While diamonds are all beautiful, each diamond is unique in its own way. When looking at a diamond it displays its own personality through its sparkle, brilliance and fire. To make sense of the inexplicable feeling when looking at a beautiful diamond, we need to understand the 4Cs – Cut, Clarity, Carat and Colour.
Cut
The true beauty of a diamond’s brilliance can only revealed if the diamond is well cut. This is where the precise skills of a master diamond cutter is required. That’s because when a diamond is cut to its optimum proportions, light is internally reflected from one facet to another and then dispersed through the top of the diamond. The result of this is a display of bright natural brilliance. Therefore diamonds which are well cut are more valuable than those that are not. When choosing a diamond, it is important to hold it up and see how the light dances around and sparkles with fire. If the diamond catches your gaze and mesmerizes you, than it’s probably the right one for you.
Clarity
The clarity of a diamond is very much like a fingerprint of a person making every diamond unique. Almost all diamonds contain natural inclusions which are akin to birthmarks. Such inclusions come in the form of tiny crystals or hairline cracks called feathers. The number, colour, type and size of these inclusions will determine the clarity grade of a diamond. A gemologist uses a 10x magnifying loupe to grade and determine the clarity of a diamond. Diamond clarity starts from the highest grade which is F-Flawless to the lowest which is I-Included. Diamonds graded SI1 and above none of the inclusions are visible to the naked eye. The smaller and fewer the inclusions are in the diamond there will be less interference with the passage of light and thus allowing the diamond to sparkle more brilliantly.
Carat
The unit to measure the weight of a diamond is called carat. 0.2 grams is equivalent to 1 carat. 1 carat is divided into 100 points; therefore a diamond of 0.50 carats can also be translated as 50 points. The larger a diamond the more rare it is making it also more valuable. While the carat weight of a diamond is the easiest of the 4Cs to determine, do take note that 2 diamonds of equal carat weight can have very different price values depending on the other factors of its cut, clarity and colour.
Colour
While most diamonds appear white, the colour of a diamond is graded on a colour scale ranging from the highest colour grade which is D to the lowest colour grade which is Z. The colours D,E,F are in the colourless range. D and E diamonds have virtually no colour and F has a slight amount of colour only in the face down position. Colours G,H,I,J in the near colourless range. Diamonds in this range look colourless face up and nearly colourless face down. Colours K,L,M, are in the faint yellow range. Diamonds in this range look very faint yellow face up and face down. When mounted in jewellery these diamonds show a little tinge of yellow. Colours N,O,P,Q,R are in the very light range and appear light yellow face up and face down. Colours S to Z are in the light range and show obvious yellow colour face up, face down and mounted. Beyond Z colour is the fancy colour range, starting with fancy light yellow.
