Diamonds

Rare, tough and the most desired gemstones in the world, It'ss no surprise it is the ultimate symbol of love. No diamonds are the same a bit like finger prints, yet they all share certain characteristics that allow us to compare and evaluate them. The way this is done is called the 4C’s: Colour, Clarity, Cut, Carat Weight and Shapes...

Carat weight

This is the size of the stone, this can be measured in points, 100 pointe = 1 carat. For example 0.10ct = 10pt, 0.25ct = 25pt or ¼ carat, 0.50ct = 50pt or ½ carat. Diamonds come in all different sizes, hand picking a diamond to suit can be lots of fun along with a great learning experience.

Please note that above image, is not to scale.

The clarity of a diamond talks about the internal and external characteristic of a diamond, sometime referred to as impurities in the stone. This ranges from FL (flawless) to I2 or even I3 (visible to the eye)
This is graded using a 10X magnification, which allows to grader to inspect the internals of the stone.

• IF - FL flawless/Internally Flawless= No inclusions visible, by an expert at 10X magnification
• VVS1-VVS2= Very, Very slight inclusions very difficult for an expert to find under 10X 
• VS1-VS2= Very slight inclusions difficult for an expert to find under 10X
• SI1-SI2= Noticeable, relatively easy to find under 10X. Not visible w/o magnification in a face-up direction. 
• I1-I3= Obvious under 10X, may be visible to the unaided eye, I3's inclusions may effect the stone's durability.

The colour of a diamond ranges from colourless to light yellow/ brown, this is measured on an alphabetical scale ranging from D-(colourless) to Z (light yellow/Brown). With actual stones, the colour difference would appear like this:

This is evaluated by using a master set of grading stones.

Cut

This refers to how well the stone is cut and polished, making sure the proportions of the stone are equal and balanced. A well cut diamond with an excellent polish will allow the light to travel correctly though the diamond giving it a much better “sparkle” or “fire” to the stone. A poor cut stone may look good under shop lights but put it in to daylight it may not have the same spackle.

The above diagram represents light travelling from the top of the diamond, to the cutlet (base point of the diamond) and back up throught the top. The better the cut, the better the sparkle, the example in the center is the ideal cut.

Shapes

Diamonds come in many shapes, below is an example of the range available.