Diamonds with different proportions and good polish make better use of the light, and will be bright, colorful, and scintillating. A well-cut diamond displays the beauty consumers expect to see in a diamond. A beautiful diamond looks the way it does because of three optical effects: white light reflections called brightness, flashes of color called fire, and areas of light and dark called scintillation.
There must be enough contrast between the bright and dark areas to give the pattern a crisp, sharp look. The diamond industry has long known that some proportion combinations make light perform better than others. As a general rule, the higher the cut grade, the brighter the diamond. Under fluorescent lighting, these diamonds left to right display high, moderate, and low brightness. Shapes other than the standard round brilliant are called fancy cuts.
Fancy shapes also have names of their own, based on their shapes. The best known are the marquise, princess, pear, oval, heart, and emerald cut. Many goods are sold by weight—by the kilogram, ounce, pound, or ton.
Even people who have never bought a diamond are used to the idea that weight and price are related. They understand that a larger diamond is probably more valuable than a smaller one. But there are two things that often surprise people when they start learning about diamonds and carat weight. The first is the precision with which diamonds are weighed. One ounce contains almost carats. A small paper clip weighs about a carat. The metric carat is divided into points.
A point is one hundredth of a carat. Diamonds are weighed to a thousandth 0. Fractions of a carat can mean price differences of hundreds—even thousands—of dollars, depending on diamond quality. Over a carat, diamond weights are usually expressed in carats and decimals.
A diamond that weighs 0. The relationship between rarity, weight, and value can be surprising. People know that a pound of sugar costs twice as much as a half-pound of sugar. Their price depends on a number of variables—weight is just one of them. The more scarce something is, the more it is worth. It also costs more per carat. A 1-carat diamond weighs the same as four 0. But even if all the other quality factors are equal, the larger diamond is worth much more than the sum of the four smaller diamonds.
Carat weight can also be symbolic. While the visual difference between a 0. Karat is a unit of measure used to describe how much pure gold there is in an alloy. Diamond Quality Factors. Diamonds can be fashioned into a variety of shapes and still be beautiful. This emerald cut diamond is colorless and is a D color grade.
In the normal color range, the closer a diamond gets to colorless, the higher its per-carat price. No two diamonds have exactly the same clarity characteristics in exactly the same locations.
This fact helps gemologists identify individual diamonds. The general idea of a quality cut is to have the perfect contrast between the light and dark areas of your diamond for that brilliant, sharp appearance. The AGS and other reputable diamond graders use a point cut quality scale, but different grading laboratories will use slightly different nomenclature.
The cut of a diamond is often confused with its unique, stunning shape. While cut is related to shape, as previously mentioned, the cut and the shape are not the same. Most people are familiar with the round brilliant cut diamond, but might be less familiar with the fancy shapes. The most well known fancy shapes are the princess, pear, cushion, emerald, oval, and marquise.
Some of the lesser known main shapes are the Asscher, heart, and radiant. There is no better judge of light performance than to see the light performance for yourself, and you will know immediately if you are happy with it or not. To get the best feel, examine the stone under different types of lighting, including indoors and natural light. Move the diamond around to see how it sparkles when the light hits it. The 4Cs are certainly vital when you want to check the quality of your diamond.
For this reason, it is important to learn more about where each diamond lands on the 4C grading scales prior to making a purchase. However, simply taking a jewelers word for it is not best practice. This is not a certification by the diamond buyer or seller.
These have become increasingly important due to diamond scams. For example, the report will contain a computer-generated image of the diamond with marks that indicate the location of each inclusion.
In addition to this image, the report contains a table that tells you where the diamond falls on the color, cut, and clarity grading scales. Diamond certificates feature various security features to ensure they are original. One or more of the most reputable diamond graders in the U. Ensuring your diamond has been certified by one of the above diamond graders is absolutely essential to checking its quality. To check your report, simply enter the number on the top of the certification to verify its authenticity.
In order to check the quality of your diamond, you must know what to look for before making a purchase. A working knowledge of the 4Cs and a basic understanding of the importance of a diamond certification from a reputable gemological laboratory will ensure you get the facts. For more information on this subject, visit Brilliance.
The 4Cs of diamond quality are: Color Clarity Cut Carat Weight size All of the 4Cs are important, and when it comes to the diamond quality, all should be considered.
Color Quality of Your Diamond The color quality of your diamond can have a big impact on its value. Clarity Rating of Your Diamond The clarity rating of your diamond is another essential element to understand.
Diamond clarity grades under 10x magnification include: Flawless FL diamonds have no inclusions or blemishes. Internally Flawless IF diamonds have no internal inclusions but may have slight surface blemishes visible under 10x magnification.
Very Slightly Included VS1 and VS2 diamond have minor inclusions that are sometimes detected very easily under 10x magnification. Faint Yellow: If the diamond you are looking at seems reasonably white but has a very faint yellow tint that is nonetheless identifiable, then you may be dealing with a K, L or M stone. The diamond could also be J or I color. Very Light Yellow: Stones in the N-O-P-Q-R range have a visible yellow tint, and although the hue is not intense at all, it is evident enough so that the diamond cannot be mistaken for a colorless or nearly colorless stone.
Light Yellow: If the diamond has a clearly visible yellow color, and it is moderate to strong, then it most likely falls into the S-Z range. Note: These guidelines are for round diamonds. The cut of these stones enhances their brilliance, which makes any tints less noticeable.
All else being equal, diamonds of most other cuts will look less colorless than a round stone of the same color grade. In sum, it is very hard to pinpoint the exact clarity or color grade of a diamond, and even if you follow the above guidelines, your assessment is likely to be off.
The best grading option: You can always send the stone to the GIA or another reputable lab to have your diamond graded. We recommend James Allen read review because you can see a degree video for any diamond before buying it. Diamond Clarity Scale Diamond clarity is graded using letter grades, which indicate how many visible flaws inclusions can be detected in a stone when viewed under 10x magnification. Text continues below ad. Where to Buy Diamond Jewelry? Disclosure: Some of the links on our site may help us earn affiliate commissions from advertisers.
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