Buying someone a piece of diamond jewelry makes a statement about how you feel about them. Whether the recipient is your mother, a child, or the love of your life they deserve jewelry constructed with craftsmanship and high-quality diamonds. When choosing a piece of jewelry you should consider the four C’s: carat, cut, color, and clarity.
Carat
A large portion of the overall cost of your diamond will be the carat. Diamonds are weighed precisely to one hundredth of a gram. The carat of the diamond is specifically its weight and which is not an indication of the diamonds size. Because perfectly cut, larger diamonds are rarer they are worth a significantly higher value.
Cut
One of the most important qualities in diamond jewelry is the cut of the diamond. The cut of the diamond is what gives it its brilliance. When diamonds are not cut properly, the light refracts from the top and is then lost out of the bottom. A properly cut diamond can truly shine.
The cut of a diamond is measured by its fire, scintillation, and brightness. The fire of a diamond measures the how widely the light disperses into the color spectrum. When the scintillation of a diamond is measured, it is referring to how well the light flashes with movement. Lastly, the brightness of a diamond is the measure of the total amount of light that is reflected. The grade of a diamond can be unofficially rated by anyone and many jewelers rely on the authority of the American Gem Society Library.
Color
When choosing a diamond, another measure of its quality is its color. The color of a diamond is a very important factor in the design of diamond jewelry. Diamond color is graded using a system of letters from D-Z, which are divided into five categories. The first group, D-F represents colorless diamonds while S-Z diamonds have a notable light yellow color. When the diamond is categorized between D and J it has a color that is naked to the human eye.
Another factor of color is the florescence of the diamond. When a diamond has fluorescence, it emits electromagnetic radiation over a different wavelength. This makes the diamond appear to change color in direct sunlight or under fluorescent light bulbs.
Clarity
The clarity of a diamond is simply a measure of how clear it is or how free it is of imperfections. When a gem specialist looks at a diamond under a microscope they will often see blemishes or internal inclusions. The number of inclusions and blemishes as well as their size and quantity are used to determine the diamond’s clarity. It is the top three clarity levels on the grading scale that are used to quantify the most valuable diamond jewelry.
