Diamonds have always been women best friends, but that does not go without a reason…
Diamonds emphasize status, Beauty and a proof that person presnted them with the diamond cares for them.
And so the more beautiful the diamond is - The more it gives validity to all that is mentioned above.
So from where a diamond’s beauty derives ?
We call it the 4 C’s, which are :
Cut - once the diamond has been mined, the diamond trader will decide in which shape should the diamond be polished so it would be possible to get the most out of it’s rough state.
As of today there are well over 30 types of shapes starting from the most standard round shape to heart shape and even star shaped diamond !
Round shaped diamonds usually cost more by the carat but it doesn’t mean a round shaped diamond will always answer to your needs - we prefer to think that ”beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
Besides the shape of the cut itself there are also the following criteria that should be considered when shopping for a diamond : Cut grade, Polish grade and Symetry grade.
Cut grade (exists only when discussing a round diamond) refers to how proportional is the cut. Usually when a trader wishes to give the stone more carat but limited by its rough state he will try to ”cheat” by giving it a high depth ratio and will damage the diamond’s proportions by doing so.
Polish grade refers to the processing level of each of the diamond’s facets.
Symetry – how symetrical is the cut all together.
The better the symetry the more shiny the diamond will be and that because the light beams coming inside the diamond break onto its facets and when the facets are symetrical the light beams will come out of diamond perfectly giving it its shiny look.
Carat(CT) – obviously the more carats the diamond have the more expensive it is.
The Rapaport price list (a very known tool amongst jewelrs that is used to determine the price of the diamond) divides diamonds into weight catagories (e.g. 0.18-0.22 carat catagory, 0.23-0.29 carat catagory and so on..).
the jump in the price is bigger as we from a lower catagory to a higher one, for example : the price list of a 0.49 CT diamond can be 5200 per carat (0.49*5200 is the right calculation to know the exact price) and the price list of a 0.5 CT /half a Carat can be 8200 per carat (0.5*8200).
So as you can see, the range of prices between each diamond can be huge, although the change in price between a 0.48 CT to 0.49 CT diamond would be dramatically lower.
Ofcourse all of the above depends on other criteria such as color and clarity which Rapaport also refers to in his list, and that leads us to the other 2 C’s.
Color – After the diamond has been polished we look at it under a strong white light and on a white surface. the whiter is the shade of the diamond the higher is its color or in other words the more colorless it is and the more expensive it becomes.
The highest color exists in nature is D (colorless) and the lowest one is Z (light yellow), though we recommend not to go for anything lower than M and even that would be considered as a very low color.
The level of the color also determines how bright will be the light coming out from the diamond, giving it its glamorous look.
Low colored diamonds have their uses, for example using them as side diamonds along with a main diamond in an engagment ring.
Clarity – how clean is the diamond from the inside ?
So youre thinking… who cares, its so small you cant even see it without a loupe !
Well, you should care ! Diamonds can contain inclusions such as “feathers”, cavities, internal graining, minerals and other things that are refered as internal characteristics in the diamond industry.
These inclusions interfere the light beam’s route inside the diamond and damage its glow.
Diamonds clarity is measured into several levels :
IF – Internally Flawless which means the diamond doesn’t contain any inclusions.
VVS1/VVS2 – Very Very Slightly Included (Very hard to see the inclusions using a loupe)
VS1/VS2 – Very Slightly Included (You need a loupe to see the inclusions)
SI1/SI2/SI3 – Slightly Included (It’s very easy to see the inclusions using a loupe)
I1/I2/I3 – Included (Inclusions can be seen without a loupe in most cases if being looked closely)
We recommend looking at the diamond with a loupe and not go by the grade for sometimes the flaws are concentrated around the sides of the diamond and so the fact that it is I1 doesn’t matter because it could look like SI3.
That concludes the 4 C’s, although one more important thing that should be checked for when buying a diamond is fluorescence.
To check if a diamond is fluorescenced it is being put under a UV light and the bluer it gets the higher is the level of fluorescence.
The higher is the level of fluorescence in the diamond, the more murky it will look under daylight.
The reason it will look murky is because the sun beams contain UV light, and when the beams hit the diamond they will give it an EXTREMELY small shade of blue so we wouldn’t even notice it but its there and that what will make the diamond look less bright.
The levels of fluorescence are as follows : None, Faint, Medium, Strong, Very Strong.
Obviously fluorescence can have major infulence on the price.
We hope that you found this small article useful to your needs and if you have any other questions please feel free to post them here, and we will make an effort to answer then within the hour.
Ethan R. – Chief Gemologist
www.diamond4all.com
2 Comments
I really don’t understand anything about these 4c’s but I would like to buy an engagement ring to my woman. Can you give some usefull tips ?
Hello John,
The 4 C’s (Cut,Carat,Color,Clarity) are all criteria to determine the price of a diamond.
Now before you go and buy a diamond ring you should acknowledge that each woman is different in every sense of the word.
Meaning, what would be good for one woman may not go as well for the other.
You should make some sort of analysis of your woman and write down the things that might go inside her head when you present her with the diamond.
I mean, is it possible that she would prefer a low color over size ? (a little bit less glow but a bigger stone ?) , she prefer her jewels more ‘gentle’ or with ‘decorations’ ? , would she prefer a lot of side stones surrounding the main diamond or just a few or maybe no side stones at all ?
will she prefer the classic round cut or a princess cut ?
Will she prefer white gold over yellow ?
Don’t forget to measure her finger, to do so you either wrap a string around her ring (in her sleep…) finger or take one of ring finger rings without her noticing and simply check the inner diameter using a ruler…
Do you think she will prefer a simple ring or a more complex design, or maybe something in the middle ?
I hope the guidelines I’ve just given you will help you put things in prespective.
If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
Ethan.
P.S. I strongly suggest that you go through my post a few more times so you won’t be clueless once going to shop for the ring.