Diamond

Clarity is the one C that customers ask about the least and misunderstand the most. Most people walk in already knowing they want a colorless stone and a good cut. Clarity is the one that gets glossed over, usually right up until they see two diamonds of the same size and color priced $2,000 apart. What diamond clarity actually measures Diamonds form deep in the earth under enormous heat and pressure, and almost all of them pick up small internal or external marks along the way. The internal ones are called inclusions. The external ones, on the surface, are called...

Diamond color is the C that's actually about the absence of color. The less a diamond has, the more it's worth, with one big exception we'll get to. Here's how the grading works, and how to make it work for your budget instead of against it. What the D-to-Z scale is measuring A truly colorless diamond lets light pass through and bounce back with nothing added, the same way a drop of clean water does. Most diamonds fall short of that in small ways, carrying a faint yellow or brown tint. The GIA color scale runs from D, completely colorless,...

Of the 4 Cs, cut is the one that does the most work and gets the least credit. Two diamonds can carry the same carat weight and the same color and clarity grades and still look completely different side by side. Cut is almost always why. Cut is not the same thing as shape People use these words interchangeably, but they're not the same thing. Shape is the outline: round, oval, pear, cushion, and so on. GIA reserves an actual cut grade, Excellent through Poor, only for standard round brilliant diamonds, because round is the one shape with a facet...