Know Your Diamonds
Diamonds are one of the world's most precious natural resources that are formed under intense heat and pressure. Each diamond can have its own variety of characteristics making each diamond as individual as we are.
Buying a diamond online may seem like a daunting and difficult task but by using standards established by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) the purchase of a diamond online can be easy. Anyone who is interested in buying a diamond should familiarize themselves with the 4 C'S:
CUT
Cut is generally considered to be the most important characteristic of the 4 C'S.
A diamond's purpose or job is to sparkle and refract as much light as possible. How a diamond has been cut and polished will greatly affect its scintillation, brilliance and fire.
Every diamond regardless of its shape gets its brilliance, scintillation and fire by proper cutting and polishing of the diamond facets so that it allows the maximum amount of light that enters through the top to be reflected and dispersed back through the top of the diamond.
GIA DIAMOND CUT SCALE
A fair or poorly cut diamond with poor proportions will leak light from the side or bottom of the stone resulting in lack-lustre performance.
When a diamond is cut to exacting proportions (as shown in the diagram) above with excellent or very good symmetry and polish, the natural beauty and brilliance of the diamond is unleashed providing a spectacular optical performance of brilliance, scintillation and fire.
DIAMOND COLOR
Diamonds are graded on a scale ranging from D-Z, with a "D" colour showing no colour at all or being colourless. As one moves down the scale the more tinges of yellow, brown or grey will appear. Usually the color differences will range from white (colorless) to yellow.
GIA COLOR SCALE
DIAMOND CLARITY
Clarity refers to the amount of inclusions that are present in a diamond.
Diamonds are a product of nature and are formed deep underground with intense heat and pressure. There are almost always flaws or inclusions because they are naturally formed. These inclusions can be internal or external.
GIA CLARITY SCALE
The GIA Clarity Scale documents 11 different clarity grades.
When determining the clarity of a stone several factors are considered: size and nature of the inclusion, the location and amount of the inclusion(s) visible under 10X magnification.
CARAT
Metric Carats is the measurement for diamonds and gemstones. The equivalent of One Carat is 0.2 grams.
A Carat is divided into 100 points. a 0.75 point diamond weighs 0.75 carats.
However, 2 diamonds of similar weight may have very different costs depending upon the attributes of the colour, clarity and cut.