Diamond Quality - Understanding The Four Cs

If you find yourself unexperienced when it comes to diamond jewelry shopping, you may be thinking about how you can get a fair price. After all, most of us are after the highest level of diamond quality at the best price. That's where knowing the four Cs comes in handy. By knowing what to evaluate in the cut, color, clarity and carat size of a stone, you'll be able to make a wise buying decision.

Following are the 4 ratings used to assess the quality of a diamond:

Diamond Cut

The cut of a diamond takes into consideration two characteristics of its appearance, the shape and make. A diamond's shape can vary significantly, but overall, a round brilliant cut is the one that is the most desirable. The round brilliant cut is made with 58 facets, which gives the stone a brilliant luster. Princess, radiant and marquise cuts are also valued higher than other diamond cuts.

A cut's make determines the quality or craft of the workmanship done on the stone. If the diamond has a better make, this corresponds to a greater sparkle, and the make enhances its quality. A diamond's real beauty can be highlighted with a high quality make.

Diamond Color

Diamonds don't have to be the dazzling white color we all think of when we think of diamond jewelry. As a matter of fact, diamonds are available in a range of colors. These colors are coded alphabetically, ranging from D to X. White diamonds marked with a D label represent the palest color. Yellow fancy diamonds are still high quality and are assigned an S label. Diamond colors E and F have excellent and beautiful qualities while J to M include desirable colors for diamonds that are bigger. Diamonds colored blue, red, pink, green and brown generally indicate diamonds that have been treated with radiation.

Diamond Clarity

Clarity is is believed by many to be the most important part of the quality of your diamond. The most treasured diamonds are flawless or perfectly clear, both inside and on their surfaces. Next in quality are internally flawless diamonds, but that have a few minute blemishes on the surface. If stones have inclusions so that they are less clear, or if the inclusions can be seen with the naked eye, they rank lowest for diamond clarity.

Diamond Carat

The carat size of a diamond will tell you how large it is. Of the four quality measurements, carat size is considered last because a diamond's cut, clarity and color are deemed more important. But make no mistake, the size and weight of a diamond impacts how much you will pay for it.

Carats are generally measured in points. Accordingly, one carat is assigned 100 points, while half a carat is assigned 50 points, and so forth. This means that a diamond's price can vary greatly for as few as 5 to 10 points. That's why you must know just how big a diamond is in exact carats or points.

You should find that when you take the four Cs of diamond quality into consideration when you shop for diamonds, you'll end up with better quality jewelry at the most reasonable price. As a matter of fact, you'll often be able to save more money by shopping for used diamond jewelry since you'll understand exactly how to evaluate them.