If you have decided to buy a diamond ring, you may have heard a little bit about the 4 C’s of diamonds. The four C’s are color, clarity, cut, and carat. These determine the quality of the diamond, and consequently, affect the price that you will pay for a diamond. When shopping for a diamond, pay attention to these four aspects of your gem. If your funds are limited, you may want to settle for less in one area in order to get a better quality in another area.
Carat
This is probably the most understood aspect of the four C’s. The carat is how much the diamond weighs. A carat weighs 200 milligrams. Even someone who knows nothing about diamonds can tell the difference between a large diamond and a small diamond. As large diamonds are much harder to find than small diamonds, you will find that the price of a larger diamond is much more expensive than 1卡鑽石.
Color
The color of your diamond will affect how much you pay for your diamond as well. Most diamonds are white, and when you purchase a white diamond, you are striving for colorlessness. There are colored diamonds in blues, greens, yellows, and other colors, but those are very rare and in those cases, color is valued. A white diamond is given a grade that ranges from D to Z, with D representing a colorless diamond, and Z representing a diamond that has a yellowish or brownish color. In between, you will find a range of grades for a range of color, or lack of it. Colorless diamonds will sparkle more, and are therefore more valued and are more expensive. If you want a high quality diamond but want to save a little money, you may want to purchase a diamond with the grade of G through I, which are near colorless. The untrained eye cannot usually see any color in them.
Clarity
Many diamonds have flaws, or inclusions, in them. A gemologist will look at the diamond with 10x magnification, to try to see if there are any flaws in them. A flawless diamond will receive a grade of F. If there are some surface flaws, but no internal flaws, the diamond will receive a grade of IF. If there are very slight inclusions, the diamond will receive a grade of VVS1, VVS2, VS1, or VS2 (in order from the least to most included). Diamonds that are slightly included, that you can see under magnification, will be graded SI1 or SI2. In all of these cases, your diamond can be absolutely beautiful. You will not be able to see any inclusions in these diamonds with the naked eye. The final grades of diamond, I1, I2, and I3, have inclusions that you can see with the naked eye. You probably want to skip buying diamonds with these grades.
Cut
The cut of a diamond is not the same as its shape. Cut is a quality that can dramatically affect the reflective qualities of your diamond. This refers to the angles of the facets of the diamond. The best grade that a diamond can receive for its cut is ideal. Only round diamonds can receive this grade. A premium diamond, like the ideal cut diamond, will reflect almost all of the light, and will be quite stunning. The next grades are very good, good, fair, and poor. Very good diamonds are still quite lovely, and reflect most light, and good diamonds can be a good choice for someone who wants to stay in a budget, but still wants a beautiful diamond. Diamonds with a higher grade of cut, of course, cost more money.
