The Four C's stand for Cut Carat Clarity and Color

Diamond Cuts

The various cuts of a diamond displays various sparkle and brilliance of a diamond and appeals to a specific set of jwelry and design. The two seperate families of cuts are known Brilliant and Step cuts.

Brilliant cuts: Round, Oval, Radiant, Princess, Pear, and Heart shape.

Step cuts: Emerald, and Assher cuts.

Carat Weight

The size of a diamonds refers to the actual weight measure in Carats. The larger the diamond, the heavier it is and the more it is in Carats.Carat weight can be deceiving to someone who's not anexpert. A one carat diamond is not twice the diameter of a half carat diamond but twice the weight. The most expensive diamond is not always the larger in carats but the rarest in color and clarity.

Some people prefere size over brilliance. Either of the four C's can impact the value of a diamond.

Diamond Clarity

The clarity of a diamond refers to the number of flaws or imperfections present within the stone. It is extremely rare for a diamond to be completely flawless. The rarest and most expensive diamonds have a clarity of FL or IF. Flawless or Internally Flawless. VVS1 or VVS2 is still an excellent quality diamond and will be virtually flawless, as only very minute inclusions will be present within the stone. It is extremely differcult to view the inclusions in these qualities of diamonds using ten times magnification, and impossible to view with the naked eye.

A diamond classed as VS1 or VS2 is also still an exceptional clarity for a diamond. In brilliant cut diamonds such as round, princess or pear and other variants it would be extremely unlikely that the inclusions could be seen with the naked eye.

SI1 or SI2 is said to be slightly included in which the inclusions within the diamond become visible to the naked eye.

Diamond Color

This is a simple guide on diamonds for deciding the color.

Acting as a prism, a diamond can divide light up into a spectrum of colours and reflect this light as colourful flashes known as the ' fire ' within a diamond. The less color in the diamond, the more colourful the fire, and the better the color grade giving a stronger level of brilliance.

Diamonds are graded from "D to Z". White diamonds being "D" or colorless. The further you go down the scale E-F-G to Z, the more yellow is evident within the diamond. The rarest and most expensive diamonds are those in D to F and classed as colourless, followed by G to H which are classed as white, then I to J which are classed as slightly tinted. It can be very difficult to tell the difference between a diamond in the colourless range and the near colorless using only the naked eye. This is particularly true after the diamond has been set within the piece of jewellery itself.

The diamonds that appear further down the scale, particularly within the light yellow and yellow ranges, do have a noticeable yellow colour to them, even to the naked and untrained eye. As with all of the grading parameters associated with diamonds the color can have a dramatic effect on the price of the stone.