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The 4 C

Cut

The most important criteria for the beauty of a diamond is cut. The level of craftsmanship defines how much sparkle, fire and brilliance the diamond shows. But it is much more than that: While nature provides the base material in color and clarity, it is only the ability of a master cutter that reveals the unique beauty of a diamond.





Clarity

Almost all diamonds have inclusions. However, most of them are in fact so small that you need a microscope to actually see them. Benchmark for grading diamonds is the 10x magnifiying loupe: A loupe-clean diamond has no inclusions visible at 10x magnification. Only beginning with the clartiy grade "SI" may inclusions be visible to the naked eye. However, in most cases only the clarity grades "I1-I3" are so heavily included that it is noticable without a loupe.






Color

The color of a diamond actually refers to its lack of color: The more transparent the precious stone is, the rarer and hence more expensive it becomes. The most popular diamond colors in jewelry are "Top Wesselton" (F-G) and "Wesselton" (H). Even though the highest color grades command the highest prices, many people actually prefer slightly warmer colors.






Carat 

A diamond´s weight is measured in carats. One carat equals 0.2 grams. But: Just like the weight of a person does not alllow for an conclusion to his height, a diamond´s carat weight does not equal its size. An excellent cut grade usually accounts for a weight loss of about 60% of the raw material. In order to minimize carat weight loss diamonds are not always cut to excellent proportions.