4Cs

Diamond cut refers to the arrangement of a diamond’s facets. For many people, it’s the most important of the 4Cs. A diamond’s cut is often mistaken as meaning its shape (oval, pear, etc), but a diamond’s cut grade is actually about how well the facets interact with light. The best diamond cuts reflect the most light – if a diamond is poorly cut there will be dull spots where the light isn’t reflected. So cut greatly impacts a diamond’s brilliance, which affects its sought-after sparkle. Even diamonds with the highest colour or clarity grade will appear dull if poorly cut.

Carat refers to the weight of a diamond, rather than its size. A diamond’s carat weight is closely related to its size (a large diamond usually weighs more), but they are measured in different ways. Diamond size is measured in millimetres (mm) while diamond weight is measured in carat (ct). People are very interested in the carat of a diamond, but it’s not the only thing that matters. For example, a perfectly flawless one carat diamond could be worth considerably more than a 3-carat diamond with imperfections. Quite simply, it’s not all about size.

What colour is a diamond? Many say they’re colourless, however, look closely and most contain subtle tints of yellows, soft pinks and rich browns. Truly colourless diamonds are known as white diamonds and are extremely rare and the most valuable. Diamond colour is graded from D to Z – D being the whitest, most colourless diamond and Z containing noticeable yellow, brown or pink tints. The letters D to Z represent a range of colour based on a combination of tone, lightness or darkness and saturation. This combination is called depth of colour and is a measure of how noticeable the colour is.

Anything with flawless beauty is rare indeed. But it’s actually slight imperfections that make beauty unique. And so it is with diamonds. Diamond clarity refers to the assessment of imperfections of a stone. Nearly every diamond has external and internal characteristics that we call blemishes and inclusions. Blemishes are surface marks and inclusions are imperfections within the stone. Diamonds are formed underground, under tremendous heat and pressure, making it extremely rare to find a 100% perfect diamond. While the rarest diamonds are almost flawless, most have some form of blemish or inclusion, but this adds to their uniqueness – no two are exactly alike.