Cut

Cut Grades for Diamonds: Round brilliant diamonds have specific cut grades: poor, fair, good, very good, or excellent. For all other diamond shapes, the sparkle is determined by Polish and Symmetry ratings, such as “Very Good” for Polish and “Excellent” for Symmetry.
Importance of Cut: The cut of a diamond is crucial because it dictates how light is reflected within the diamond, contributing to its sparkle and overall appearance. A good cut reflects light outward, making the diamond visibly sparkle, whereas a poor cut reflects light downward, diminishing its brilliance.
Lighting Conditions:
Diffused Lighting: Soft, even light like that from fluorescent office lights that shows the depth and shadows in the diamond’s cuts without intense brightness.
Spotlighting: More direct and intense, typically from LED sources, used in jewelry stores to enhance the diamond’s sparkle from its cut. It’s recommended to also see the diamond under diffused light to confirm its appearance.
Combination Lighting: A mix of diffused and spotlighting that highlights both the depth and the sparkle of the diamond.
In essence, even a diamond with excellent clarity and color will not reveal its full potential without a good cut, making the cut the most significant characteristic of a diamond.

Color

The second most important of the 4 C’s is color. The color of the diamond is classified on a letter grading scale from D to Z, with D being the best and Z being the worst.

A diamond with a color grading scale of D, E, and F is excellent and considered a colorless diamond. There is no warmth to the diamond to the naked eye. G, H, I, J are classified as “near colorless.”

You mainly want to base this off of what you see to the naked eye. It’s important to remember that people in a lab are grading stones. A diamond does not go through a machine to be graded.

Clarity

All diamonds have flaws, but it is the number of flaws that a diamond has, along with the type of inclusion, and location that will determine its overall clarity. 

Types of inclusions include: crystals, pinpoints, needles, etc. Inclusions can either be white or black carbon. 

Diamonds are classified by a diamond clarity grade. The clarity grade ranges from flawless (FL) to included (I). 

The diamond clarity grade is as follows: 

• Flawless (FL) = perfect, no inclusions, no blemishes 
• Internally Flawless (IF) = no inclusions but may have blemishes on corners or outside
• Very Very Slightly Included (VVS) = very minimal flaws difficult for a trained eye to identify 
• Very Slightly Included (VS) = imperfections are visible at 10x magnification
• Slightly Included (SI) = most common in many engagement rings, imperfections are easy to identify at 10x magnification 
• Included (I) = imperfections that can visibly be seen without magnification 

Clarity is important because it is a factor that helps determine how valuable your diamond is. Diamonds with the least amount of flaws or imperfections are more valuable than diamonds with inclusions. Just like with color, you also want to base this off of what you see to the naked eye. Just because something looks poor on paper, the diamond in person honestly can still look great. 

We always say that the imperfections of a diamond are the birthmarks of a diamond. As we mention in our Diamond Cut, Color, and Clarity video, no one is walking around with a 10x magnification when they look at your diamond, so that is very important to keep in mind when choosing your stone. As long as you love it, that is what matters most. 

Carat Weight

Carat is also called carat weight because it refers to how much a diamond weighs rather than how big the diamond is. A one-carat diamond weighs 0.2 grams. Because diamond carat refers to how much a diamond weighs and not the size of the diamond, the carat weight is the least important of the 4 C’s of diamonds. Two diamonds with the same diamond carat weight but different shapes can be significantly different in size.