We are delighted to present this section of our website to buying diamonds. Since selecting a diamond for any occasion can be mystifying, we have put together this section to give you an introduction to the knowledge needed to take the questions out of buying diamonds. We know an educated, informed consumer becomes a confident and satisfied client.
Whether you are purchasing your first diamond or have purchased diamond jewelry before, this will give you all of the important facts about the 4 C's of diamonds: Cut, Color, Clarity and Carat Weight.
In addition, there is a very important 5th C: CONFIDENCE.
At G. JEZARIAN, we are pleased to offer our integrity, reliability, reputation and gemological knowledge to you at any time. We are here to answer all your queries promptly and professionally. Simply call or email us and let us prove to you that you are choosing a diamond that will last forever.
The precision with which a diamond is cut is a crucial to releasing its scintillation, fire and brilliance. Remarkably it is the only factor of the 4C's man can control.
The facets of the diamond must be placed in exact geometric relation to each other. The Culet or "point" should be exactly at the center of the bottom of the diamond and the diamond needs to be well-polished. The symmetry, or how well the facets match each other, is crucial for the light entering the diamond to be reflected back to the eye as brilliance. If these geometric proportions are compromised, the beauty and brilliance of the diamond are sacrificed. To achieve a diamond which offers truly impressive radiance, it must be well cut. We know this concept is difficult to visualize, but it would be our pleasure to use real diamonds to show you the difference between a perfectly-cut diamond and one which leaves much to be desired.
The Larger a Diamond, the More Rare
The carat is a measure of weight not size. It is a small unit of measure equal to 200 milligrams. The word "carat" derives from "carob" a seed so uniform in weight that it became a standard measurement for diamonds. Larger diamonds are found relatively infrequently in nature, which places them at the rarest level. What also makes a bigger diamond so desirable is that it shows off a stone's fine color and cut, and therefore its brilliance, to its best advantage. A diamond's size is measured in carat weight, and each carat is equal to 100 points. A .75 carat diamond is the same as a 75-point diamond or a 3/4 carat stone.
While larger diamonds are highly prized, diamonds of equal size may vary widely in value and brilliance, depending on their qualities of clarity, cut, and color.
Clarity is a measure of the number and extent of the flaws in the diamond. Generally speaking, the fewer the flaws, the more valuable the diamond. Completely flawless diamonds are extremely rare -- only a few hundred "FL" diamonds are produced per year worldwide.
There are several grading systems used to describe clarity. By far, the most popular is the Gemological Institute of America's (G.I.A.) scale, which ranks diamonds as Flawless (FL), Internally Flawless (IF), very very slightly included (VVS), very slightly included (VS), slightly imperfect (SI), and imperfect (I):
Although seemingly subjective, the G.I.A. scale has specific criteria that are used to differentiate between the different grades (what's the difference between "very very" slight and "very" slight anyway!):
FL: Completely flawless
IF: Internally flawless; only external flaws are present, which can be removed by further polishing the stone
VVS1 - VVS2: Only an expert can detect flaws with a 10X microscope. By definition, if an expert can see a flaw from the top of the diamond, it is a VVS2. Otherwise, if an expert can only detect flaws when viewing the bottom of the stone, then it is a VVS1
VS1 - VS2: You can see flaws with a 10X microscope, but it takes a long time (more than about 10 seconds).
SI1 - SI2: You can see flaws with a 10X microscope
I1 - I3: You can see flaws with the naked eye. Consider avoiding I2-I3 diamonds.
There are many different types of flaws. The best way to become acquainted with them is to look at lots of diamonds. The more common ones are as follows:
Pinpoint: A very small white dot on the surface of the stone. By far, the most common flaw.
Carbons: A very small black dot on the surface of the stone. Less common than pinpoints.
Feathers: Small cracks within the stone, similar in look to broken glass. Small internal feathers are harmless (other than lowering the clarity rating of the diamond), but large feathers can become a problem because the crack can grow as the diamond ages.
Clouds: Hazy areas within the diamond, actually made up of many small crystals that are impossible to see individually.
Crystal Growth: A small crystalline growth within the diamond. Looks like a small diamond within the big diamond.
Unfortunately, clarity is very difficult to judge accurately by an inexperienced consumer, so your best bet is to gain an education first by looking at lots of diamonds before making a purchase. Any good jeweler will spend the time you need to get comfortable judging the clarity of your stone -- ask different jewelers to point out the flaws in several stones until you can detect pinpoints and other flaws by yourself.
Many people make clarity the least "important" of the 4 Cs when purchasing their diamonds. The rationale is obvious -- when your partner shows the ring to all her friends, the likelihood that one of them will pull out a 10X microscope to examine the flaws on her diamond are very slim. Given that, why spend a lot of money on a VVS1 diamond when an SI2 will look exactly the same to the naked eye?
If you're purchasing an emerald cut (or any other step cut), consider purchasing a diamond with clarity greater than SI1. Clarity flaws are much more readily visible in step cuts than in brilliant cuts.
Although most gem-quality diamonds when seen alone appear to be colorless to the untrained eye, there are subtle differences in shade. Color in diamonds results from traces of other elements which mix with carbon during the diamond's formation. Diamonds with no traces of color are extremely rare.
To determine a diamond's true color, a diamond is view table down under pure white light. The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) compares it to diamonds in a "Master Set" whose colors have been predetermined.
Colors D, E and F are essentially without color and differ more in transparency. Colors G, H, I and sometimes J, will usually show little or no color in the face-up position (as set in jewelry) for most diamond shapes. However, emerald cut diamonds, which have a large table and large, parallel, step-cut facets will more easily show color from G and above, especially in larger stones. Conversely, sometimes very well cut, round brilliant diamonds of ideal or super-ideal cut quality may show slightly less color than the grade given.