The 4 C's

WHAT THEY ARE & WHY THEY MATTER

If you've done any research there's a very high chance you've heard of the 4 C's; Carat Cut Color & Clarity. These 4 characteristics are typically going to play the largest role in how a diamond will appear. All 4 are measured on a sliding scale, explained below. Figuring out a range for these 4 categories will be a giant step towards finding the right diamond for you, as well as providing an idea of what your investment will be.

Cut Grade

Excellent - Very Good - Good - Fair - Poor

Cut is often mistaken for a diamond’s shape, but is actually referring to the proportion and facet arrangement for round brilliant diamonds. The diamond’s cut impacts the amount of brilliance, sparkle and fire that a diamond has. Cut Grade ranges from excellent to poor.
The only diamond shape assigned a cut grade is round brilliant. All other shapes (known as fancy shapes) will be impacted by ratio, symmetry, and polish.
In this image the diamonds are examples of (left to right) Poor, Good, & Excellent cut grades

Color Grade

Colorless - Near Colorless - Faint - Very Light - Light - Fancy

Color Grade actually refers to a diamond's absence of color. The less color in a diamond the more rare and valuable it becomes. Each diamond is assigned a grade from "D" (no visible color) down to "Z" (easily visible color).
Any diamond with more than "Z" color is considered a fancy color and is graded on a separate scale. These diamonds are typically sought after for intentional colored stones, the most common being yellow.
These color grades are broken down into categories;
- Colorless - D / E / F
- Near Colorless - G / H / I / J
- Faint - K / L / M
- Very Light - N / O / P / Q / R
- Light - S / T / U / V / W / X / Y / Z

Clarity Grade

FL - IF - VVS1 - VVS2 - VS1 - VS2 - SI1 - SI2 - I1 - I2 - I3

Diamonds are created when carbon is explosed to extremely high pressure and temperature. This process creates blemishes (external) and what are known as inclusions (internal). These imperfections are graded based on type, location, and quantity.
At the higher end of the grading scale (VS2 & above) the diamonds will typically be "eye clean" meaning that imperfections aren't visible even at 10x magnification. This can be true for Diamonds in the SI range as well, but less frequently.
I1 and below grades reflect inclusions that can be easy to spot even with the naked eye, and in some cases will impact the overall appearance of the diamond.
Clarity Grades
- FL / Flawless
- IF / Internally Flawless
- VVS / Very Very Slightly Included (1 and 2)
- VS / Very Slightly Included (1 and 2)
- SI / Slightly Included (1 and 2)
- I / Included (1, 2 and 3
Images are under 10x magnification

VS1

SI1

I1

Carat Weight

Unit of Measurement for Diamond Size

Carat Weight is the most commonly recognized of the 4 C's, but there can be more to it than meets the eye. Because diamonds can have different ratios, proportions, and depths the weight doesn't always reflect the appearance. Generally speaking however, the larger the carat weight the larger appearance the diamond will have.
Carat weight works on a 100 point system, meaning 1 carat = 100 points.
There are what are known as benchmark sizes that can impact the pricing of a diamond, reaching a full carat for example.
Just like the other 3 C's rarity increases value and the larger a diamond is the more rare it is considered.