How To Buy A Diamond: Demystifying The 4Cs Of Diamond Buying.
Anytime you talk diamonds; you hear of the 4Cs. Read on to demystify what these are and what you need to know to buy diamonds.
A Diamond is a natural material, each one unique with its characteristics and just like fingerprints. The 4Cs of diamond quality is industry jargon used by jewelers worldwide to describe these attributes of a diamond to determine its overall quality. GIA (Gemological Institute of America) is the world’s foremost authority on diamonds and the ones to have established the “4Cs”, providing consumers with a guideline to make an educated purchase.
Pic courtesy GIA website
01. C - Clarity
This is the existence, quantity and location of internal "inclusions". Sometimes these are too tiny to be eye-visible but a trained gemologist can map these out, using magnification. The industry standard is to use the The GIA Clarity Scale (below). The cleaner the stone, the better it is in terms of value.
Pic. courtesy GIA website
02. C - Color
The GIA Color Scale uses letters to represent the color grading and the BEST grade is a D (colorless) and ends at Z (which is a light yellow or brown). However, you really do want to stick to anything better than a J Color; because really, that is when color really starts to show, even to a layman.
03. C - Cut
Pic. courtesy GIA website
Diamonds can be found in different shapes that you know of as Rounds or Princess or Ovals. However, this C for the “cut” refers to how a diamond’s proportions, angles and facets relate to optimal refraction of light. Without getting too technical, the simpler way to look at the cut is its overall face-up appearance which would vary from Excellent to Poor.
04. C - Carat
This refers to the size of the diamond. Its pretty obvious that for most women out there, bigger IS better.
PSSST….THERE IS ONE MORE…
05. C - Cost (the "fifth C”)
Once you have better knowledge on the 4Cs, set a BUDGET for your purchase. Once you know what it is that you want to spend; you can use the 4C's to optimize your dollars to find the best balance of the above. For some folks, carat (size is most important) and they are willing to compromise on other maybe the clarity or sometimes the color.
It is always helpful to take guidance from a GIA Graduate Gemologist who can assist you with this process and ensure that you have paid a fair price and received a good value on your purchase. Links for more information can be found on the GIA Website or you can download GIA’s free 4Cs app.
If you are looking to purchase a diamond, get in touch with me for globally competitive pricing for certified diamonds. I will ensure that this daunting process is made easy for you by holding your hand through every step of the process.
