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The 4Cs of Diamond Quality

There is no other gemstone quite like a diamond. It is found in the most remote places on earth, and the fact that it forms at all is something of a miracle. It takes about one ton of rock to recover less than half a carat of rough, making diamond one of the rarest and most desired gemstones in the world. A diamond is a testament of endurance and strength-and not surprisingly, the ultimate symbol of love. Every diamond is unique. Each reflects the story of its arduous journey from deep inside the earth to a cherished object of adornment. Yet all diamonds share certain features that allow us to compare and evaluate them. These features are called the 4Cs: Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat.

How to Select a Diamond

Color

Let’s start with the easiest first. Color. You might be asking yourself, “Aren’t diamonds colorless?” Not at all. They come in a wide variety of colors that are quite popular for engagement rings (for more on this, see the trends page). The revered colorless diamonds come in a range of colors from D to Z. Diamonds of D to F color are considered colorless- making them the most rare. Diamonds of G-J color are considered “near colorless”. They make beautiful center stones and are a less expensive than the more rare D-F. After J, diamonds become progressively yellow in color, losing the brilliant transparency for which they are so famed and making them less likely to be used for an engagement ring.

Clarity

Now that we have an idea of color- what about imperfections within the stone? This is what clarity refers to. Clarity ranges from Flawless (extremely rare and rather expensive) to I3. It may seem a little overwhelming, but it makes a lot of sense when you break it down: Flawless Diamonds, as mentioned above, are very rare. They contain no imperfections internally or externally. Internally Flawless is exactly what you would expect it to be. It may have slight imperfections on the outside, but the inside is intact. VVS1 and VVS2 stand for Very, Very, Slightly Included- phrased another way, they contain extremely small imperfections that are difficult for even a jeweler to see. VS1 and VS2 stand for Very Slightly Included (But I bet you could have guessed that by now). These small imperfections can be seen by a jeweler only when using magnification to view the diamond. SI1 and SI2 are abbreviations for Slightly Included. This means that your while your jeweler can easily spot these imperfections when looking for them, they still can’t be seen without equipment. This leaves I1-I3. These are the lowest grade in terms of quality with imperfections in the stone that can be seen by the average observer.

Cut

The cut scale of a diamond refers not to shape, but to brilliance. It ranges from Excellent to Poor. Think of the prisms that you would hold up to the sun as a child to make rainbows. It is a similar effect. A diamond of an excellent cut grade will scatter light more effectively than a poor cut grade, with can seem dull. The scale goes Excellent (very rare) to Very Good, Good, Fair and ends with Poor. In many ways, the cut is the most important aspect of the diamond.

Carat

Not to be confused with carrot or karat. Karat refers to the purity of gold, where carat refers to the weight of a diamond. To make it a little easier, the GIA uses the analogy of a dollar: a dollar is made up of 100 pennies. A carat is made up of 100 points. So if your diamond weighs .50 carats, it has 50 points. One carat weighs exactly 0.2 grams.

Hopefully you feel a little more comfortable with the diamond selection process. Feel free to look around for ideas on styles and proposals!

All images from the GIA

Searching for the most up-to-date wedding styles? Take a look at this video, where style expert Michael O’Connor from Engagement 101 gives us tips on how to “marry your dress with your jewelry!”

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