By Colton Eva
Diamond is one of the most precious items you can have. Whether you want to buy or sell your diamond, you should know how to determine the best piece. Diamonds can be used as a symbol of love to celebrate years of its fulfilment. Therefore, you do not want to select a piece that might disappoint you after a short while. Here are the 5 C’s you need to know to allow you to choose your diamond knowledgeably.
- Certification
This includes an independent certification report from an independent diamond laboratory of certified gemologists. These professionals evaluate the diamond to guarantee its authenticity and have no personal interest in it. The certificate issues will list the various C’s of a diamond, stating its particular characteristics, including diamond plots, shape and measurements. Even though there are hundreds of diamond grading laboratories across the globe, only a few are reputable. Therefore, you must check that the certification institution is credible and independent.
- Clarity
This includes measuring how the diamond’s internal markings impact its appearance. Normally, it is pretty rare to find a diamond without internal inclusions or characteristics. Following this scarcity, the ones that do not have the interior features are prone to be very expensive. The clarity grades will analyze a diamond’s natural inclusions based on the location, colour and size of the inclusions within the diamond. The clarity scale will begin with Flawless and Internally Flawless to different grades of Slightly Included and Complete with Included.
- Colour
The rating of a diamond depending on the colour is actually a diamond evaluation on lack of colour. A diamond will be graded highly if it is colourless. The colour scale involves an alphabetical grading scale that starts with the letter D downwards. D represents colourless, and colour increases as we move down the alphabetical scale. A lowly graded diamond can have hints of different colours that can be viewed with the naked eye, including grey, yellow and brown.
- Carat
This involves the weight of the diamond, and it helps decipher the stone’s size. Typically, 1 carat of diamond will have 100 points, which depicts the best quality.
- Cut
A diamond’s cut grade depicts how well the stone can use light. Usually, a well-cut round and brilliant diamond will allow light into the top of the rock. Additionally, it will bounce the light around the inside of the stone and send it back out of the diamond piece in the form of scintillation, also known as flashes of light, brightness and rainbow colours or fire. A poorly cut stone will allow light leakage, thus not returning the light to your eye to sparkle that we all look for in a diamond.
The main characteristics of a diamond’s cut grade include symmetry, polish, flat surfaces or portions of the stone’s facets. A round, brilliant diamond should contain 57 facets that must meet specific angles. Also, these facets must take a certain proportion of the overall diamond’s size to reflect the most light, thus giving a better sparkle. When all these aspects are done perfectly, they will have the stone’s overall beauty at its best.
