The Four Cs of Diamonds and What That Means to You
by Kristian Krawford
One of the first things to know about diamonds is that each one is unique. Because they are so varied, professionals use a special set of value factors to describe and classify them. They are clarity, color, cut and carat weight. Collectively, they are known as the “Four Cs” and they describe the quality of the diamond. What does this mean to you, the consumer? It relates directly to value.
Diamonds have internal features (known as inclusions) and surface irregularities (called blemishes), which are together considered clarity characteristics. While it may sound like these are both negative effects on a gemstone, they aren’t entirely. For example, a diamond may have several inclusions resembling cracks deep inside. This could affect the value if they are visible to the naked eye. But on the positive side, these characteristics can help professionals identify the stone and provide scientists with information as to how diamonds are formed. Relating to value, inclusions will have more impact than blemishes as many blemishes are easy to remove. Inclusions are trickier to remove and limit the types of cuts that are possible. If a cutter removes a lot of weight from the stone, it will improve clarity but affect value because the stone is now smaller. Flawless diamonds are incredibly rare. So rare, in fact, that one could spend a lifetime in the jewelry industry and never see one! Most diamonds on the market have inclusions. But these are usually only visible under magnification.
Color is important because truly colorless diamonds are also rare. Most diamonds have slight yellowish to brownish tints. But diamonds can come in many other colors. Many people favor the yellow canary diamonds. But my personal favorites are pinks and light blues. Size relates to color because the larger a diamond, the more visible its color.
Well-cut diamonds make light perform in beautiful ways, resulting in three important diamond attributes: brightness, fire and scintillation. Brightness (also called brilliance) is all the white light reflections from both the surface and the inside of the stone. Fire is the bright flashes of color you see from a polished diamond, while scintillation describes the flashes of light and dark when the diamond, the light, or the observer moves. How well a diamond displays these attributes has to do with the quality of the cut. The most popular cut is the brilliant cut, but diamonds can come in many fancy cuts, such as the princess, heart, pear and emerald cut.
Lastly, is carat weight. Many goods are sold by weight—by the kilogram, ounce, pound, etc. Diamonds are sold by weight also. Their weights are stated in metric carats. One metric carat is 1/5th of a gram. The metric carat is further divided into 100 points, i.e. 1/100th of a carat. Diamonds are weighed to a thousandth of a carat and then rounded to the nearest hundredth, or point. Fractions of a carat can mean big differences in cost—sometimes as much as thousands of dollars. The pricing of diamonds is actually a simple concept. Diamonds are rare and therefore, a larger diamond is rarer than a small one. So, a larger stone doesn’t just cost more overall. It also costs more per carat. And this helps explain why diamonds are considered the most valuable and precious of all the precious stones.
