Diamonds - Cut, Color, Clarity, Carat, Other Details and their Relation to Diamond Prices.

If you have done your research work then you already know what I am going to talk about (the 4 C's). However, what most people do not do is make a relationship between the 4 C's and diamond prices. Diamond prices work on the basis of these 4 C's and they are all interdependent. So here I go, the 4 C's in no particular order.

Carat
When people talk about how big a diamond is, they're talking about carats. Carat (abbrv. 'ct') is the unit of measurement used for diamonds. One carat equals 1/5 of a gram. The weight of a diamond can also be measured in points - 100 points equal one carat. Hence 1/2 a carat is equal to 50 points or 0.50 cts. The bigger the diamond the rarer it is and therefore more valuable (value ≠ price). Diamonds weighing less than 20 points (0.20 cts) are called 'Melee' (rhymes with jelly). The carat size of a diamond can also be estimated through Millimeters (mm). For example a 1 carat round diamond is approximately 6.5 mm in diameter (if cut properly).

Color
Most consumers think that diamonds are colorless. I do not blame them. It is because the retail trade mostly sells diamonds that are colorless, near colorless to slightly yellow colored diamonds. Most of the websites also mention just these common colors. Contrary to common beliefs diamonds come in yellow, brown, pink, red, blue, purple, green, black, gray, violet, orange. Out of these, yellow and brown are the most common. Red and green are the rarest followed by orange, pink, violet, blue and purple.
The color of a diamond is determined by examining it face up and then face down. Now the color classification. According to G.I.A. standards, diamonds are classified from D to Z. D being colorless and Z, the most yellow or brown. Anything after Z is considered to be Fancy Colored in yellow or brown colors. Now let me explain the various classifications within D to Z.

D-E-F - The three of them are 'Colorless'. The only difference between each of them is transparency with D being the most transparent.
G-H-I - 'Near Colorless' category. With G being th highest grade in this section. No color can be seen face up but very slight yellow can be seen face down.
J-K-L-M - After J, an untrained individual can see the diamond color with his naked eye. This comes in the 'Slightly Yellow' category. Face up - very slight yellow and face down - slight yellow.
N-Z - 'Yellow' category. The yellow color is obvious face up and face down. Anything beyond that is a Z or above is 'Fancy' colored.

There you go! Carat and Color, two important C's explained. Continue to the next page for information on the other two C's - Clarity and Cut.

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