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1. CUT is usually the most important
of the 4 C's. The stone is cut to numerical proportions that
lead to its brilliance and blaze. This can also relate to
the number of facets (faces into the stone) the stone has.
The most common stone is the round brilliant and it has fifty-eight
facets that will reflect the most amount of light. The proportions
also take into account if the stone is too shallow to too
deep because if it does have one of these less than desirable
proportions can affect the amount of brilliance in the stone.
If the diamond is well cut and will refract back from the
stone to your eye.
* NOTE do not confuse cut with shape. Shapes are: oval, marquise,
heart, princess, or emerald.
2. COLOR in diamond can come in every
color of the rainbow, but the most valuable diamond color
is white. Diamonds that are really colorless are very and
exceptionally rare and as an effect of this, makes the diamond
very expensive. The way they are graded is determined by the
Gemological Association of American (G.I.A.) and start with
the letter D as white and Z as a dark yellow. The farther
down the scale, the more yellow the stone becomes. The color
is best looked at a diamond, preferably upside on white paper
to see the hues of color.
* NOTE that the reason the grading scale starts at D and not
A is due to the fact that most companies out there start with
A and this could get confusing, so GIA decided to pick a less
popular letter, which was D.
3. CARAT actually refers to the name
that measures a diamond's weight and not the size of the diamond.
A carat is equal to 200 milligrams, and there are 142 carats
to an ounce. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams and there
are 142 carats to an ounce. The bigger the stone, the greater
its rarity and since bigger diamonds are more uncommon and
will usually have a higher value per carat.
4. CLARITY is where you would find internal
imperfections and external irregularities that influence clarity
of the diamond interfering with light going through the stone.
The diamond is more valuable when it has fewer inclusions.
G.I.A.'s grading scale that starts from FL (flawless) down
to I (imperfect). These types of inclusions can be only seen
under magnification or with the naked eye.
5. The above are the most common of the 4 C's
but there is a fifth that most people do not know about and
that is called CONFIDENCE. It is confidence with your jewelry
expert when buying a piece of jewelry that will last forever
and be able to pass down from generations to generations.
Another important thing to look while shopping is a member
of a professional trade association like Jewelers of America.
CLARITY CHARACHTERISTICS
The two types of characteristics are:
1. Blemishes which are confined to the surface
of the gemstone
2. Inclusions which are contained inside the stone
A couple of examples of blemishes are:
Cavity, chip, or nick which portray an opening on a polished
surface and are mostly found along the edge of the girdle
Natural is part of the original crystal "skin".
Naturals can be found on just about anywhere on the diamond,
most will found near the girdle
A couple of examples of inclusions include:
Feather is a used to describe any crack in a diamond
Included crystal is a crystal or some other mineral which
is inside the diamond
CLARITY GRADING
There are eleven categories that classify clarity
grading diamonds:
1. FLAWLESS (FL) which show no blemished
or inclusions when viewed under 10x by a jewelry expert
2. INTERNALLY FLAWLESS (IF) which is where diamonds
show no inclusions but minor blemishes under 10x. The difference
between the FL and IF are characteristics that can be taken
off with minor polishing
3. VERY, VERY SLIGHTLY INCLUDED (VVS1) contains very
small inclusions that are very hard to see under 10x by a
trained grader. The best way to try and see these inclusions
is from the pavilion
4. VERY, VERY SLIGHLY INCLUDED (VVS2) is very similar
to VVS1 with having a little less difficulty in seeing the
inclusions under 10x
5. VERY SLIGHTLY INCLUDED (VS1) has small inclusions
that can be somewhat hard to see.
6. VERY SLIGHTLY INCLUDED (VS2) and the inclusions
are somewhat easy to see under 10x
7. SLIGHTLY INCLUDED (SI1) usually have easily visible
inclusions which are easy to see
8. SLIGHTLY INCLUDED (SI2) have inclusions that are
usually very easy to see and even easier under 10x
9. IMPERFECT (I1) have inclusions which are apparent
to the jewelry expert trained eye or with 10x can make it
even easier
10. IMPERFECT (I2) have inclusions that can affect
the likely hood or stability of the diamond
11. IMPERFECT (I3) which these stones are very rarely
used in jewelry, these types affect transparency and the brilliance
of the diamond. These last two could possibly fall under I2
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