cut diamonds is the symmetry. Ideally the two halves should be a mirror image of each other; differences should be hard to spot. Sometimes cutters purposely make the halves different to save weight.
• Some fancy cut diamonds such as the marquises, pears, and hearts have points at their ends. These points shouldn’t be too sharp as they might chip under special situations. The points should be thick enough to withstand normal use.

Color

Unlike other factors concerning a diamond, color is largely a matter of preference; some like a diamond with strong color while others like a completely colorless one. Diamonds completely devoid of color are considered rare and thus are much more pricey then near-colorless diamonds.

If one wants to have a larger diamond within a limited budget his best option would be to get a diamond with a slightly lower color grade. Diamonds which are slightly tinted with color have a warm hue and are less costly then their colorless peers.

Although the general rule is that the less color a diamond has the more valued it is, there are exceptions to this rule. Most don’t know that diamonds come in every color of the light spectrum including brilliant yellows, steely blues, soft pinks, and fiery oranges. Some even come in fancy white and fancy black. These diamonds with rare colors are considered ‘fancy’ and are extremely valuable – probably the most expensive objects per unit weight on earth. This only applies if the color is natural and not man-made or treated in any way.

Fancy colors include brilliant yellows, steely blues, soft pinks, fiery oranges and more; there's even fancy white and black. If the color is natural, as opposed to treated, the prices of these fancies can be extremely high.

International diamond laboratories and gemologists have adopted a scale for judging the quality of diamonds The scale is meant to judge rarity – from colorless on the left to light yellow on the right.

Clarity

Clarity is the measure the amount of blemishes a diamond has. Blemishes are nature’s birthmarks on diamonds which make each diamond unique.

External blemishes and internal blemishes (called inclusions) usually have absolutely no effect on a diamonds brilliance or fire. Nonetheless, diamonds are given a grade for clarity; this grade is deduced on what can be observed when using a 10x magnifier.
An often asked question by consumers is if blemishes don’t affect a diamonds beauty and brilliance why does it matter what the clarity grading is. The answer is that diamonds with fewer blemishes are rarer and thus more expensive. As previously stated however, diamonds of all clarity ratings can look gorgeous depending on other much more significant factors like cut and color.

Although actual clarity grades are given by professionals using very accurate 10x magnification powers, the consumer can nonetheless make rough judgments of clarity using the charts below. Note however, that these judgments will not take the place of professional inspection.

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