The 4 C's: the four characteristics of a diamond

Diamonds are graded by trusted institutions like the HRD or GIA based on several characteristics. While such a grading process is quite complex, it can be simplified to a few key factors. When buying diamonds there are four main characteristics you should look at. These 4 C's as they are called are:

Carat weight
Colour
Clarity
Cut

Diamond carat

The weight of a diamond is expressed in carats. 1ct = 0,2 gram. Carat weight refers to the size of your diamond and is a very important factor in determining the value of a diamond.

.05	0.10	0.15	0.20	0.25	0.5	0.75	1.00	1.50	1.75	2.00	2.50	3.00	4.00	5.00	7.00

Depending on your screen settings, indicated sizes are not always exact. Please verify that your screen is set to 1020 pixels.

Diamond colour

Diamond colour is graded by comparing it to master stones under standardized artificial light equivalent to northern daylight. The GIA uses colour grades from D to Z for normal diamonds. A diamond with a colour grade of D, E or F is considered to be colourless, while diamonds with a colour grade from S to Z are designated as being faint yellow. For fancy coloured diamonds there is a different grading system that values the intensity of the colour.

The indicated colours below are only meant to show the difference in shades for colourless diamonds.

D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N-O	P-R	S-Z

Diamond clarity

A diamond should shine bright and have an inner fire that is worthy of the world’s most precious gemstones. Diamond clarity refers to the amount of inclusions and blemishes a stone has that detract from its value.

A diamond is ”loupe clean” or “internally flawless” if, after examination by an experienced grader with a loupe 10 x under normal light conditions, it has been found free of internal characteristics. The other clarity grades are determined by the size, position, brightness and number of internal characteristics.

External characteristics and structure phenomena can be mentioned under ”identification marks” or ”comments”. The lowest clarity grades on the scale (indicated by p for piqué) refer to inclusions that can be seen by an experienced grader with the naked eye.

LC/IF	VVS1	VVS2	VS1	VS2

SI1	SI2	P1	P2	P3

Diamond shapes and diamond cut

While most people will think of the round brilliant diamond, there are also several other popular diamond shapes that can look amazing in diamond jewellery The 7 most popular diamond shapes can be found below.

Diamond cut also refers to the quality of the cut. For example Diamondland offers special diamond cuts that have even more facets than the standard round brilliant diamond, which increases their brilliance and thus their beauty.