The qualities in which diamonds are valued are measured by four main characteristics known as the 4C’s. The 4C’s are describing a diamond’s cut, color, clarity and carat weight. This quality is what determines a diamond’s price. When speaking of carat weight, carat weight measures the size of the diamond. Of the 4C’s, the cut is the characteristic that is directly influenced by how we want it. Everything else (color, clarity and carat weight) are influenced by nature.

A rough diamond is a diamond in its natural, uncut state. It appears to resemble a glass pebble in its natural state so most people would pass it by without looking twice. The brilliance of a diamond from its rough state to its brilliant polished state depends on the skill of the diamond cutter. If there are two diamonds side by side and one is less brilliant and has less fire than the other, this is a direct fault of the cutter. The stone with less brilliance and fire will not be the same price as its more brilliant sister.

It is also vital to know the difference between a diamonds cut and its shape. The more popular diamonds shapes include Round Brilliant, Princess, Oval, Marquise, Pear, Heart and Emerald. Now that we know the popular shapes lets look at the cut. For each shape, it is the cut (done by the cutter) that determines the quality of the stone. Most diamonds are faceted with 58 cuts, regardless of the shape.

Directly correlating to the value is a diamond’s color. The closer a diamond is to white it is considered colorless, and thus the rarer and more valuable it is. International grading scales have been devised because the graduation in color can be so subtle. The diamond grading system is broken down into categories defined by letters. The color categories go from whites D, E and F to more yellow colors that are categorized from M to Z.

When it comes to fancy colored diamonds, these are graded according to the intensity of their color. Colored diamonds are rare and usually much more expensive. The most common causes that a diamond will have a color is that during the formation of a diamond particles of non-crystallized carbon or non-diamond crystals can get caught within the diamond. The most popular colors are yellow, green, blue, brown, red and pink.

Any imperfections in a diamond are called inclusions and this is what gives each diamond its special characteristics. Inclusions may not always be visible when you look directly at a stone, but they change the passage of light that goes through the diamond. So the fewer inclusions a diamond has, the more value it will have as well. Like determining the color, clarity is also categorized using an international grading system. The categories for clarity are based on the number, size and position of the inclusions that are in the diamond. The categories range from flawless, and internally flawless, to very small and small inclusions, to imperfect.

Diamonds are weighed before putting them into a setting to get an accurate measurement. They are priced per carat, depending on the size and quality of the diamond. Because the carat weight of a diamond indicates its size, it doesn’t describe the diamond’s quality. So if two diamonds have the same carat weight, the better quality diamond will always have a higher price per carat.