The 4 C’s of a Diamond
Every diamond has a unique fingerprint, and there are a variety of factors which affect the price of a diamond. 4C’s of a diamond are the key elements for the change in value of a diamond. The 4C’s of a diamond is like the alphabets of diamond industry. One has to know them, to understand and buy diamonds. In the order of importance, 4C’s are: Color, Cut, Clarity and Carat.
Knowing how to do the basic assessment of a diamond, empowers one to be a confident buyer.
Color
The hue of yellow color in a colourless diamond is defined as the color in a diamond. It is the most obvious of characteristic as it is visible face up. The colourless diamonds are named from ‘D’ to ‘Z’, D-E-F are Colourless. G-H-I-J are nearly Colourless. K-L-M are faintly tinted, usually yellow. Beyond M color is usually not used in jewellery. We can identify the color by looking at the diamond inside a folded sheet of paper looking at the tip of the girdle under a white tubelight .
Cut
The diamond’s cut determines its fire and brilliance. it is the most important feature that one must look for in a diamond. It refers not to a diamond shape (round, princess oval etc.) but to the gem’s proportions, equilibrium & depth. . Even with exceptional colour and clarity, if a diamond is poorly cut, it will look dull, whereas, with a good cut make the stone show more brilliance. Hence, neither color nor the clarity but the cut is what determines how scintillating the diamond will look and how brightly will it sparkle.
Clarity
Clarity determines how clean a diamond is internally. Since diamonds are formed deep within the earth, extreme heat and pressure essentially gives small imperfections inside the diamond called inclusions and on its surface, called blemishes.There are 11 categories as listed. The best and the clearest have been termed as flawless(FL) or Loupe clear(LC) and the one with maximum intrusions is category ‘I3’. Loupe or a 10X magnification is used to identify the clarity. Sometimes, It might take an eye of a thorough jeweller, half an hour to locate the imperfection in a VVS category. Certificate has definitely made the task easier but one should know how to hold a loupe and see the impurity to match the certificate with the diamond.
Carat
Carat is a measure of weight. It is weighed by measuring gauge. It does not define size though. The size of the diamond is measured by the Presidium gauge in “mm”. Two diamonds with the same carat weight but different cut and characteristics will not appear to be the same size when viewed from the top. One carat should equal to precisely 200 milligrams. This is technically known as a metric carat and is the standard diamond carat weight that is used universally today. However the size of the diamond is also given on the certificate in ‘mm’ so that two stones of same weight can also be measured and identified with the certificate. It is another obvious quality which is identified very easily.
