Complete Diamond Guide

What Are The 4Cs Of Diamonds?

The 4Cs of diamonds are cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. They are considered the international standard of measuring a diamond’s beauty and value. Each C has a specific way of being measured and graded. Their quality is recorded in a diamond grading report.

What Is Carat Weight?

A diamond’s carat refers to its weight, not size. One diamond carat is equal to 0.2 grams—roughly the weight of a paperclip. If carat is the most well-known “C,” it is because it can look different from diamond to diamond and shape to shape.

When it comes to carat weight, bigger isn’t always better. The way a diamond is cut can influence how large it appears. In fact, a higher carat diamond with a poor cut can appear smaller than a lower carat diamond with a high-quality cut.

What Is Cut?

The first C is cut. The most important thing to remember about a diamond’s cut is that it is not the same thing as its shape. A diamond’s cut refers to the arrangement of its facets. The cut is considered the most important of the 4Cs because it’s what delivers a diamond’s much-desired brilliance.

When a diamond’s proportions are cut to exacting precisions, light enters and exits the diamond through the same surface, the table. Most diamonds are cut into one of three styles: brilliant (a mix of triangular and kite-shaped facets), step (composed of rectangular facets) or mixed (a combination of both brilliant and step cuts). Each cut is evaluated on the diamond’s “face-up” appearance, and its balance of proportions, durability, polish, and symmetry.

SIYARI’s cutting and polishing studios are full of true artisans and each diamond sustainably created in our own zero-emission foundry is inspected more than 1,300 times from when the diamond seed is placed into a reactor to the finished ring. SIYARI created diamonds are cut to perfect proportions and are graded on a scale ranging from Ideal + Hearts, Ideal, and Excellent.

“We prioritize cut above all else in our diamonds, so they all will fall in the Excellent range —or better!” 

What Is Color?

The second most important of the 4Cs, color, is a reference to the absence of color in a diamond. Diamonds come in a variety of hues, but truly colorless white diamonds are rare, as most have a slight hint of yellow. The closer to colorless a white diamond is, the rarer and more valuable it becomes.

Starting from D, meaning colorless, the scale follows the alphabet downward. Colorless to near colorless diamonds appear clear on the scale, and sit in a range of D through J. Anything beyond J is where slight amounts of pale yellow begin to show through.

What Is Clarity?

A diamond’s clarity refers to the visual purity of a diamond. It is determined by the number of inclusions or imperfections in the diamond and is difficult to notice without the help of a magnifier.

These inclusions occur naturally during the diamond growth process and are what make each diamond unique. The internal spots and lines can affect how light passes through the stone, obstructing the refraction and return of light. This can impact how “cloudy” a diamond appears.

Five factors are considered when assigning a diamond’s clarity grade. The size and number of imperfections, their position within the diamond, how they impact its durability, and the noticeable contrast between the imperfections and the diamond itself.

Why Do The 4Cs Matter?

The 4Cs matter because they directly impact the overall look and value of your diamond. Before the 4Cs were adopted as an international standard, diamond merchants could sell their product based on personal bias or ammature grading. This often meant that consumers were paying more for an inferior product.

With the 4Cs and diamond certification, you can rest assured that the value of your diamond is directly linked to its quality.