THE 4C’s – YOUR GUIDE TO QUALITY
The 4C’s (Cut, Colour, Clarity & Carat weight) help to define the quality of a diamond and in combination these determine its value.
CUT
The cut of the diamond releases its fire, brilliance and sparkle. When a diamond has been cut to good proportions light will reflect from one facet to another and then dispersed through the top of the stone, thus showing its inner beauty.
The shape of a diamond is a matter of personal taste with the round brilliant being the most popular, other shapes include princess cut, emerald cut, oval, pear and heart shaped, marquise and our favourite, the Asscher cut.
COLOUR
Most diamonds appear white in colour and the closer a diamond approaches colourless the more valuable and rare it is. An absolutely pure diamond is colourless because visible light lacks sufficient energy to excite any of its electrons and therefore no light is absorbed. Coloured diamonds or ‘Fancies’ as they are known are diamonds with a strong pure colour are incredibly rare and valuable, especially pink and blue diamonds.
GIA |
COLOR - COMMERCIAL GRADING |
D |
Colorless (White) |
J |
Near Colorless (White) |
M |
Faint Yellow |
N,O,P,Q,R |
Very Light Yellow |
S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z |
Light Yellow |
CLARITY
There are very few perfect diamonds- A diamond's clarity is determined by the degree to which it is free from naturally occurring inclusions - 'nature's fingerprints' or 'flaws'.
The number, type, colour, size and position of the flaws do affect a diamond'svalue. However, many are invisible to the naked eye and require magnification before they become apparent.
The fewerinclusions, the rarer the stone.
Symbol |
Meaning |
Definition |
F |
Flawless |
Free from all inclusions or blemishes. |
IF |
Internally Flawless |
No inclusions visible at 10x magnification. |
VVS1 |
Very Very Slightly Included #1 |
Inclusions that are extremely difficult to locate at 10x. |
VVS2 |
Very Very Slightly Included #2 |
Inclusions that are very difficult to locate at 10x. |
VS1 |
Very Slightly Included #1 |
Minor inclusions that are difficult to locate at 10x. |
VS2 |
Very Slightly Included #2 |
Minor inclusions that are somewhat difficult to locate at 10x. |
SI1 |
Slightly Included #1 |
Noticeable inclusions that are easy to locate at 10x. |
Sl2 |
Slightly Included #2 |
Noticeable inclusion that are very easy to locate at 10x. |
I1 |
Included #1 |
Obvious inclusions. Somewhat easy to locate with the unaided eye. |
I2 |
Included #2 |
Obvious inclusions. Easy to locate with the unaided eye. |
I3 |
Included #3 |
Obvious inclusions. Very easy to locate with the unaided eye. |
CARAT WEIGHT
Carat refers to weight and therefore the size of the diamond. One carat is divided into 100 points - a diamond weighing 50 points is half a carat. The value per carat increases with carat size, because larger rough diamonds occur less frequently. In other words, 2 half-carat diamonds taken together will not cost as much as 1 one-carat diamond, as the one-carat stone are more rare. Size is the most obvious factor in determining the value of a stone, but clearly two stones of similar size can have very different values according to the other 4Cs already mentioned.
