Carat

All precious commodities have a system for giving the weight of the items, and this is no different for precious gems such as diamonds. While the cut of a diamond arguably has the greatest impact on the overall desirability of a diamond, the carat has the heaviest impact on its pricing. This is due to the fact that carat refers to the actual weight of the diamond and it is a diamond’s weight that is one of the primary indicators for how rare a diamond is. Simply stated, the heavier a diamond is, the more rare it will be and thus the more expense.

It is important to be aware that while the term carat refers to a diamond’s weight, it does not refer to its dimensions or shape. The carat weight of a diamond can have an effect on its dimensions and shape, but neither the dimensions nor the shape is wholly dependent on the carat weight. For example, you could find yourself looking at two diamonds that look equal in size as you look down upon them. This does not mean that they have the same carat weight, however. A diamond can be cut to look larger than it is, through increasing its diameter and decreasing its depth, or through other cut techniques. The term carat is used to reference the diamond’s actual weight, nothing more and nothing less.

Be also aware that while a diamond is priced in great part based on its carat weight, it is not simply priced on the whole diamond weight. Diamonds are priced on a per-carat pricing system. This means that if a diamond is 3 carats, the cost of the diamond is based on the cost of each carat in the diamond added together, also known as the total carat weight. The cost per-carat is not stationary as you go up in carat size either. For example, if a one-carat diamond were priced at $7500 a carat, its total carat price would be $7500. One might think that a comparable diamond of two carats, with all other factors being equal, would also be $7500 per carat, with the total carat price being $15000. This is not the case. A diamond’s per-carat price goes up exponentially based on the carat cost points on the diamond pricing report.

The exponential rise of the per-carat price in the diamond is a result of the fact that the rough for the heavier diamonds is rarer than the rough for smaller diamonds. Due to this, the heavier a diamond is, the exponentially greater the per-carat price will be. The aforementioned one-carat diamond might be priced at $7500 per-carat, whereas the comparable two-carat diamond could be $10000 a carat, or $20000 for the whole diamond. Meanwhile, a three-carat diamond of comparable characteristics could have a $15000 per carat price or a total carat weight price of $45000 for the entire diamond. It is for this reason that oftentimes if you are looking for a large total carat weight for the diamond piece, such as a diamond engagement ring, the best choice might be to have a multiple stone setting, as each stone has its own per-carat price.

Clarity

Clarity is the measure of how clearly a diamond is able to allow light to pass through it, reflect off of it, and refract within it. This light quality is determined by a number of factors, one of which is the level of flaws, both internal and external. The internal flaws are referred to as inclusions, and the external flaws are known as blemishes with inclusions more often being the more detrimental of the flaws.

All diamonds contain features, or flaws, such as mineral inclusions and fractures, and most flaws can be so slight as to have no effect on the diamond’s ability to transmit and scatter light. However, larger flaws, and large groupings of flaws, can diminish the ability of light to pass through the diamond unimpeded. The location and coloration of the flaw has tremendous impact on the overall impact on the diamond’s clarity. If a flaw is located near the center of the diamond, and is dark in color, it will often be more detrimental to the diamond’s clarity than a clear flaw closer to the diamonds edge.

Clarity is the one area where you will find that you can sacrifice a certain measure of perfection for the sake of cost, and still have a diamond that you will love and cherish. Clarity has tremendous impact on the final cost of the diamond, as it is one of the 4 Cs taken into account with the assessing of a diamond’s characteristics, as well as determining a diamond’s monetary value. A scale for clarity is used to assess exactly where a particular diamond stands within the world of diamonds. The grading system has been devised to measure the amount of imperfections within diamonds, based on size, location, quantity, color and nature of the inner flaws, or inclusions, when viewed under a magnification of 10X.

Inclusions need not be looked upon with disgust, however, as small inclusions, which detract negligibly from a diamond’s clarity and brilliance, can serve as distinct markers for an individual diamond, as no two diamonds share the same inclusions or inclusion patterns. It is for this reason that it is important to become familiar with the inclusions within your diamond, as they serve as the diamond’s fingerprint. Knowing your diamond’s distinct characteristics will allow you to properly identify your diamond should it leave your person, whether to be cleaned, to be appraised, or for any other reason.

The scale that is most commonly used to determine a clarity grade for diamonds is the GIA clarity grading scale. This grading scale runs from F to I. All diamonds of gem quality need to be graded on this scale in order for the diamond’s value to be assessed properly. The scale runs as follows:

FL: Flawless
IF: Internally Flawless
VVS1 and VVS2: Very, Very Small Inclusions (two separate grades)
VS1 and VS2: Very Small Inclusions (two separate grades)
SI1 and SI2: Small Inclusions
I1, I2 and I3: Inclusions Visible

There is also a grade of SI3 (Small Inclusions 3), but this is used primarily by the EGL (European Gemological Laboratory), and is not recognized by the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) or the AGS (American Gemological Society).

The actual names of each grade are simple to understand. They simply reflect the amount of internal flaws (inclusions) and external flaws (blemishes or occlusions) visible to a trained professional diamond jeweler under a 10x loupe or magnification.

Color

Diamonds are normally thought of as sparkling, scintillating, colorless gems. It is this colorlessness that allows for the incredible and breathtaking play of light that we all have come to associate with the diamond. As you are probably already aware, the color of diamond is primarily dependent on inclusions and foreign matter within the diamond’s crystalline structure. This foreign matter absorbs light, rather than allowing it to pass through unimpeded, thus giving some diamonds varying degrees of color.

In the normal range of the diamond color-grading scale, the more colorless a diamond is, the higher it is graded on the scale. In terms of pricing, diamonds with a higher grade will be more costly, while diamonds rating lower on the scale, thus having more color, will normally prove to be less costly. However, when a diamond has a great deal of color, or extremely high color saturation, it may rate the grade of FA, or Fancy. These are the fancy grades of diamond color, and with these the cost of the diamond may actually go higher than the finest of the D grade of diamonds.

In order to establish which diamonds are which colors, diamond color-grading scales have been created. Most of these color-grading scales were not founded with any measure of scientific rigor, however, and so are no longer used. Today, there are far fewer diamond color-grading scales in use, with GIA’s being the most used and well respected, allowing anyone to view the results of rigorous testing for color-grading in a written report for a particular diamond. GIA’s grading scale ranges from the colorless D to the highly colored Z. It is important to be aware that while most diamonds are graded on a scale measuring the varying degrees of their lack of color, or whiteness, this is not the only sought after type of diamond. There are those diamonds in which various colors are prominent enough to arouse desire for their rarity and distinguished characteristics.

Cut

There are many aspects of a finished diamond that are dependent on the diamond cut, and one should be somewhat familiar with these. The most important of these include: brilliance, fire, number of facets or proportion, symmetry, polish, desired weight, and the diamond's final shape.

The cut of a diamond is, to be blunt, the approach and results of cutting the raw, rough diamond into the polished, shining stone that most of us are familiar with. More specifically, cut refers to the effectiveness of a diamond in reflecting and refracting light.