Diamonds 101: The Crash Course
The 4 C's
Cut
Think of it this way, the more edges on a diamond, the more surfaces there are for light to reflect off! What we want is brilliance. The more brilliance, the better. In short, better cut = more sparkle!
Color
D is the highest grade (has the least amount of color) and Z is the lowest grade (has the most color).
- D = Absolutely Colorless = no color
- E-F = Colorless = very slight color detectable by experts
- G-H = Near colorless = minor color that is difficult to notice
- I-J = Almost colorless = slight color tone
- K-Z = Noticeable color = noticeable color tone
Clarity
Nobody’s perfect, and neither are diamonds!
Diamonds naturally contain tiny imperfections called inclusions.
The smaller amount of inclusions, the higher the clarity.
FL (flawless) is the highest grade with no visible blemishes and the lowest is I2-I3 (Included).
- FL = Flawless = no visible imperfections under magnification
- IF = Internally Flawless = very slight tiny imperfections under magnification
- VVS1 = Very, Very Slightly Included = few tiny imperfections under magnification
- VVS2 = Very, Very Slightly Included = slightly more tiny imperfections under magnification
- VS1 = Very Slightly Included = few minor imperfections difficult to see under magnification
- VS2 = Very Slightly Included = few minor imperfections fairly easy to see under magnification
- SI1 = Slightly Included = sometimes visible tiny imperfections to the naked eye
- SI2 = Slightly Included = typically visible tiny imperfections to the naked eye
- I1 = Included = tiny imperfections slightly visible to the naked eye
- I2 = Included = tiny imperfections visible to the naked eye
- I3 = Included = tiny imperfections very visible to the naked eye
Carat
To give you a sense of pricing, we offer 1 carat diamond solitaires for $999 (This is a crazy deal! Don’t take our word for it…compare it with the competition!)