The brilliance of a diamond is an amazing sight to behold, which is probably why, for over 3000 years diamonds have been used for adornment. If you a looking to buy a diamond, there are many factors to be considered to ensure you get the right diamond for you My Love Wedding Ring have put this diamond guide together to help you when you are buying your diamond.
Everyone has heard of the 4 Cs of diamonds, but not everyone knows what they actually mean. The 4 Cs represent Diamonds Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat, with each of these aspects of a diamond being a measure of the quality of the diamond. Every certified diamond is graded using these measures as they indicate the beauty, quality and in turn the value of the diamond.
The cut of a diamond refers to the shine or sparkle of the diamond, it does not relate to the shape of the diamond. The cut of a diamond determines its brilliance. Most gemologists consider cut is the most important diamond characteristic because even if a diamond has perfect color and clarity, with a poor cut, the diamond will not sparkle like a star.
Proportion is the key factor of how a diamond is going to sparkle.
Shallow Cut Diamond: Light leaks out of the bottom.To determine how good the cut of a diamond is, a Diamond Cut Scale has been developed which grades the quality of cut. The grades of cut are: Excellent Cut, Very Good Cut, Good Cut, Fair Cut and Poor Cut.
An excellent cut maximizes the amount of light reflected in the diamond thus maximizing its brilliance whilst also providing intense fire and good scintillation.
Diamonds which are graded very good cut have been cut to maximize the carat weight of the diamond whilst maintaining the brilliance, fire and scintillation of the diamond as much as possible. Generally, these diamonds provide an ideal balance of size and sparkle.
A good cut grading generally indicates a diamond which has been cut to maximize carat weight but which also has brilliance and fire. These diamonds can be good value as they are ideal for many jewelry requirements.
Diamonds graded as having a fair cut have been cut to obtain a maximum carat weight whilst still providing some fire and brilliance. These diamonds are favored by those with a limited budget who are looking for a large diamond.
A poor cut graded diamond has had the size of carat weight maximized at the expense of brilliance, fire and scintillation.
Diamonds are formed of crystalline carbon and in its purest form, this is clear and colorless. Color in diamonds is created by chemical impurities in the composition of the diamond. Gemstone quality white diamonds range from completely colorless to a yellowish or light brown color. Colorless diamonds are extremely rare and are very prized, the closer to being colorless a diamond is, the more valuable it is.
The color of white diamonds is graded using a system developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) where:
With D the most clear and most expensive, and Z a yellow, much less expensive, diamond.
Other chemical impurities in diamonds create different colored, or fancy, diamonds, such as blue, pink, green and black diamonds. These diamonds are extremely rare and also very expensive and their color is graded using a different scale from that detailed above.
The clarity of a diamond is a measure of any flaws found within the faceted gemstone. Surface flaws are called blemishes and internal flaws are called inclusions. The flaws may include cracks or fissures, bubbles of gas or other, non diamond, materials or minerals caught within the diamond as it formed.
Flawless diamonds are extremely rare, and very expensive. Most diamonds do have some flaws although these are generally not visible to the naked eye. The GIA has a grading system which categorizes the clarity of a diamond taking into account the effect any flaw has on the look or the durability of the diamond. The grading system is:
It is possible to treat diamonds to improve the clarity of the gemstone, for example by drilling out inclusions and using sealants to fill fissures. However, many of these treatments are impermanent and result in a devaluing of the diamond. My Love Wedding Ring use ONLY Untreated Natural Diamonds in their jewelry.
A carat is a unit of weight measurement which is used when determining the weight of diamonds and gemstones. One carat equals 200mg. A carat can also be sub-divided into 100 points, so 1 carat = 100 points. Larger diamonds are much rarer than smaller diamonds so the price of diamonds increases greatly as the carat weight increases.
Generally, the diameter of a diamond increases as the carat weight of the diamond increases. However, whilst the diameter of a diamond is a good rule of thumb in estimating the carat weight of a diamond, the two do not correlate entirely as a shallow cut stone will weight less than a deep cut stone even if they are of the same diameter.
The carat size charts below provide you a clear idea in regards to the actual diamond sizes for both princess cut diamonds and round brilliant cut diamonds.
The 4Cs of a diamond are key in determining the value of a diamond. However, diamonds can also be cut into different shapes and the shape of a diamond can also influence how valuable it is. When a diamond cutter is presented with a rough diamond, one of the key challenges is to produce a faceted gemstone which is as large as possible, contains the fewest possible flaws and which is as well cut as it can be to maximize the brilliance of the diamond.
Through the centuries, as diamond cutting has become more refined, more accurate and more complex cuts have become possible. The most common modern diamond shapes are:
Other fancy cuts exist such as trilliant, trapezoid and crescent shapes are also sometimes used with diamonds and gemstones cut in these shapes are often used as side stones in rings.
At My Love Wedding Ring, we know that you care where your diamonds come from, so we only work with a select few suppliers who are devoted to ethically and socially responsible practices. My Love Wedding Ring ensures that all diamonds are mined, cut and polished in an ethically responsible manner. We guarantee that we do not knowingly purchase or sell any conflict diamonds. In compliance with the Patriot Act, the Kimberly Process, and various United Nations resolutions, the diamonds we sell have been obtained using legitimate means.Learn more about Conflict Free Diamonds
