Selecting The Cut of A Diamond and The Way They Are Cut

There are quite a few cuts of diamonds to select from. The cut basically relates to the shape that the diamond is cut into, except if you are in the diamond or jewelry field, simply this shape has a great affect on much the diamond glitters.

The most favorite cuts are pear, heart, marquise, oval, princess, round, trillion, and emerald cuts. The shape has an affect on the extent the diamond sparkles, but the true cutting itself, when the diamond cutter really cuts the diamond into a specific shape, also counts a great deal. If the diamond is badly cut, it will suffer its sparkle.

In the diamond business the cut of a diamond does not relate to its shape at all. On the contrary, this is a reference point to the stone’s brilliance, depth, width, durability, clarity, and other facets of the diamond. General cutting difficulties are a missing or off center culet, not properly aligned, a diamond that is too thick or too thin, crackings, or broken culets.

If looking for a diamond, you should choose the shape that you care for the best, but then consider several assorted diamonds of that shape to locate the one with the best cut, the diamond that sparkles best, in all kinds of lighting.

Diamonds Are Cut How

In their most natural configuration, diamonds are, well, quite unattractive. They have no splendor or radiance,and in fact, they look like nothing but broken glass. A diamond has to be cut, and then made shiny and smooth before it really becomes a thing of beauty.

Diamonds are cut with saws, into round forms. From the rounded shape, other shapes perhaps will be cut, such as heart shapes, but the shape is less significant than the caliber of the cutting that is being performed. When the diamond is badly cut, it will lose light, and it will not glitter and shine very well. Every surface of the diamond must be cautiously cut into the geometrical shapes that permit the diamond to sparkle and glow, then the whole diamond is cut into a particular shape, like an emerald cut or a princess cut diamond.

As soon as the cut is finished, the diamond is put into a dop, which looks like a cup with another diamond, only a diamond is strong enough to polish the edges of another diamond. As soon as the diamond has been cut and shaped, and had the edges polished in the dop, it is smoothed on a scaif or a diamond polishing wheel.

By James Ellison

Watch For The Four C's When Buying Diamonds

Of all the precious stones in the world, the diamond is certainly the most popular. You've seen it worn by royalties and celebrities, but it's also available to every me and you.

Its toughness and beauty have been known and praised since ancient times. The actual word "diamond" comes from the old Greek "adamas", which means "unconquerable".

The decision to purchase a diamond is a rather important one. To the Romans, diamonds were falling stars that tipped the arrow of Eros, the God of love. This meant that those who wore them would be filled with love and spread feelings of happiness around them.

Whether or not the belief was based on real facts, diamonds seem to have some form of energy around them, and you should pay special attention when choosing one.

The Four C's

Assessing the Four C's is a method that helps us see the true value of a stone we're about to purchase. Used mainly by professional jewelers, it's still very simple to be applied even by an untrained eye.

So What Are The Four C's?

They are Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat.

The Cut...

.. is considered by many jewelers as the most important of a diamond's properties.

Depending on how well it is made, it determines how well it reflects light. Professionals strive to make the cut as precise as geometrically possible so that it will reflect more light. If the cut is too shallow, light escapes out the sides and the diamond loses brilliance. If the cut is too deep, light is lost out the bottom and the diamond appears dark or dull.

Therefore, a bright shining diamond, with a symmetrical appearance is a definite sign that the cut is of high quality.

Color

Despite the common belief, not all diamonds are white or colorless. In fact, most diamonds you will find have slight tones of yellow, brown or blue.

There is an actual scale you can use to get a beautiful diamond at a reasonable price. It covers all leathers from D to Z.

D to F are colorless diamonds. These are the rarest and of course, the most expensive. Unless you have a huge pocket, look for stones in the range of...

G to I. These ones offer excellent value and they have a light blue color.

Stones graded above K can still be lovely if they have a great Cut and ...

Clarity...

.. refers to the number of imperfections in the stone. Absolutely perfect diamonds are extremely rare.

So the value of the crystal is deeply influenced by the number of "Inclusions" or "Blemishes".

There is also a more complicated scale to rate the perfection of a Diamond, but I won't bore you with it.

Just watch for diamonds rated "I", which have imperfections that may be visible with the naked eye. The other grades aren't important because when mounted in jewelry, the slight imperfections become invisible.

Carat

This is generally the only property people follow when purchasing diamonds.

The carat is the measurement unit for a diamond's weight. One carat weighs 200 miligrams, or 1/5 of a gram. Each carat is divided into 100 points.

The bigger the crystal, the more carats is has and the bigger the price.

Don't be tempted to say the bigger the better. Ultimately, you want a diamond that has a balance between the Four C's.

With this kind of knowledge, you are now ready to start searching for the greatest gift you could ever think of. So wait no longer. I guarantee that you'll be satisfied with the jewel you'll choose.

