Education
Understanding Diamonds
Understanding Diamonds
In order to get a beautiful, brilliant diamond at a price you can afford, we have to look at 4 characteristics.
Diamond cut can easily be confused with “shape”
(Round, Princess, Oval etc. )
A diamond's cut grade refers to how well its facets interact with light. Brilliance & scintillation are what Cut is all about!
A well cut diamond has more life & sparkles more than one of lesser quality cut & simply looks better.
Cutting away more rough to get a perfect cut grade makes a well cut diamond a bit more expensive but the difference is a visibly superior Gem.
Diamond color is graded from D, which is completely colorless, to Z which has more a visible yellow to brown body color. Although colorless diamonds are rarer and more expensive, the best color is truly in the eye of the beholder. Choose the color, or lack of color, you find most appealing and the best value.
Colorless Near Colorless Faint Yellow Very Light Yellow Light Yellow
DEF G H I J K L M N O P Q R S - Z
Fancy color diamonds have a completely different color grading system and are rarer and often much more expensive. Fancy color can vary from distinct yellow to browns, pink, blue and many other unique and rare one of a kind colors.
DIAMOND COLOR
Diamonds tiny internal markings are called inclusions & are graded under 10 power magnification. When not visible to the naked eye, inclusions have little effect on the visual beauty and brilliance, however they dramatically affect the price.
DIAMOND CLARITY
DIAMOND CUT
Small Heading
Flawless
FL
No inclusions visible (by an expert) under 10x magnification.
Very, Very Slight Inclusions
VVS1-VVS2
Minute inclusions; extremely difficult to find under 10x magnification.
Very Slight Inclusions
VS1-VS2
Minor inclusions; difficult to find under 10x magnification
Slight Inclusions
SI1-SI2
Noticeable inclusions; Relatively easy to find under 10x magnification
Included
I1-I3
Obvious inclusions under 10x magnification. Easily visible to the naked eye
DIAMOND CARAT WEIGHT
Points and Carats are units of measurement used to express the actual weight of a diamond. There are 100 points in a carat, 5 carats in a gram and 28.35 grams in an ounce. This weight is measured by a very sensitive scale called a carat scale, which shows the weight in carats and points.
The easy way to remember points in a carat is they are the same as pennies in a dollar. 50 points is a 1/2 carat, just like 50 cents is a half dollar.
