| THE 4 C's OF BUYING A DIAMOND |
There are 4 C's that determine the value of a diamond. To establish a diamond's quality, jewelers examine each of the 4C's: Cut, Clarity, Carat Weight, & Color. The combination of the 4C's determines the value of a particular diamond. | |
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CUT Many people confuse cut with the shape of a diamond. Diamonds are cut into a number of shapes, depending on the nature of the rough stone. The most popular are round, marquise, oval, pear, heart, emerald and princess cut. When cut to good proportions, the diamond is better able to handle light, creating more scintillation and more sparkle. | |
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COLOR Diamonds are found with a range of colors, from faint yellow or brown through to the very rare pinks, blues, greens and other colors known as "fancies". |
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CLARITY To determine a diamond's clarity, it is viewed under 10-power magnigication by a trained eye. Most diamonds contain natural inclusions. However, the fewer and smaller the inclusions are, the less likely it is that they will interfere with the passage of light through the diamond, and the more beautiful the diamond will be. |
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CARAT - WEIGHT This is the weight of a diamond measured in carats. One carat is divided into 100 "points", so that a diamond of 75 points weighs .75 carats. Carat-weight is the easiest of the 4C's to determine. But two diamonds of equal weight can have very unequal value, depending on their cut, color and clarity. |
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