Diamonds were "born" billions of years ago, deep below the surface of the Earth. Formed of pure carbon, which crystallized under immense heat and pressure within the earth, diamonds were dramatically forced upward through volcanic eruptions. When admiring diamonds, especially those of a carat or more, considerations of cut, color, clarity, carat weight, shape, and cost are your guide to a diamond's quality and ultimately, value.
Cut The cut of the diamond is the most important of all the C's and the least understood. We will give you a complete breakdown on cut from the average cuts to the "super ideals" and how to understand what you are being told. We will share with you the newest technology including a daring look at something you will see much more in the next few years, performance based cutting analysis.
Color The color is the second most import of the C's and the one that is often sold for the wrong reasons. Why the D-E-F colors may or may not be the right color for you. Reading this will give you an understanding of color that could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
By carefully reading the following pages, you can start along the path of becoming an educated diamond buyer. We will be sharing our 30+ years of experience with you in the hopes of providing you with the knowledge necessary to purchase heirloom quality jewelry your family will proudly keep for generations to come.
Clarity Clarity is the one area where you can save the most money without it becoming apparent to the eye. Until you get into the lower reaches of the clarity scale, you will be spending more to appease the desire to own the very best, not in changing the look of the diamond. Clarity is based on inclusions, or flaws, in the diamond. Size, location, number, and type are all used in grading a diamonds clarity.
Carat_Weight The word "carat" originated from a natural unit of weight: the seeds of a carob tree. Diamonds were traditionally weighted against these seeds until the system was standardized and one carat was fixed at one-fifth of a gram. A carat is divided into 100 "points", so that a diamond of 50 points weighs half of a carat. Larger carat weights are more rare then smaller ones, meaning that diamond values rise exponentially as carat weight increases.
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