4 C’s OF DIAMOND

COLOUR

• Diamonds occur naturally in all spectral colors, from red to blue, however the most commonly occurring colors are yellow and brown
• The amount of color a diamond possesses is graded by an alphabetical scale D through Z
• D-F are the finest & brightest colorless diamonds, usually for the discriminating customer who can afford the most beautiful and the rare
• G-H are very white & bright face-up, near colorless diamonds that are not as expensive, and when mounted in jewelry it is difficult to see the difference between these and the higher color grades
• I-J are not quite as bright or have very slight hardly noticeable tint
• K-L have a slight tint even the average person will begin to notice
• M or Lower the color will be noticed.
• True to nature, the most desirable colourless or white (D colour) is the most rare. The more colour they have, the more available they become. Therefore you pay a premium for the whiter (colourless) Stone
• Price is directly proportional to the whiteness of diamonds
• Fluorescence or photo luminescence  is caused by a trace amount of the element boron found in the diamond.
• It is activated by UV light
• Blue fluorescence is the most common and sought after 
• In the old days people used to come looking for the perfect "blue-white" diamond. The blue referred to the fluorescence and the white to the diamonds body color
• In direct sunlight diamond of G, H, I J, K appear more white than D,E, F colour diamonds

CLARITY

• Most natural gemstones contain some type of inclusions. Inclusions are tiny imperfections within the stone
• In Diamond the most common inclusions are specks of carbon that have not crystallized and appear as black dots
• Some inclusions can be cracks, fissures, and bubbles
• modern technology allows some inclusions to be removed by laser
• The presence of inclusions in a gemstone affect the passage of light through it, so the more inclusions a stone has, the less light gets through, and therefore less sparkle

The grading system is shown below:

• IF or FL (Internally Flawless or Flawless)
• VVS (Very Very Small inclusions, or Very Very Slightly imperfect) grades 1 and 2
• VS (Very Small inclusions, or Very Slightly imperfect) grades 1 and 2
• SI (Small Inclusions, or Slightly Imperfect) grades 1 and 2, and finally
• I (Included, or Imperfect) grades 1 to 3.

CUT

• This is the only property of a Diamond that is totally influenced by man
• Cut is not only a shape that is desired, it can also influence the optical properties of the stone
• Some fancy cuts like hearts, trilliants and pear shapes are more wasteful than others, so therefore cost more per carat than a plain round brilliant or princess cut

CARAT

• A diamond weight is a very important factor to its cost
• CARAT means weight
• 1 carat = 1/5 of a gram
• One carat weight is then broken down into 100 equal parts called "points"; 75 points equal 3/4 of a carat, 50 points equal 1/2 of  of a carat
• Larger, heavier diamonds are much rarer. Their price per carat increases geometrically not arithmetically

e.g. a two – carat diamond will be far more than double the price of a one – carat diamond of the same quality