Do You Know Your 4 C’s?

If you want to buy an engagement ring or a unique piece of jewellery, you have to get familiar with the fours C’s. Diamonds are graded according to the cut, carat weight, colour and clarity of the stone.

The cut relates to the faceted shape of the diamond. There are countless cuts; however, the most popular ones are the Round Brilliant, Baguette-cut, Princess-cut, and Pear-shaped.

The carat weight refers to the weight of the unset diamond when placed on a diamond scale. A diamond weight can often be referred to in points e.g. 75 points. There are 100 points in a carat; therefore, a diamond weighing 75 points would equal 0.75carat.

The clarity refers to the clearness of the diamond.  Most diamonds have inclusions, these are foreign objects that get inside the diamond whilst it is being formed.  They are frequently other types of gemstones.  Inclusions can also refer to external scratches on the diamond or internal fractures.  The scale goes from Internally flawless ie where there are no inclusions at all, to Pique 3, where the inclusions are easily seen without the aid of a 10X lens.   

The Colour refers to the nitrogen impurity of the diamond.  The Nitrogen leads to a yellowish colour being seen in the diamond.  The colour chart goes from D, which is completely colourless, to L/M, heavily yellow.  From D-G, the diamond is colourless, with varying degrees of greyness; then, from grade H -Colour can start to be seen. It is after the grade L/M that the diamond gets into the fancy colour rank, which has its own intensity and colour chart.

This is a very basic introduction to the 4 C’s if you would like further information then please don’t hesitate to get in contact.