As the famous Marilyn Monroe song suggests, diamonds are a girl’s best friend—but only when your purchase is guided by a solid understanding of the 4Cs. In other words, carat weight, cut, clarity, and colour are the holy grails of describing, classifying, and evaluating diamonds, as each of these precious stones is truly one of a kind.
Every sparkling beauty comes with certain characteristics that determine the overall diamond quality. Like their natural counterparts, even lab grown diamonds are evaluated based on the 4Cs. And the rarer a characteristic, the higher the stone’s price. Hence, to look amazing in diamond jewellery and make a worthy investment simultaneously, keep this guide on 4Cs handy.
Decoding the 4Cs of Diamonds
Whether it comes to a diamond’s sparkle, quality, or cost, each of the 4Cs and their combinative effect play an integral role. Jewellery professionals worldwide grade these gems across carat, cut, clarity, and colour on standardised scales. Stones that score highly on the diamond 4C chart are typically valued more than others.
So, let’s understand each of the 4Cs better now.
Carat
The carat weight refers to the weight of the diamond, not its size.You might find it fascinating that the term carat, originally inspired by carob seeds, dates back to the 1500s. Today, a carat is the standard milligram among jewellers to measure a diamond’s weight. One carat equals to 200 milligrams- a metric that is used both nationally and globally.
However, the carat alone has nothing to do with determining the price of the diamond. Additional variables like the source, shape, symmetry etc. might be involved as well along with the other 3Cs.
For instance, a diamond weighing 1 carat costs more than four diamonds (each weighing 0.25 carat) put together.
Cut
One of the most recognisable characteristics of the diamonds is its cut. The cut indicates how a stone behaves with light. The term also refers to a diamond’s overall design, including the proportions and arrangements of its multiple facets.
During any interaction with light, all of a diamond’s angles and facets impact the quantity of light hitting your eye. Usually, the higher the cut grade, the brighter the diamond. One can determine how skillfully a diamond is by understanding terms such as brightness (reflections of white light), fire (colour flashes) and scintillation (areas of dark and light). Leading jewellers experiment with various combinations of proportions to obtain maximum brilliance and hence, diamond quality.
Cut also describes the shape of a stone. While round is the standard and more prevalent cut, pear, marquise, heart, oval, princess, and emerald are the fancy ones.
Clarity
Understanding the relation of 4Cs to diamonds requires you to focus closely on clarity,which indicates the relative lack of blemishes and inclusions. So, what are blemishes? These are essentially scratches or marks on the diamond’s surface that might be caused due to the stress and pressure as the diamond grows.
Inclusions, conversely, refer to mineral crystals or other impurities inside the stone since its formation. Depending on their location, they might often remain in a cut and polished gem, too.
Just like the other 4Cs of diamonds, clarity directly impacts the stone’s value. The better the clarity, the higher the price. Flawless (F) gems are at the top of the clarity grading system and lack visible blemishes and inclusions when examined under a microscope with 10x magnification. However, they are really rare. The other diamonds are classified as:
- Internally flawless (IF) – zero inclusions but slight blemishes
- Very, Very Slightly Included (VVS)
- Very Slightly Included (VS)
- Included (I) – you can spot inclusions with the naked eye
A diamond’s clarity grade is based on the number, size, type, position, and color of the blemishes and inclusions. Lab grown diamonds are grown under controlled conditions of a lab, which could result in higher clarity grades when compared to natural diamonds- classified as type IIA.
Colour
Colour is another crucial characteristic of the diamond 4C chart since the slightest color difference can significantly affect the diamond’s value. While diamonds come in a wide array of colors, from colorless to light shades of yellow and even brown, the ones without any color are the rarest and most expensive. These are structurally perfect and chemically pure. Other stones are graded and priced against the standard set by them.
A color grade might be assigned to a diamond in top laboratories after comparing it with masterstones or brilliant, round diamonds of known color. The color scale generally follows this order—colorless, near colorless, faint, very light, and light—where the highest diamond quality is naturally associated with colorless stones. Owing to advanced technologies, lab grown CVD diamonds allow for better control, often resulting in diamonds with comparatively superior quality (type IIA).
When exposed to ultraviolet rays, many diamonds also give off fluorescence (a visible light). When it comes to gem-quality diamonds, blue is the fluorescent color most commonly emitted. In rare instances, fluorescence can also be yellow, orange, white, or another color. If the fluorescence is a strong blue, it can make a pale yellow diamond look almost colorless in daylight. However, a diamond might look oily or cloudy if the fluorescence is extra strong, which can lower its price.
Conclusion
So, now that you know what the 4 Cs of diamonds mean and how they impact a stone’s beauty, brilliance, and value, shopping for diamond jewellery is sure to become a simpler affair.
Always put your trust in reputed, certified brands that have many years of industry experience and offer proper certification. This ensures you're making an informed purchase, receiving best quality products, and in turn making a smart investment.
FAQs:
- What do the 4Cs in a diamonds chart mean?
The 4Cs refer to the key characteristics of a diamond that determine its overall quality and value; namely--carat, cut, clarity, and colour.
- What diamond clarity is considered the best?
Flawless (F) is the highest clarity rating for a diamond, meaning the diamond has no blemishes on the surface or inclusions trapped on the inside.
- What unit do jewellers use for measuring a diamond’s weight?
Jewellers use carat (ct.) to express a diamond’s weight. It is equivalent to 0.2 grams or 200 milligrams.
