Understanding The 4 C's Of When Diamond Shopping

It goes without saying that when you are diamond shopping, nobody wants to seem like a fool, and they all want to receive the best bang for their buck. We should face it, even if you somehow manage to get the greatest deal of a lifetime, diamonds will never be cheap. Out of all the most cherished gems, they are by far the most expensive on the market, and they are also the ones that are held to the highest criteria as far as quality can go.

When you are going to be showing off a big rock with pride on your wrist, neck, or ear lobe, you want it to spark and reflect as much as it possibly can. Well, that is where the 4 C's come in. These are cut, color, clarity and carat. Let's go see each in much more detail.

Cut refers to the effective cut of the stone, it is not the "shape" of the stone, as the term is often employed to mean. Now, you need to understnd, diamonds are mined from the planet as entirely raw, rough stones, which are shapped a whole lot like a pebble from your private road. These are next cut to the complete shape you see by a worker applying a series of polishing wheels. The higher quality of the cut, the better the angles, and the more light you will see reflected back to the eye in the form of glitter.

Color is the color of the rock. A diamond that has a poor color rating will usually look to have a yellow shade to it, where as a really clean stone is "colorless". When browsing, you will learn that these are rated on an alphabetical lettering system, starting at D. The grades D, E and F are all considered to be absolutely colorless for all considerations, with D having the least color of all.

Clarity references the number of flaws inside the diamond, which are small patches of minerals that were trapped in the stone when it was made. The clearer the diamond, the better it will seem to the naked eye.

Now, for most cases, carat goes without explaining it. This is simply diamond's size, measured by weight - nothing more, nothing less. The larger the carat, the larger the stone.

This article was put together by Alberto Maeses, a certified diamontologist, and also a successful author. Please visit religious jewelry and while you're here, consider gemstone rings.

By: Alberto Maeses

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