The Four C's
Every diamond has a story to tell of its long journey over a period of millions or indeed billions of years, before reaching the Earth’s surface, and each of these diamonds is unique. The diamond industry has many different metrics to establish the value of a diamond, however the most important of these are known as the Four C’s, which stand for Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat.
Cut
The most important of these is Cut, which is reliant on the skill of expert diamond cutters to exploit the size and shape of the rough diamond and its complex relationship with light. On a primary level, there are many shapes that a diamond will be cut into to exploit its shape such as Round, Oval, Marquise, Pear, Princess, Heart and many more. On a secondary and more complex level is the way the diamond is cut to reflect light. A well-cut diamond that is cut to its optimum angles and finish will create ‘Brilliance’ and ‘Fire’. Brilliance is the brightness that is light returning to the eye through the diamond via the prism effect, and Fire is the separation of white light into a rainbow of colours, which flashes and mesmerizes. A poorly cut diamond will leak light through the bottom and therefore the light reflected back at the eye will be less and the brilliance, not as impressive.
Colour
The Colour of diamonds usually refers to the lack of colour in a diamond. Colourless diamonds allow a greater degree of light to pass through them, and therefore the more a diamond lacks colour, the more valuable it will be. Most colourless diamonds have a slight hint of colour, (normally yellow). There are various colours of diamonds that are extremely rare and thus extremely valuable. These are known as ‘fancy diamonds’ and can be yellow, green, brown, blue, orange or pink.
Clarity
The vast majority of diamonds contain minor imperfections known as ‘inclusions’ that although not visible to the naked eye, can be examined under a 10x magnification. These occur during the formation of the diamond and the barometer on which these inclusions are measured is referred to as Clarity. The inclusions in a diamond can affect the refraction of light through a diamond and limit its brilliance and fire. Clarity grades in diamonds are rated between ‘Flawless’ and ‘imperfect’.
Carat
Lastly, the Carat of a diamond is a measurement of its weight. The higher the carat of a diamond is, the higher its value will be. Of course two diamonds that measure the same carats will not necessarily be of the same value, as the value will be affected by the quality of the cut, the rarity of the colour and the lack of inclusions.
