4Cs of a Diamond
4Cs of a Diamond: Proper Buying Guide
Things to Know Before Buying a Diamond
Buying a diamond is a significant investment – it can be costly, depending on the size and quality of the diamond. Real diamond buying is a confusing process, similar to purchasing diamonds, so the question arises: What are the 4Cs of a diamond? Which shops should to purchase from? What quality to buy? Will there be any certification for the diamonds you can get, and many others?
Before buying Diamonds, understand the 4Cs
By this post, We will try to give you a little bit of knowledge of 4Cs of a diamond in simple words so you can understand while shopping for diamonds with complete confidence. While anyone wants to buy a diamond, there are many prospective to learn or understand. Starting directly with the steps that will help you in your buying process.
Understanding the 4Cs of a diamond
Any Diamond analysis is determined with the 4Cs of a diamond, which is calculated by highly skilled and experienced experts. The cut, colour, carat, and clarity are included in the 4Cs of a diamond. Each of these four aspects is measured against the respective ranking system, followed differently by many laboratories. Laboratories like GIA, IGI, and many more generate the proper report or certificates, which help anyone to find the details of the diamonds that they are interested in buying of that diamond.
First C: Cut
The Cut is the most important of the 4Cs of a diamond. The Cut of a diamond can be of many types, but an excellent cut will give a maximum sparkle, and shine as the light will pass equally from all the facets.
If for example, You want to buy a diamond and you have found a diamond with the Color grade E, Clarity of VS but the cut of the diamond is Fair, and let’s call it to option 1, and you find another diamond with an excellent cut with the color grade F and Clarity of VS as an option 2. So, you should select the diamonds that have a better cut, even if the colour grade you are getting will be F, but the sparkle and shine with the excellent cut will be maximum in option 2 as compared with option 1.
There are many laboratories that provide different ways of grading scores or certificates. We are taking the GIA cut grading system, which is used in the evaluation of diamonds and to make it easier, they follow these five grades:
Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, and Poor.
Second C: Color
Once the diamond cut is determined, it’s important to consider the colour of a diamond. The diamonds come in a variety of colours other than white, are blue, brown, yellow, pink, red, etc., which come under the heading of colored diamonds. The most liked or demanded diamonds are colourless, yellow, and brown. To know more about the colours in detail, click here on colours.
The laboratories have different grading systems for the colour, and according to the GIA, grade D, representing a perfectly colourless diamond, continues to grade Z, with the increasing shades of yellow or brown. The GIA follows these 5 categories for the colour grading system:
Colourless, Near colourless, Faint, Very light, and Light.
The table describing the categories according to their grades:
| Categories | Gradings |
| Colorless | D,E,F |
| Near Colorless | G,H,I,J |
| Faint | K,L,M |
| Very light | N,O,P,Q,R |
| Light | S to Z |
Third C: Clarity
Clarity refers to the degree of imperfections or flaws that are present in a diamond. Considering the number of Inclusions is an important part when buying a diamond. And if you purchase without having a simple, basic knowledge, it might affect your decision in the long run and can make your investment go wrong. The inclusions can be small, medium, or large and in an inconspicuous place. For a better and quicker understanding of clarity, we have made it as simple as possible with the help of a table.
The table below explains the category with the grading and its determining factors.
Category |
Grade |
Determining factors |
| Flawless | FL | No inclusions are visible under a microscope |
| Internally Flawless | IF | No inclusions are visible under a microscope, but a very minute on the surface of the diamond. |
| Very Very Slightly Included | VVS-1 | Inclusions are very minute and difficult to see from the naked eyes. |
| Very Very Slightly Included | VVS-2 | It denotes less than VVS-1, as it has a bit more inclusions than VVS-1. |
| Very Slightly Included | VS-1 | Inclusions are very small but visible, under 10x magnification. |
| Very Slightly Included | VS-2 | Inclusions are visible more easily than in VS-1 |
| Slightly Included | SI-1 | Inclusions are visible from the very first look under the 10x magnification. |
| Slightly Included | SI-2 | Inclusions are seen more frequently than SI-1. |
| Included | I-1 | Inclusions can be seen without a lens, with some efforts given. |
| Included | I-2 | Inclusions can be seen from the naked eyes and without any efforts. |
| Included | I-3 | Inclusions affect the brilliance and structure of a diamond, fully defective. |
Fourth C: Carat
A carat is a measurement of the weight of the diamond. Diamond weight is so precise that the polished diamond is weighted to a thousandth of a carat and then rounded off the third decimal. And it’s very important to know the carat weight while purchasing the diamond.
A simple example will help you understand the carat.
If I want to purchase a diamond and I have a budget of say 10,000 bucks and for say the I’m looking for a diamond of 1 Carat with the color of white premium F, and it cost me like 15,000 bucks, and if I don’t have that much budget and also I don’t want to compromise on the color quality, what can I do is, I can select the diamond less than 1 carat, which can be in my budget and without compromising on my needed quality.
ASK FOR THE DIAMOND GRADING REPORT OR CERTIFICATE
An important question in everyone’s mind is, will there be any proof of the quality of a diamond? The answer is yes, many different laboratories in the world are there to help you understand diamonds in detail before you buy any diamonds.
The main question arises in the mind: Where or from whom to buy diamonds?
When it comes to buying diamonds, it’s important to know from which source we are purchasing. Either you can buy it from those who have the proper expertise and make you feel trusted, such as a diamond jeweller or gemologist or from a known friend or family member on whom you have trusted for many years or from online websites or applications which are available for diamond trading. Remember one thing, you select whatever source you want, but without the basic knowledge about the diamonds, your investment will always be at risk.
My advice for the right person will be the appropriate trainer or professional who is always open to your answers and able to explain things easily and clearly, not in any twisted ways. These kinds of people will work according to your needs, requirements, and always provide or guide you with the best suggestions that are beneficial for you.
