The 4 C’s & CZs

Wedding season is in mid-swing. In honor of this festive season of diamonds, we gathered some key concepts on diamonds & CZs! Diamond grading is based around the 4 C’s, remember these 4 simple characteristics and you will be more informed as a buyer or a seller.

Cut:

•Cut is a diamond’s most important characteristic since it has the greatest influence on a diamond’s appearance.

•It has the greatest overall influence on a diamond’s beauty.

•A diamond’s cut grade is an objective measure of a diamond’s light performance, or, what we generally think of as sparkle or glitter.

Color:

•Color refers to a diamond’s lack of color, grading the whiteness of a diamond.

•A color grade of D is the highest possible, while Z is the lowest.

(It follows the alphabet without A,B or C)

Color manifests itself in a diamond as a pale yellow. This is why a diamond’s color grade is based on its lack of color. The less color a diamond has, the higher its color grade. Diamonds can also be other colors, such as black, pink, green or blue, but they are uncommon or manufactured.

Clarity:

•Clarity is a measure of the number and size of the tiny imperfections that occur in almost all diamonds.

•Many of these imperfections are microscopic, and do not affect a diamond’s beauty in any discernible way.

Clarity simply refers to the tiny, natural imperfections that occur in all but the finest diamonds. Diamonds with the least and smallest imperfections receive the highest clarity grades.

Carat Weight:

•Carat is specifically a measure of a diamond’s weight, and by itself may not accurately reflect a diamond’s size.

•We tend to evaluate diamond size by viewing it from the top because that is how diamonds are presented to us when set in a ring.

•To understand diamond size, carat weight should be considered in conjunction with two other criteria: Distance in millimeters across the top of the diamond & cut grade.

Here are a few bonus pointers to augment your new knowledge!

~There are 10 standard diamond shapes: Round, Oval, Emerald, Princess or Square, Marquise, Pear, Heart, Cushion, Radiant, & Asscher

~Round is sometimes referred to as brilliant, since one of the most common cuts for a round diamond is a brilliant cut. The brilliant cut is thought to offer the greatest amount of sparkle.

~Cubic Zirconia or CZs are lab created stones that look like diamonds, but are worth less since they are synthetic. They are ideal for children’s jewelry, pave setting, or as a beautiful alternative in any piece!

~Moissanite stones have the same chemical composition as naturally occurring diamonds, but are in fact lab created. Because of their chemical composition, they fool many into thinking they are real diamonds.

Still craving more information on diamonds and other stones? Check out GIA (Gemological Institute of America) the most trusted stone grading & education center in the world.

-Amelia Upton