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Friday, July 25, 2008

Diamond Ratings And The Four Cs

By Grace Jennings

If you admire diamonds, then you need to know diamond quality so that you can judge whether or not you're making a good diamond purchase and are being charged fairly for it. Most basically, you need to understand the four Cs. These include cut, color, clarity, and carat.

You have to examine a diamond carefully if you want to tell what its quality is. After you purchase a diamond, you'll also need to take care of it to maintain its beauty and quality.

Cut Of The Diamond

A diamond's cut takes into account two aspects of its appearance, its make and shape. A diamond's shape can vary significantly, but on the whole, a round brilliant cut is the one that is the most desirable. This type of cut is made with 58 facets, which gives the diamond a brilliant luster. Princess, radiant and marquise cuts are also of higher value than other types of cuts.

A diamond cut's make determines the quality or craft of the workmanship performed. Therefore, if a diamond has a better make, it has better sparkle and fully brings out all of the diamond's best qualities. This heavily influences a diamond's beauty.

A Diamond's Color

Diamonds don't just come in the sparkling clear color we all think of when we think of diamonds. In fact, diamonds come in a range of colors. These colors are denoted by an alphabetical list, which ranges from D to X. White diamonds denoted by a "D" label represents the palest color. Yellow fancy diamonds are still high quality and are given an "S" label. Diamond colors E and F have excellent and beautiful qualities while J to M encompass desirable colors for diamonds that are larger. Diamonds that are blue, red, pink, green and brown usually denote diamonds that have been treated with radiation.

Diamond Clarity

Diamond clarity, too, is considered important when determining diamond quality. Diamonds considered most precious are flawless or perfectly clear, both inside and on the surface. Next on the list in quality are those diamonds that are internally flawless but that have some minor imperfections on the surface. Diamonds with inclusions within that are less clear and those where inclusions can actually be seen with the naked eye are considered the lowest on the clarity scale.

Diamond Carat Weight

Last but not least on the list is diamond carat weight. A carat measures the size of a diamond and of the four Cs on the diamond, it's considered last because the other three on the list are considered more important. Still, carat weight is also important because it plays a significant factor in diamond price.

Points are used to measure carat weight with one carat equalling 100 points, a half carat 50, etc. Price is determined to levels as low as 5 to 10 points, so the weight measurement is critical to know.

Understanding the four Cs of dertimining diamond quality will enable you to be a smart shopper and find the best diamond value for your money. You'll be able to get a lot of quality at a fair price.

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