Color

Throughout our history, diamonds have been found in many different colors. White diamonds, otherwise known as “colorless diamonds”, are graded based upon a color scale created by the Gemological Institute of America in the 1950’s. This scale has since remained the most prominent industry standard for accurate and ethical diamond grading in the world. White diamonds are graded from colorless to light yellow, with alphabetical letters ranging from “D-Z” placing each diamond into a specific category. Color is graded by GIA laboratories based upon the depth of color, as well as the tone and saturation of that color which is noticeable to the naked eye within the diamond. It takes the eye of a trained gemologist in order to see the slight differences in color.

CARAT

The carat weight is simply how much the diamond weighs. A carat is made up of 100 points, or ⅕ of a gram. These points give industry professionals a system and reference which helps accurately describe the diamonds weight. For example when a jeweler is describing a diamond that weighs .75ct, they may describe the diamond as ‘seventy-five points’. With all of the other factors in a diamond being equal, as the carat weight increases – so does the price. Larger carat diamonds are more rare and desirable than smaller carat diamonds, which is directly correlated with their value in the marketplace. When considering which carat weight is best for you, it is important to think about the size and style of the person who will be wearing the diamond.

CLARITY

Every diamond is different, and one of the main factors in distinguishing one diamond from another is the type of the inclusions and blemishes, or characteristics, that make each diamond unique. There are five main factors when a evaluating the inclusions in a diamond and how they affect the overall appearance of the diamond: 1) Size of the inclusion, 2) Number of inclusions, 3) Position of the inclusions, 4) Nature of the inclusions and 5) Visibility or Relief of the inclusions. All five of these factors are taken into consideration when classifying a diamond under a single clarity grade. The GIA clarity scale is a standardized guide which breaks down the diamonds characteristics into 11 main categories, ranging from “Flawless” to “Heavily Included”. All diamonds that are graded by GIA are examined using 10x magnification, which is the universal standard in the diamond industry.

Cut

Diamonds are known and loved for their ability to transmit light and sparkle wherever they are seen. That ability to transmit light is known as a diamond’s cut. The cut of a diamond is based upon how well the diamonds facets interact with the light, and the amount of light that is transmitted when looking at the diamond face-up. Of all the “4 C’s”, the cut is the hardest to evaluate because it is based upon a number of proportions which each play an equal role in how light is transmitted throughout the diamond. These proportions are known as Brightness, Fire and Scintillation.