Your Guide To Diamond Education

A  Bit Of Diamond Education: All you have to know about Natural Diamonds!

By Raphael Weil, GIA Graduate Gemologist & Founder of WeilJewelry

There is no other gemstone quite like a diamond. It is found in the most remote places on earth, and the fact that it forms at all is something of a miracle. It takes about one tone of rock to recover less than half a carat of rough, making diamond one of the rarest and most desired gemstones in the world (source: GIA).
A diamond is a testament of endurance and strength - and not surprisingly - the ultimate symbol of LOVE!

It is hard to find the right place to get the perfect stone. There are thousands of jewelers offering stones to make your diamond engagement or cocktail ring, but only few of them truly give you the right information about the stone you are buying.

 To help you make your choice, Raphael Weil, our Founder and GIA Graduate Gemologist wrote some important information about how we determine the diamond quality using ''the Four C's ( Cut, Clarity, Color, Carat Weight)''.

Each of the 4 C's are important to understand the value of the stone you like. Indeed they provide a way to objectively compare and evaluate diamonds, but numbers alone can't describe a diamond's mysterious and captivating beauty - for that, you'll have to visit your local jeweler to see one by yourself.

 

Carat Weight

The weight of a diamond—its carat weight—is measured in metric carats.
One carat equals one-fifth of a gram (0.200 g).
For diamonds under one carat, each carat is devided into 100 points - similar to pennies in a dollar. 0.75 = 75 points. 1/2 ct = 50 points 

 

 

Cut

A diamond’s cut can mean simply its shape and cutting style (facet pattern).
There are many different diamond cuts. By far, the most common is the
round brilliant, which is round with triangular, kite-shaped facets that radiate
out from the center.
Diamonds with shapes or cutting styles other than the
round brilliant are called fancy cuts.
In diamond grading, cut also refers to a diamond’s overall cut quality. Cut
evaluation includes an assessment of the diamond’s proportions, the
symmetry of its outline, the placement of its facets, and how well each facet’s
surface is polished.

For round brilliant diamonds that fall within the normal color range, cut is graded on a relative scale from Excellent to Poor.

 

A polished round brilliant diamond's beauty lies in its complex relationship with light. The magnificent display you see is made of three attributes: Brightness is the combination of all white light reflecting from the surface and interior of a diamond. Fire describes the ''flares'' of color emitted from a diamond. Scintillation describes the pattern of light and dark areas and the sparkle you see when the diamond, the light or the observer moves.

A diamond's proportions affect its light performance, which in turn affect its beauty and overall appeal. Diamonds with fine proportions, symmetry and polish optimize their interaction with light, and have increase brightness, fire and scintillation.

 

Clarity

Clarity is the relative absence of inclusions and blemishes, collectively called
clarity characteristics. Inclusions are internal characteristics, while blemishes
are confined to the surface. Clarity is graded on a relative scale from Flawless
(with no inclusions or blemishes visible at 10X magnification) to Included
(with inclusions obvious at 10X magnification).

The GIA Clarity Scale includes eleven clarity grades ranging from Flawless to I3.
Because diamonds form under tremendous heat and pressure, it is extremely rare to find a diamond that lack any internal and external characteristics. These characteristics are a by-product of its formation and help gemologists separate natural diamonds from synthetics and simulants, and identify individual stones.

 

Color

Color refers to the amount of basic color—called bodycolor—in a diamond.
Bodycolor can vary in hue, tone, and saturation. Although many people think gem quality diamonds as colorless, truly colorless diamonds are actually very rare.
Most diamonds used in jewelry are nearly colorless with tints of yellow or brown.

Diamond color is graded on a scale from D (colorless) to Z (light yellow, brown, or gray), referred to as the normal color range. Diamonds in deeper shades of yellow,
brown, and gray as well as diamonds in colors such as blue, green, and pink,
are referred to as colored diamonds.

Color grades are determined by comparing each diamond to a master set. Each letter grade represents a range of color and is a measure of how noticeable a color is.

 

Fluorescence: Some diamonds can emit a visible light when exposed to ultraviolet radiation, but fluorescence is not a factor in determining color or clarity grades. However, a description of its strength and color is provided on GIA Reports as an additional identifying characteristic.