The 4 Cs of Diamonds: Your Essential Guide to Diamond Quality

When selecting a diamond, knowledge about its quality factors gives you confidence in your purchase. The 4 Cs—cut, color, clarity, and carat—provide a universal language for assessing diamond quality. At Kingdom Fine Jewelry, we guide you through these elements to help you find a diamond that perfectly balances beauty, quality, and value.

Cut: The Most Important Factor

Cut determines how well a diamond interacts with light—affecting its brilliance, sparkle, and fire. A well-cut diamond reflects light from one facet to another and back through the top, creating that captivating sparkle.

Cut grades range from Excellent to Poor:

• Excellent: Reflects nearly all light that enters the diamond
• Very Good: Reflects most light that enters
• Good: Reflects a good amount of light
• Fair: Allows some light to escape through the sides or bottom
• Poor: Allows significant light to escape, reducing brilliance

A superior cut can make even a diamond with lower color or clarity appear more beautiful. Many experts consider cut the most important of the 4 Cs when it comes to a diamond's visual appeal.

Color: The Absence of Color

For white diamonds, the color scale actually measures the absence of color. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) grades diamond color from D (colorless) to Z (light yellow or brown).

The color grades are grouped as:

• D-F: Colorless
• G-J: Near colorless
• K-M: Faint color
• N-R: Very light color
• S-Z: Light color

Colorless diamonds allow more light to pass through, creating more sparkle. However, slight color differences often go unnoticed by the untrained eye, especially once a diamond is set in jewelry.

For fancy colored diamonds like pink or blue, color intensity and distribution determine value—the more intense and evenly distributed the color, the more valuable the stone.

Clarity: Nature's Fingerprint

Clarity measures the presence of internal characteristics (inclusions) and external features (blemishes). Nearly all diamonds contain these natural features—think of them as nature's fingerprints.

The GIA clarity scale includes:

• FL (Flawless): No inclusions or blemishes visible under 10x magnification
• IF (Internally Flawless): No inclusions visible under 10x magnification
• VVS1-VVS2 (Very, Very Slightly Included): Inclusions so slight they're difficult for a skilled grader to see under 10x magnification
• VS1-VS2 (Very Slightly Included): Inclusions visible under 10x magnification but generally not visible to the naked eye
• SI1-SI2 (Slightly Included): Inclusions noticeable under 10x magnification and might be visible to the naked eye
• I1-I3 (Included): Inclusions obvious under 10x magnification and often visible to the naked eye

Many inclusions are too tiny to affect a diamond's beauty. Selecting a clarity grade where inclusions aren't visible to the naked eye offers excellent value.

Carat: Size and Weight

Carat refers to a diamond's weight, not its size. One carat equals 200 milligrams, or 0.2 grams.

Points provide a way to describe diamonds under one carat—there are 100 points in a carat, so a 0.75-carat diamond equals 75 points.

While larger diamonds are typically more valuable, two diamonds of equal carat weight can have very different values depending on their cut, color, and clarity.

A few things to keep in mind about carat weight:

• A diamond's cut affects how large it appears—a well-cut diamond may appear larger than its actual carat weight
• Diamonds just under common carat weights (like 0.9 instead of 1.0) often offer better value
• The average engagement ring in the US features a center diamond of approximately 1 carat

Finding Your Perfect Balance

The 4 Cs work together to determine a diamond's overall beauty and value. At Kingdom Fine Jewelry, we help you understand how each C contributes to the stone's appearance and price.

Many clients prioritize cut for maximum brilliance, select a color grade that appears colorless in their chosen setting, and choose a clarity grade without visible inclusions. This approach often allows for a larger carat weight within your budget.

Our experienced gemologists provide personalized guidance to help you find a diamond that meets your preferences and budget. Each diamond tells its own story—we help you find the one that will become part of yours.

Visit us or book an appointment to see how the 4 Cs come to life in our curated collection of fine diamonds, or schedule a consultation with one of our experts to learn more.