4Cs Diamond Advice If we don’t already stock your perfect Diamond Ring, we’ll have our International Diamond Dealers find it for you at the very best price. If you are considering the purchase of a Beautiful Diamond, please speak to us at Matthew Stephens- The Diamond Specialists. Over the years diamond professionals have developed universally standardized criteria for assessing a diamonds value. These criteria are known as the Four C’s: Carat, Colour, Clarity and Cut. Cut Cut is the only diamond characteristic directly influenced by mankind - the other three are dictated by nature. A good round brilliant cut releases the life, fire and sparkle of a diamond through the arrangement and proportions of it's 57 or 58 facets (tiny planes that create angles to reflect light). When a diamond is cut to good proportions, light will reflect from one facet to another and disperse through the top of the stone, resulting in a display of brilliance and fire. Diamonds that are cut too deep or too shallow lose light that spills through the side or bottom. The shape of a diamond is a matter or personal taste, with the round brilliant cut the most popular of the shapes. Other shapes are the emerald cut, heart cut, pear cut, round brilliant cut, marquise cut, princess cut and oval cut.
Colour While most diamonds appear white, many of them display hints of colour barely discernible to the naked eye. The closer a diamond approaches colourless, the rarer and more valuable the stone. Diamonds with a strong pure colour are extremely rare and are called 'fancies'. Amongst them can be found red (very rare), pink, blue, yellow, green, orange, brown and black. The tinted yellow colour in diamonds is caused by the presence of nitrogen.
Clarity A diamond's clarity is determined by the degree to which it is free from naturally occurring inclusions, often called 'natures fingerprints'. The number, type, colour, size and position of the internal birthmarks can affect a diamonds value. However, many are invisible to the naked eye requiring magnification under a standard 10x magnification loupe before they become apparent. The fewer inclusions, the rarer the stone, and therefore the more valuable it will be.
Carat Weight Carat refers to weight and therefore the size of a diamond. One carat is divided into 100 points. Therefore, a diamond weighing 50 points is half a carat. Size is the most obvious factor in determining the value of a diamond. But two diamonds of equal size can have very different values, depending on their cut clarity and colour.
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