4C's of Diamonds
Knowing how to buy a diamond often begins with the 4Cs. Researching a diamond and examining its certification or grading report is certainly necessary. However, if you don’t know what you’re looking at, a certificate or grading report is useless.
The 4Cs of diamond grading are:
- Carat Weight
- Color
- Clarity
- Cut
Understanding the 4Cs allows you to identify excellent diamonds in a sea of less excellent options. And this ensures you get the value you expect from your purchase.
The value of a diamond is often determined by the rarity of one or more of the 4Cs. For instance, colorless diamonds are the most rare, with most diamonds having a slight yellow or brown tint, and are thus the most valued. The same applies for clarity (fewer imperfections is more rare), carat weight (heavier stones are less common), and cut (perfect angles are hardest to achieve).
