The 4Cs of Diamonds
Understanding the Four C's is the important first step in your journey to buying the perfect diamond.
Buying a diamond for the first time can be confusing and overwhelming, but by taking a few moments to read our guide will help you understand why quality and prices vary so much. It will explain diamond characteristics and how important they are to a diamonds appearance.
If you have any further questions you can talk direct to one of our diamond consultants online or telephone 01234 352343
Cut
The first C is cut. This is directly influenced by the hand of the cutter rather than by nature. This is the most important factor of a diamond.
Cut is the physical form of the diamond, most importantly the proportions and angles the skilled cutter has formed in the diamond. Good cutting causes the light to be dispersed and reflect from each of the facets. Of course this means a poor cut will allow light to be lost through the sides and bottom of a diamond. This reflection of light is the beauty of the diamond, and a well cut diamond reflects the maximum amount of light, so that the diamond sparkles with fire, brilliance and scintillation.
The cut is not to be confused with the shape of a diamond; the most popular shape is the round brilliant, though other shapes include emerald, marquise, oval, heart, pear and princess. The shape you choose is all about your personal taste.
Colour
The second C is colour. Many diamonds may appear clear or colourless, but most of them contain subtle tones of yellow and brown. The colour has an influence on its beauty and price - completely colourless and icy white diamonds are very rare and fetch the highest prices.
The colours are graded according to alphabet letters, beginning with D, which is exceptionally white and exceptionally rare, and moving through to the letter Z, where diamonds are tinted a yellow-brown colour. Typical gem quality diamonds can often be found in jewellery with colours anywhere around I to M.
At Baker Brothers we will never pick any diamonds that are less than an H colour, all of our diamonds are H and above as it is extremely important to have a white, bright diamond.
Clarity
The third C is clarity. Clarity refers to the degree to which a diamond is free from naturally occurring inclusions. These inclusions are often called nature's fingerprints or diamond birthmarks.
Such inclusions came about when the diamonds were formed billions of years ago, under intense temperature and pressure, formed from minerals or gasses and other gemstones that may have been trapped inside as the diamond cooled.
Often the inclusions are invisible to the naked eye, though the size, location and number can affect the stream of light through a diamond considerably. The more inclusions the less the diamond will sparkle. For this reason when we hand select our diamonds for clarity we look at them loose - free of any mountings. This means we can select for location size and number of the inclusions.
Inclusions look like tiny black/grey specks or crystals like clouds or feathers inside the diamond. Some of these inclusions are visible to the naked eye, while others need a standard 10x magnification loupe. Fewer inclusions means greater clarity and this in turn mean a cleaner, rarer, more valuable diamond.
Baker Brothers only ever selects diamonds of an SI1 grading and above. Within each of the clarity grades the size and location can vary significantly, which is why Baker Brothers scrutinise each and every diamond. Through selecting by hand we are able to ensure diamonds of fantastic qualities with brilliant sparkle.
Carat
The fourth C is carat. The weight of a diamond is expressed in carats. The measurement of a carat is based on the naturally occurring unit of weight, the seed of the carob tree. Traditionally, diamonds were weighed against these seeds until a system was standardised. Today, one carat is set to a fixed weight of 0.2 grams.
A carat is divided into 100 points, meaning that a diamond of 50 points weighs half a carat, 25 points a quarter of a carat and so on.
Large diamonds are rarer than small diamonds. Hundreds of tons of soil must be excavated in order to uncover a one carat gem quality diamond. Less than 1% of all women will ever own a one carat or larger diamond.
The most obvious factor in determining the value of a diamond is size, but two diamonds of the same carat weight can have very different values. The cut of a diamond alone can have an effect of up to 50% on the value alone before introducing the colour and clarity, which is why all four Cs are taken into account by Baker Brothers diamond specialists when creating your beautiful diamond jewellery.
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