The Four Cs

 The term, ‘ Four Cs’, refers to the four qualities of a polished diamond considered by industry experts to be the most significant. These four qualities are: Diamond Cut, Diamond Color, Diamond Clarity, and Diamond Carat Weight. When shopping for a loose diamond or diamond jewelry, the average consumer will be looking at polished diamonds only. These diamonds have already been cut, polished, weighed and typically graded by a certified laboratory.

When shopping for diamonds or diamond jewelry, it is imperative that you have at least a basic understanding of the Four Cs.  

Most people assume that all diamonds are clear and colorless, but the fact of the matter is that most diamonds are yellowish brown, and some diamonds, called fancy colored diamonds, are blue, pink and even red.  When shopping for regular, non fancy colored diamonds, lower quality diamonds sometimes show a yellowish or brownish tint and might appear "milky" or "cloudy" as opposed to colorless.  Diamonds with notable yellow or light brown tints and high levels of cloudiness are too poor of quality to be used in fine jewelry are sold to be used for industrial purposes. Diamond color is analyzed on every diamond grading report and the grades range from D (colorless-highest quality) to Z (light yellow- lowest quality).  Most fine jewelry retailers and loose diamond traders sell diamonds that range in color grade from D to J. Read more about Diamond Color.  

When diamonds are being formed at extremely high pressures deep deep beneath the earth's crust, many times elements get trapped in the crystal formation, sometimes air gets trapped, and other times tiny cracks form.  Any of these irregularities found in a diamond are figured into their clarity grade.  Irregularities that exist within the diamond are called "inclusions" and those that are located on the surface of the diamond are called "blemishes".  Diamond clarity is graded under 10x magnification since many inclusions and blemishes are invisible to the naked eye.  Clarity grades range from F (Flawless - no inclusions or blemishes at 10x magnification) to I3 (Included, 3- inclusions and blemishes are easily visible under 10x magnification and usually visible to the naked eye).  Read More on Diamond Clarity. 

The carat is the standardized unit of weight used to measure diamonds and gemstones. It's not reliably correlated with a diamond's size, since diamonds vary in density and polished diamonds may appear larger if they are wider and shallower, but smaller if they are taller and deeper.  A diamond's price is heavily related to its carat weight since carat weight measures the amount of diamond material being sold.   Read More on Carat Weight.