At DePriest Robbins, extra time is taken to educate you on the 4 C’s of diamonds- cut, clarity, color and carat. Stephanie and Patton will walk you through each of these, and want you to leave with an education.

 

Color

The subtleties of diamond color are undetectable to the untrained eye, but make a large difference in both quality and price. Color is measured on a D to Z scale by examining a stone under controlled lighting.

Clarity

A diamond’s clarity is the lack of inclusions or blemishes. This is rated on 11 grade scale.

• Flawless (FL) No inclusions and no blemishes visible under 10x magnification
• Internally Flawless (IF) No inclusions visible under 10x magnification
• Very, Very Slightly Included (VVS₁ and VVS₂) Inclusions so slight they are difficult for a skilled grader to see under 10x magnification
• Very Slightly Included (VS₁ and VS₂) Inclusions are observed with effort under 10x magnification, but can be characterized as minor
• Slightly Included (SI₁ and SI₂) Inclusions are noticeable under 10x magnification
• Included (I₁, I₂, and I₃) Inclusions are obvious under 10x magnification which may affect transparency and brilliance

Cut

The cut of a diamond is more about how it interacts with the light than about its shape. Excellent workmanship is required to cut a diamond into its ideal shape for maximum light transmission and sparkle. To judge this, we look at:

• Brightness: Internal and external white light reflected from a diamond
• Fire: The scattering of white light into all the colors of the rainbow
• Scintillation: The amount of sparkle a diamond produces, and the pattern of light and dark areas caused by reflections within the diamond

Carat

Carat is the C that most people are familiar with- this measures the diamond’s size.