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Diamond Education

The 4 C's of Diamonds:

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Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat weight...

 

The most important characteristics to understand when buying a diamond.

CUT

Diamond cut is the most important property to increase its beauty because a well-cut diamond reflects light to maximize the stones brilliance.  A diamond with perfect color and clarity will have poor brilliance if it is not well cut.   This is very important in picking out the best diamond in your budget.  We can go lower in color or clarity and not affect the beauty of your diamond.  The shape of the diamond describes the outline of the stone and the pattern of the facet arrangement.  The most popular shapes are Round, Oval, Emerald, Radiant, Princess, Pear, Cushion, Marquise and Heart shapes.

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COLOR

Diamonds are found naturally in all colors of the rainbow.  The most common are colorless and near colorless and most have some degree of yellow or brown.  A truly colorless diamond is extremely rare and considered the most valuable.  It allows most light to pass through it.  Color ranges from D,E,F colorless G,H,I,J near colorless K,L,M slight tints of color and go down to the letter Z.  Near colorless is the most commonly used in an engagement ring.

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CLARITY

Clarity is a term that describes the absence or presence of flaws inside or on the surface of the diamond.  These flaws make every diamond truly unique.  They also affect the beauty and the value of the diamond.  F (Flawless) IF (Internally Flawless), VVS1-VVS2 (Very Very slight included) VS1-VS2 (Very slight included) SI1-SI2 (Slightly included) I1-I2-I3 (Included).  Almost all clarity grades cannot be seen to the unaided eye except for I1, I2, I3 and some SI-2's. I have seen the most beautiful I1's, I have seen some poor VS-2's.  Prior to buying I will analyze the stone for you give you my honest opinion and always recommend the best stone.  

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CARAT

The term "Carat" refers to the weight of a diamond.  Each carat is divided into 100 points.  1/4 carat is 25 points 1/2 carat is 50 points and so on.  When diamonds are mined, large diamonds are discovered rarely in comparison to small ones, that is why large diamonds are much more valuable.  For that reason, the price of a diamond goes up exponentially with its size.  So a 2 carat diamond of the same quality is worth much more than two 1 carat diamonds of equal value.  Carat weight does not mean the diamond will look larger since it could be cut poorly.  Remember cut is the most important C.

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