Diamond education is essentially about the 4 C’s : cut, color, clarity, and carat weight. If we add to define the perfect diamond, it should have an ideal cut, be colorless, flawless (no impurities under 10x magnification). As for the “carat”, since it is the diamond weight measure, you could choose any size, but large diamonds are rarer than small diamonds.

The 4 C’s are very technical, and only experts can really estimate the various grade of a diamond. What you need to know is these tell you about the sparkling of the diamond. The 4 C’s are strongly related to the reflection of light.
Note that the 4 C’s have been created by the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) to grade diamonds. This graduation is used worldwide.

Diamond Cut

Even if a diamond has to be cut to get a shape, the cut and the shape are two different things. The cut is an essential criteria of choice. How well a diamond is cut determines how brillant and sparkling it is.

The cut is a matter of proportions. If a diamond cut is shallow or deep, it doesn’t reflect light as an ideal cut does. Think of it as the diamond would be compressed or extended.

The Cut are said Ideal, very good, good, poor. At JamesAllen and Mondera, you can find Hearts and Arrows cuts, which are cuts of less than 1% of all the diamonds in the world. These diamonds have perfect internal symmetry and perfect proportions. You will also find Premium cuts at JamesAllen and Mondera (very close to ideal).

Diamond Clarity

The highest clarity grade of a diamond is flawless. It means it doesn’t have any imperfections on the surface or within it. The diamonds that have no flaws or blemishes on surface are of course the rarest ones, and have the best value. If a diamond has no inclusions, it returns more light, as it is more transparent and brilliant.

The various inclusions of a diamond are feathers, clouds, cavities, included crystals and included minerals, internal graining, knots, cleavage, bearding.

The blemishes are polish lines, scratches, grain boundaries, naturals, pits, chips, nicks.
To report the following grades and see how much diamonds are included, experts use a 10x maginfication.

F – IF : Flawless. No visible inclusions. Internally Flawless : No inclusions and almost none external blemishes.
These diamonds are the best in a clarity language. They are very rare and expensive.

VVS1 – VVS2 : Very Very Slightly Included. Minute inclusions. It’s difficult an experienced grader to detect flaws under 10x magnification. These diamonds are rare and of an exceptional quality.

VS1 – VS2 : Very Slightly Included. Minor inclusions, some are still difficult to see and others more easily seen under magnification. The quality of these diamonds is excellent.

SI1 – SI2 : Slightly Included. Inclusions are noticeable to an experienced grader. Diamonds of such grade are still very good.

I1 – I2 – I3 : Included: Significant inclusions, easily visible to the experts eyes.

Learn about diamond Color and diamond Carat weight.