Diamond Basics
You’re taking the plunge and buying yourself a little bauble in celebration of fabulous you. After all, a diamond is a girl’s best friend. Buying a diamond might seem like an intimidating proposition, but it really boils down to educating yourself about the notorious “Four C’s” (Carat, Cut, Color and Clarity).
Carat
Carat is the unit of measure for the weight of a diamond. It gets its name from the carob seeds that were used in ancient times to balance the weighing scales. One carat equals two-tenths of a gram, and is divided into 100 points (a one half carat diamond equals 50 points, a quarter carat diamond is 25 points).
When the term “total carat weight” is used on a piece of jewelry, this designates the combined total weight of all the diamonds in the piece. With single loose diamonds, the price per carat increases as the size of the diamond does, due to the rarity of larger stones. However, two diamonds of the same carat weight may vary greatly in value because of the other three C’s. Depending on the other qualities you want in a diamond, size does not always matter!
Cut
The cut of the stone can be one of the most important keys to the beauty of a diamond. In its rough or natural state, a diamond looks like a glass pebble. It is the precise skill of the diamond cutter that can unlock the brilliance and glitter of this intriguing gem. A well-cut stone maximizes the innate beauty of the diamond. In a perfectly cut stone, every facet is designed to refract each ray of light that enters the stone and send it back through the top of the stone creating dispersion or fire (the spectral breakup of white light that makes those rainbow sparkles we love!) and maximum brilliance (the bling!).
The most important factor in a diamond cut is proportion because it determines the flow of light. Diamonds are cut into many different shapes. The most well know are, round brilliant, emerald, pear, marquise, oval, square, cushion cut and heart shape. There has been a recent resurgence of popularity in the Asscher cut, a cut developed by the famed turn of the century diamond cutter, Joseph Asscher of Amsterdam.
Color
Though diamonds form in a spectrum of colors, traditionally most people think of diamonds as “white”. In reality, white diamonds go from colorless stones, to stones with slight traces of color, to stones with distinct shadings of yellow. Once a stone exhibits a strong saturation of color it is considered a “Fancy” colored diamond.
The Gemological Institute of America (GIA), an independent gemological laboratory, has established a grading system where each color group is given a letter that ranges from D, E, F (colorless) to G, H, I (near colorless) all the way to Z (tinted color). Although it is difficult for the average person to detect he difference between color grades like D, E, and F, the price difference between them is significant, due to the relative rarity of D diamonds versus E, and E versus F. The difference between the near colorless ranges is more noticeable and increases as the letters progress to Z. With diamonds, as with everything in life, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. So whatever color you prefer, go for it! Make yourself happy.
Clarity
We all have our moments of complete clarity, but with diamonds, complete clarity is a rarity. In gemological terms, clarity is the degree to which diamonds are free from internal features called “inclusions”. Inclusions come in many forms (just as our own imperfections do!). The GIA rates the clarity of diamonds by the following scale:
F - FlawlessIF - Internally flawless (with minor surface blemishes)VVS 1 – VVS 2 - Very, Very Slightly IncludedVS 1 – VS 2 - Very Slightly IncludedSI 1 – SI 2 - Slightly IncludedI 1 – I 2 – I 3 - Imperfect, eye visible inclusions.
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