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When choosing a diamond there are 4 qualities to keep in mind. Cut | Color | Clarity | Carat Weight |
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| The cut of a diamond - its roundness, its depth and width, the uniformity of the facets - all determine a diamond's ability to reflect brilliance. Many gemologists consider the cut the most important diamond characteristic because even if a diamond has perfect color and clarity, a diamond with a poor cut will have dulled brilliance.
The width and depth have the greatest affect on how light travels within the diamond, and how it exits in the form of brilliance.
The diamonds proportions, specifically the depth compared to the diameter, and the diameter of the table compared to the diameter of the diamond, determine how well light will reflect and refract within the diamond.
These proportions are calculated and applied to a cut grading scale that makes it easy to understand how well each reflect light:
Which Cut Grade is Best
*Article courtesy of Blue Nile |
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| The color of a diamond has the second biggest impact on its price, after carat weight. Did you know that diamonds come in every color of a rainbow?
Grading color in the normal range involves deciding how closely a stone's body color approaches colorlessness. Most diamonds have at least a trace of yellow or brown body color. With the exception of some natural fancy colors, such as blue, pink, purple, or red, the colorless grade is the most valuable. If a diamond does not have enough color to be called fancy, then it is graded in a scale of colors ranging from Colorless to Light Yellow, "D" through "Z". A diamond with a "D" color is considered to be colorless. If the color is more intense than "Z", it is considered fancy. A fancy yellow diamond fetches a higher price than a light yellow diamond. The Laboratories only grade diamonds which are unmounted, or "loose", and they do so under special light. Once a loose diamond is mounted on a ring, even the trained professional cannot always tell the difference between, say a "D" color and an "E" or "F" color diamond!
*Article courtesy of diamondgrading.com |
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| The clarity of a diamond refers to how clear, or "clean" the diamond is. The more "clean" the diamond, the higher the price. Most diamonds have "imperfections" in them. The clarity scale is a measure of the severity of those imperfections or "inclusions" as it is known in the trade.
For example, a deep break in a diamond which is not that visible when you look at the stone face-up, could sometimes have a greater impact on the clarity of a stone, than a small black crystal which you can see very clearly face-up. The following is the Diamond clarity-scale: FL-Flawless These stones have no imperfections inside or on the outside of the stone under the magnification of a loupe of 10 power. IF-Internally Flawless These stones have no inclusions under a loupe with a 10 power magnification. VVS1,VVS2-Very Very Slightly Imperfect These stones have very small inclusions which are very difficult to see under a loupe with a 10 power magnification. VS1,VS2-Very Slightly Imperfect These stones have small inclusions which are slightly difficult to difficult to see under a loupe with a 10 power magnification. SI1,SI2-Slightly Imperfect These stones have inclusions which are fairly easy to see under a loupe with a 10 power magnification, or visible to the naked eye. I1,I2,I3-Imperfect These stones have inclusions which range from eye visible to very easily seen to the naked eye.
SI3 Outside of the GIA Diamond clarity scale is a grade you may have seen called SI3. The Rap Sheet, which is a Trade Publication, honors the SI3 grade which is given out by EGL, the European Gemological Laboratory. It is described as a split between the SI2 and I1 clarity grade. *Article courtesy of diamondgrading.com
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| The size of a diamond has the biggest impact on its price. The metric carat, which equals 0.20 gram, is the standard unit of weight for diamonds and most other gems. If other factors are equal, the more a stone weighs, the more valuable it will be.
Here are several ways to express 1 carat: 1 ct. It is very important not to mistake carat weight as referring to the dimensions of a diamond. It refers to weight only. Why the distinction? Because weight can hide in different parts of the stone. You can have a) well-cut, b) deep, or c) shallow Diamonds. Some may appear larger than others due to its cut. How "big" is a carat? Many people would like to "understand" carat sizes in real terms. Here's a simple trick to get an idea. Simply take a ruler, and look at the table below. These are some approximate, sample carat-weight to diameter-widths for popular sizes.
*Article courtesy of diamondgrading.com |
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