What Are The 4 C's Of A Diamond
“Diamonds are a girl's best friend” or so the song says. However, it is true that girls love sparkly diamonds, and if you are looking to get one for your special lady or yourself, how can you tell that you are going to get a top quality diamond for the money that you are spending on it?
Often you hear about the four “C’s” of diamond buying. The 4 “C’s” are color, cut, clarity, and carat weight, but what do they really mean? This is the criteria that is used when jewelers are determining what grade the gemstone is to be declared. The grade is important for you to know before purchasing so that you can ensure that you are paying a fair price. So now, we know that they are important, but what do they really say about the gem that you are going to be buying?
A gem's cut means exactly what it sounds like. It is how the stone has been cut. The sparkly factor of the diamond depends largely on its cut. For example, an emerald cut diamond has fewer facets than a round cut diamond. So a round cut diamond is able to catch the light better than an emerald cut stone so it appears as though it has more sparkle to it.
Almost all stones have some flaws to them. The stones clarity will tell you how many of these flaws your stone has. Depending on how visible the flaws are and how large they are will that will determine the stones clarity classification. Diamonds that do not have flaws, or as many flaws, are typically more brilliant and will cost more.
A diamonds color classification will let you know if the diamond that you are looking at purchasing has any color saturation to it. Today people covet colorless diamonds because they allow the light to reflect off the facets of the stone to create sparkle more easily than slightly colored stones.
The easiest qualification for gemologist to determine on a diamond is the carat. A diamonds carat is determined by how large the diamond is and how much it weighs. Obviously, the higher the carat weight is the bigger the price tag is.
Knowing what all of the characteristics of a good diamond are is all fine and good, but now comes the truly personal part of buying a good diamond. Everyone has a price range that they need to stay within so you need to determine which of the 4 “C’s” are the most important to you. That will help you prioritize what you really want in the stone that you purchase. For example, if you really like a sparkly diamond then you will want to choose a cut that encourages light to pass through its many facets and a good color. Or if you prefer and emerald cut diamond then you will want to be sure that the clarity is good because you would hate to be able to see an inclusion in your diamond.
Knowledge is power so making sure that you get the information that you need to make an educated purchase is essential. Once you have that information, it is simply up to you to do some shopping!
