What are the 4 C's?
This natural stone is an ever popular popular gemstone, particularly for engagement rings and earrings. Before you purchase a diamond, you should try to understand the four standard measurements. These are:- cut, carat, colour and clarity. These industry standards are used to compare and grade diamonds and will help you decide what type of diamond to purchase based on your budget and style preferences.
Cut
"Cut" refers to the shape of the diamond, based on the angles and proportions that allow light to reflect from one facet to another. Diamond shapes are vast, ranging from the more well known round cuts to fancy heart and oval shapes. The traditional shape is round brilliant with 58 facets as its symmetry allows it to reflect more light, making it the most brilliant of all the shapes. The famous Tiffany diamond was given 90 facets, 32 more than the traditional round brilliant cut, giving the Tiffany diamond intense colour and brilliance. Other popular shapes are marquise, pear, emerald and princess.
Diamonds are known for their brilliance, and it therefore follows that a well-cut diamond should maximise this effect, whether it is a solitaire (a single stone set by itself) or in a more ornate setting. The cut of a diamond consists of three factors: grade, depth and polish.
- Grade - A standard grading report will describe the cut of a diamond, based on the shape or outline and the pattern made by the facet arrangement (also known as the cutting style).
- Depth – This refers to how deep the stone has been cut. If a stone has been cut too shallow or too deep, the diamond will lose light through the bottom or sides, which will cause the stone to sparkle less.
- Polish – The polish determines the stone’s brilliance. A poor polish or rough facets will reduce the diamond’s brilliance and therefore its value.
Carat
1 carat = 100 points = 200 milligrams (one fifth of a gram)
The cut and setting of a gemstone can often make a diamond look bigger than its actual carat weight, so it is important to examine all four of the standard measurements before purchasing a diamond. Large diamonds are quite rare and naturally prices will increase significantly with the carat weight. If you want a high carat diamond, which is often the case when buying an engagement ring, consider a slight downgrade in clarity or colour.
Colour
The most sought after diamonds appear clear in colour. However, all diamonds possess trace amounts of either yellow or brown.
Very deeply coloured diamonds, such as a brilliant canary yellow diamond, or a bright pink diamond, can actually cost more than a colourless stone. These "fancy" diamonds are even rarer than their colourless counterparts, and can also be found in blue, green, black and red.
One of the most famous diamonds in the world is the Millennium diamond, the world’s largest 'D colour' diamond for its virtual flawlessness.
The chart below explains the grading of diamond colours from D to Z. Colourless diamonds are graded D and are very rare. The colour of a diamond can affect the setting in engagement rings. White colours are often set in white gold or platinum while the warmer tones are often set yellow gold.
Clarity
The majority of all diamonds will have some inclusions (small mineral traces or flaws). These are often undetectable to the naked eye, however they still devalue the stone. The number of inclusions, their size and where they are located in the diamond will also affect the flow of light through a diamond, which reduces the brilliance. Flawless diamonds are very uncommon and therefore very expensive. However, many inclusions can be concealed by a clever setting, which is frequently used for diamond rings.