By Eugen Lisov

What Makes Up A Diamonds Carat?

A diamond is a gem that is formed far under the surface of the earth by intense pressure. When evaluating a diamond there are generally four things to consider: Clarity, color, cut, and carat. These are called the 4 C's of diamonds. Carat, in terms of gems, is way of describing the weight of the diamond.

The General Conference on Weights and Measures is a meeting that takes place every 4 to 6 years in order to maintain and establish an international standard of measurements. It was at the fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures, in 1907, that the carat was defined. A carat is 200 mg or about .007 ounces. There are a hundred points in a carat that are each 2 mg. In the same way that there are a hundred pennies in a dollar, there are 100 points in a carat.

Special, extremely sensitive, digital scales are now used to measure a diamonds weight, but it was not always this precise. The name carat actually originated from the Greek word for the carob seed. Carob seeds were frequently used to weigh things like gold or diamonds. This is because they had a uniform size and weight, and irregular seeds could be easily picked out by the naked eye.

Generally the higher the diamonds carat, the more it costs. A flawless diamond is called a paragon and weighs at least 100 carats. This is of course very rare and expensive. Most diamonds found in jewelry are considerably less than 100 carats.

A 2 carat diamond will likely be much more expensive than a 1 carat diamond. Sometimes rings and other types of jewelry with multiple diamonds are described in total carat weight (TCW). This includes the combined weight of all of the diamonds in the piece of jewelry. The price of a diamond is actually frequently described in weight per carat.

While a diamonds weight or carat is important, it is only part of the equation when grading a diamond. The cut, clarity, and color of the diamond will all also play an important role in determining its value. When buying a diamond for yourself or a loved one it is important to take all of these factors into consideration, but finding the right size is very important. Remember that the larger the finger, the smaller the diamond looks, and of course the inverse is true. Take this into consideration when modeling the ring on yourself or the sales person. A diamond with a higher carat does not always look bigger to the naked eye. This is because the cut of the diamond can make it look larger than it actually is. Also if size is a factor, but you are on a budget, consider a diamond with a lower color grade, but a good cut and carat.

Diamonds make a great gift for your family, friends, and for yourself. They can be a large investment though, so it is important to understand how they are valued. If you familiarize yourself with the 4 C's and the different types of diamonds available, you will be able to purchase a diamond that will bring you or a loved one much happiness.

By Brad Brubaker

The Four C's Of Diamonds And Why Are They Important

Anyone who has even tried to buy a diamond has probably heard of the four c's of a diamond. So, what exactly are the four c's and why do the matter so much for the person who buy the diamond? Well, the 4c's determine the quality of the diamond and therefore - it's worth. Let's take a closer look at these four quality parameters and understand them a little better:

Clarity - describes the clearness or purity of a diamond. It is determined by the number, size an shape of the flows, or imperfections, inside and outside the diamond. The clarity is expressed by a scale of clarity level. The highest level is F - which means "flawless" diamond (very rare). On the other side of the scale there's the I3 clarity degree, which indicates a diamond with very notable imperfections. The scale goes from I3, to I2, I1, SI2, SI1, VS2, VS1, VVS2, VVS1, IF and finally - F. Be aware that the clarity level of a diamond may change over time for many reasons.

Color - The color of a diamond is another factor that should be looked at when determining it's worth. Not all diamonds are clear in color, and some have a yellowish color to them. The color scale starts at D,E,F,G,H and I levels, which represent colorless (transparent) diamond, D being the most colorless. After that, J,K and L represent a diamond which is near colorless. M, N,O,P,Q and R represent a faint light yellow diamond, and the S,T,U,V, W,X,Y and Z letters stand for a light yellow diamond.

Cut - the beauty of the diamond is to a large extent, derived from the quality of it's cut. An ideal cut will reflect most of the light that hits the diamond, thus causing it to shine and look very beautiful. A poor cut will make the diamond look lifeless and in many cases a small diamond that has an ideal cut will look much better that a bigger diamond with a shallow or a heavy cut. In many cases, the cut has a great effect on the diamond's price. One might ask - if the cut is so important, why aren't all the diamonds cut in a prefect way? The answer to that is that the rough diamond doesn't always allow the diamond cutter to cut it in an idea way because rough diamonds are found in different shapes and sizes.

Carat - The weight of the diamond. 1 carat equal to 0.20 grams. A carat is also sub divided into points, where 100 equals 1 carat. The size of a single diamond adds to it's worth, so 2 half-carat diamonds taken together will not cost as much as 1 one-carat diamond. This is due to the fact that the one-carat stone is more rare.

After the 4 c's are evaluated, the diamond's price can be calculated. Of course, diamond's value is also effected by the market - if there is a great demand to certain diamonds, their price may go up beyond their "on paper" value.

By Gill Reese