Choosing A Diamond With 4 Cs
Diamonds - girls' best friend! Why do girls love diamonds? Why
are they so precious? Is it because of their beauty and
exquisiteness? Talk about buying. Purchasing a diamond can test
the nerves of even the most astute buyer - what do you look for?
What do the terms mean? What makes one diamond worth more than
another?
When you get in the diamond shop and attempt to buy one, but do
not know what the different between this one and that one. Even
though those two have the same size and carat, the price can be
completely different. Why? Here is a simple guide to the
essentials of diamond grading.
Understanding these terms will help you discuss with the dealer
the features most important to you, ensuring you get the very
best diamond for your money. Diamond appraisers look for four
qualities in a diamond when discerning its value. Commonly
called the '4 Cs' they are: Cut, Clarity, Carat and Color.
CUT
There are 2 big aspects of CUT.
1. Quality of cut - affecting the brilliance of the diamond -
the other refers to the actual shape of the diamond.
2. Shape - Diamonds are available in many shapes. Some of the
more common are; round, oval, pear (teardrop shaped), heart,
princess (square shaped), Emerald (rectangular shaped), marquise
(football shaped) and round. Of all the shapes available, round
diamonds are the shape most capable of being cut to exude the
greatest brilliance. The brilliance is determined by the ability
of the diamond to reflect light. A quality cut diamond will have
facets angled to reflect the greatest amount of light. Beware of
diamonds cut to maintain a higher carat weight while sacrificing
the cutting of a good angle as this will dramatically reduce the
brilliance.
CLARITY
Diamonds from natural sources are subject to individual flaws
including trace minerals and scratches. A diamond without such
characteristics is called flawless and is the rarest kind. While
these flaws are often not visible to the naked eye, they affect
the light reflecting qualities of the diamond which affects the
overall brilliance.
Diamond clarity is classified as follows: Flawless, IF, VVS1,
VVS2, VS1, VS2, SI1, SI2, SI3, I1, I2 and I3.
CARAT
Carat is the measurement of the weight of a diamond. One carat
may also be referred to as '100 points'. This means that a half
carat would be listed as '50 points' and so on.
The larger a diamond is the more costly it becomes. Since the
larger diamonds are much rarer the cost will go up significantly
with each increase in size. A one carat diamond will be more
than just double the cost of a half carat, however, a ring with
multiple diamonds that have a combined weight of one carat will
be cheaper than a single stone of that weight.
COLOR
There are many diamond colors which called fancy diamonds. But
the mostly found diamonds will be rated on an alphabetical scale
from D to Z. A typical 'white' diamond should be as colorless as
possible - a rating of 'D' being the rarest and most desirable.
When choosing a colorless diamond it is best to stay within the
D-J range or the diamond will have a yellow cast which lessens
the value. The less natural color the diamond has the more
colors will appear in the flashes reflected in the prism.
'Fancy' diamonds (diamonds with a rating over Z) come in a
variety of shades and include some famous diamonds such as the
Blue Hope diamond.
When decide to buy a diamond, please keep in mind of these 4 Cs
as a factor of buying consideration. It takes years to gain a
specialty in this area. Therefore, at least you should point out
whether which features are of greatest importance to you and
with a little knowledge select the diamond that will hold the
greatest value and sentiment for your budget.