The 4 C’s of Diamonds
Choosing your perfect engagement ring is one of the most significant purchases of your life, so it’s important to be able to identify a quality diamond to house within the center. When determining which diamond to place within your engagement ring, you should keep in mind the 4 C’s: the Cut, the Color, the Clarity, and the Carat weight.
A properly cut diamond will direct more light through the crown, creating a shinier and more lustrous diamond. A diamond that is cut too deep or too shallow will have light escaping through the sides or the bottom of the stone, resulting in a less luxurious looking diamond.
A diamond’s color ranges from white colorlessness to a light yellow, with the more colorless diamonds being rarer and thus more expensive. The color of a diamond is graded on a scale from the letter D all the way through Z, with diamonds that are D or around there being more colorless while diamonds that are on the Z end of the spectrum being noticeably more yellow.
A diamond’s clarity refers to the number of slight imperfections seen when observed very closely. F grade diamonds are practically flawless, while diamonds within the I1 through I3 range will have noticeable tiny markings and imperfections when observed through a microscopic loupe.
Carat weight refers to the size and weight of a diamond. Diamonds with higher carat weights will be clearly larger, while lower carat weights will have smaller diamonds that are more suited to other jewelry such as stud earrings or bracelets. 1 carat is equal to 100 points, so a ½ carat diamond will have 50 points while 2 carat diamonds will have 200 points, etc.
