Thinking of buying a diamond?

What to look for when buying a diamond

For those of you who have bought diamonds, you will know that there are four factors that determine the value of your diamond.

We call these factors the 4 C’s: Carat weight, Colour, Clarity and Cut.

The first factor to determine the value of your diamond is the weight. We measure the weight of diamonds in carats and to put this in everyday terms: one carat = 0.20 grams, meaning that five carats weigh only one gram. Quite remarkable when one thinks about it. Something that is so small and weighs so little, is the hardest natural substance on earth. Maybe this is where the slogan “A diamond is forever” comes from? Obviously, the more your diamond weighs, or the bigger it is, the more valuable it becomes.

The next factor is the colour of the diamond. White diamonds are assigned a colour according to a letter of the alphabet, starting at “D” for diamond. The colour scale runs from D – Z, D being the whitest. The further down you go on the alphabet, the more yellow your diamond becomes. The colours D, E and F are the whitest and the scarcest and you pay a premium for these colours. If your preference is for a white diamond, you can choose colours G or H or even go down to the colour J which will still set up white in any metal that you choose. From the colour K onwards, you can see the yellow in the diamond until you get to Z which is noticeably yellow. 

Bearing in mind that a diamond is a natural product, it goes without saying that it is very rare to find a flawless diamond. However, there are different clarity gradings from VVS (very very small inclusions), VS (very small inclusions) – these two gradings mean that the inclusions cannot be seen by the naked eye. Lower down on the scale we have SI (small inclusions) that are difficult to see with the naked eye and lastly I (included) where sometimes the inclusions are clearly visible. Obviously, the fewer inclusions in your diamond, the more you will pay for it.

The final factor is the Cut of the diamond. Mother Nature gave us the weight, the colour and the clarity, now it’s up to the cutter to reveal the beauty of the stone. We have always believed that the cut is the most important factor, as a diamond that is poorly cut and polished will not sparkle and be worth less. But how do I know if my diamond is well cut? Easy. Insist on a diamond certificate from an internationally recognized diamond grading laboratory which includes the cut grade of your diamond.

The above information is a shortened version of the 4 C’s. If you would like to know more, please reach out. We love sharing our knowledge of diamonds!